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October Dancer's Spotlight: Meet Kei

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.


MEET THE DANCER

Hey, I’m Kei from Singapore, and my hobbies include sleeping, drawing and procrastinating! I’m also a fresh university graduate bumming about for the moment. Life is pretty good.

You can find me and my doodles on Tumblr and DeviantArt.

DANCE CENTRAL BEGINNINGS

I first met Dance Central in August 2011 with a couple of old high school friends at a video gaming café. One of them was raving about this new Kinect game called Dance Central and I was honestly initially more interested in this newfangled Kinect technology than the game itself. when we got the game started up, I was immediately drawn to the awesome character and venue designs. A lot of my friends used to dance in theatre productions in our high school. They were all incredibly competitive so the Dance Battles were especially intense! Soon after, I found out Harmonix was releasing a sequel to Dance Central, and after watching videos I fell in love with our favourite beach hunk Bodie. Watching all the Dance Central videos on Youtube single-handedly convinced me to get the console and game, and I have to admit I haven’t looked back since.

Dance Central became a way for me to exercise (jogging does not exist in my vocabulary), and dance as badly as I liked in the comforts of my own living room. Back in high school, I admired my dancer friends, and how good they looked just moving to music, so Dance Central also became an opportunity for me to learn how to dance.

FAN ART MOTIVATION

I first fell in love with Dance Central because of the solid character profiles and venues. Every character in Dance Central 2 has a distinct personality and look which just gets you interested in knowing more about their backstories. Bodie especially, but that’s biasspeaking. The venues as well make the world of Dance Central really beautiful. I guess I wanted to explore more of these characters and their designs through my art.

ART STYLINGS

I primarily use digital mediums: Paint Tool SAI, Photoshop CS5, and a Wacom Bamboo tablet. Sometimes I work with Copic markers and colour pencils on paper as well! Interestingly enough, I got to explore a lot of different styles doodling Dance Central stuff, so a big thank you Dance Central for grooming me to be a better dancer and also a better artist?! There’s a certain style I use involving colour-blocking in shapes which I find pretty therapeutic though. I don’t have a favourite style though; usually I draw in whatever way I think fits a piece best, or feel like using on the spur of the moment.

THE PROCESS

There’re lots of way through which I come up with ideas for drawing! it comes when I’m playing a routine on the game, and one of the characters says something or looks silly which makes me think, What could have led up to that happening in a scenario/What are the repercussions of that character saying/doing that to another? But the most fun way I come up with ideas is when I bounce scenarios off fellow Dance Central fan friends like Bebe (http://limbebe.deviantart.com/). We’ve had many a conversation making fun of Angel’s one-sided relationship with Miss Aubrey, mocking Oblio’s hipster deepness (You have five stars but do you have five stars, everyone?), exploring absurd Tan family life, imagining dating simulation scenarios for the characters… The list could go on and on. I keep a list of all the comic ideas/pictures I want to draw, and have to admit I haven’t come close to getting through drawing all of them.

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING ARTISTS

Believe in yourself and your art. There will be many times you’ll feel like quitting because you can't get your work to look the way you want it to or because you see people better than you. DON'T QUIT.

Observe everything around you:people, places and things. Draw inspiration from what you see.

Doodle daily if possible. Get comfortable with your mediums! Don't worry about perfect.

Impact! What is the one focal point of your piece you want to highlight and draw viewers’ attention to? Build on that.

Enjoy what you do. Sometimes you might feel discouraged, but remember, drawing as a hobby is not about garnering attention or likes, but about doing something you enjoy.

When you put these points all together, you get BODIE! So when you feel discouraged with your work, remember the five BODIE points and also remember that stud of a guy who never fails to encourage you with his flashy smile. These are honestly issues that I myself am struggling to work on, so let’s remember Bodie and tackle them together!

KEI'S PLAYLIST CHALLENGE

Because I use Dance Central as a way to exercise and keep fit, I love the energetic, heart-pumping songs which really make me work and move. I hope the community finds these songs a good workout too!

  • "Mr. Saxobeat" -Alexandra Stan (DC3)

  • "Moves Like Jagger" -Maroon 5 (DC3)

  • "We No Speak Americano" -Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP (DLC)

  • "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)" -Gnarls Barkley (DC2)

  • "You Make Me Feel..." -Cobra Starship ft. Sabi (DC3)

  • "Get Low" -Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz (DC3)

  • "Don't Touch Me (Throwd Da Water On 'Em)" -Busta Rhymes (DLC)

  • "All Around the World" -Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris (DLC)

  • "Whip It" -Nicki Minaj

  • "Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix" -Beastie Boys (DC)

CLOSING REMARKS

The good people at Flawless Freestyle are celebrating Dance Central 3’s One Year Anniversary. Let’s come together to make some noise for the best dance game out there!!

And lastly, major props to Harmonix for making this game, through which I’ve made lots of good memories, friends and experiences. And also to the amazing team of choreographers for literally making us WORK.


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!