Each month we’ll be highlighting a new Dance Central fan in the Dancer’s Spotlight! These pieces will give us a chance to recognize some of our most dedicated and inspiring Dance Central community members, and give you a chance to meet your fellow dancers! We’ll talk with cosplayers, Fitness Challenge participants, artists, and more, so check back each month to see whose turn it is in the Spotlight. This month we're interviewing two members of a cosplaying group!
Michelle: In Alberta we're known as KBND (KawaiiBakaNekoDesu). Though we're really just a bunch of friends who enjoy dressing up and acting for the weekend with each other! Most of us just joined on a whim. Ex: "OH MY GOD. I love all of you! I'm gonna cosplay with you. Kay? Kay."
Melissa: We're a bunch of people that like to dress up. Not sure if I can make that sound more superb than it already is. One day Michelle just asked me to be a part of KBND, and we've been cosplaying together since.
Editor's note: The full group of of awesomely gender-bending cosplayers known as KBND is Michelle (Angel), Miss Aubrey (Melissa), Tamara (Glitch and MacCoy), Luke (Mo), Sarah (Emilia), Hayley (Bodie), Jessica (Taye), Alyssa (Li'l T). You can check out more about them on Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, and DeviantArt.
Hayley as Bodie and Sarah as Emilia.
Michelle:Tamara had actually gone away to a friend's sleepover and sent me a text reading, "I have a new dream cosplay." When I asked who it was she replied, "Glitch from Dance Central 2!!!" We bought the game the next day and played for... maybe eight hours a day for three months...
Melissa: Michelle and Tamara asked me to cosplay as Miss Aubrey, and I had no idea who that was or what Dance Central was. I showed up to a con and Michelle presented me with a full cosplay for Miss Aubrey and I thought "Okay I should probably play this game." They had a sleepover at my place, we played for a few hours, and I got hooked!
Melissa as Miss Aubrey and Michelle as Angel.
Michelle: You might think that choosing who will be who would be the most complicated part of cosplaying, but we each have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to portraying a character in cosplay. I, for example, love low cut shirts, men who are able to dance, scarves, light/white hair. I'm also known to pick the flirtatious one in the show/game, which explains why Angel was such a natural choice!
Melissa: We generally go "Oh hey I want to cosplay from this game/show, and want to be this character, who would like to join?" Then we manage to compromise and get it organized. I think the smoothest and easiest cosplay that we managed to organize was Adventure Time. We literally just went "You should be this character" and we all agreed on it!
Michelle:Almost every one of our costumes were hand-made by me! So that's the perfect question for me. I started off with Angel and Miss Aubrey one year ago. They took me, together, about 36 hours of blood, sweat and tears... How does one explain how they made something? I bought the fabric and had loads of fun. Dance Central has the most beautiful and unique outfits I've witnessed in a game, actually. I thoroughly enjoyed each minute I took on the outfits. The Angel and Taye necklaces were made by one of my cosplay buddies after a bit of begging. Angel’s clover necklace is made out of pure silver, and Taye's is made out of bronze.
Another interesting fact is that I began making Bodie’s outfit three days before the convention we needed it to be done for! Stress city, but so much fun. The 'RIPTIDE' logos on the sides of Bodies wet suit were all hand painted by moi. Eight hours!
Hayley as Bodie.
Michelle: My advice would be to start off small. It's so scary and frustrating when you take on a project that you have no experience in doing. Like, don't plan on drafting your own pattern if you've never even touched a sewing machine before. This will really just squash the passion you might have had before doing this. Some cosplayers may disagree with me, but Death Note* is a good place to start! (Or something like it.) The costumes are simple (you could even pick everything up at a Value Village!), and the roleplaying is superb. L's antics are hilarious to play out. Light and Misa aren't too shabby themselves.
*Editor’s note: Death Note is a Japanese manga. L, Light, and Misa are characters in the manga series.
Melissa: Just as Michelle said: Start simple. If you go to Value Village to get your whole outfit together, then so be it. Have fun with it! If you end up being too picky, you'll end up ruining it for yourself. Try to do a cosplay that will also allow you to use your own hair, and avoid getting a wig from a Halloween store, or the dollar store. (You know those really cheap wigs that are really shiny and are already tangled when they come out of the package? Yeah. Stay away from those. You're better than a super shiny wig) Give yourself the chance to learn. You can go to a con and ask cosplayers how they put their outfit together, or how they styled their wig. Everyone loves talking about how they made something! When the time is right, you'll be able to step out of your comfort zone and cosplay whoever you want.
Tamara as Glitch.
"S&M" -Rihanna (DLC)
"You Make Me Feel . . ." -Cobra Starship ft. Sabi (DC3)
"Pon De Replay" -Rihanna (DC)
"Starships" -Nikki Minaj (DC3)
"Satisfaction" -Benny Benassi (DC)
"Baby Got Back (Mix Mix)" -Sir Mix-A-Lot (DC2)
"Funky Town" -Lipps Inc. (DC)
"Lap Dance" -N.E.R.D. (DLC)
"All Around The World" -Justin Bieber (DLC)
"I Will Survive" -Gloria Gaynor (DC3)
Tamara as Maccoy
Michelle: If you're reading this, and you've always been interested in attending a convention and cosplaying, just do it! It's easy, as well as a freaking amazing experience! Every person in the community is so friendly, and you'll be accepted no matter what you decide on doing. Making friends in a breeze. You won't regret it!
Melissa: This is a really awesome opportunity and I'd really like to thank you all for this (more cosplayers need to get this kind of a positive reaction)! And seriously, if you're thinking of cosplaying, go for it!! I wish you the best of luck and hope you have an amazing experience if you do.
Check back with us the first week of each month to see who's turn it is in the Dancer's Spotlight! Think you know someone who deserves their moment? Drop us a line in the forums!