A Sneak Peek of Steven

Steven was first introduced to ACC as a foster kid during a promotional tour. He explained that enrollment in college is very rare for young adults coming out of foster care, so ACC tries to encourage higher education with these tours. Steven fell in love with the small community at ACC because it felt like a family to him.

Steven onstage. 

For Steven’s solo, he was inspired by the connection between music and dance; especially the image of a hip-hop artist and a boom box. A huge fan of Step Up 3, Steven used the quote “born from a boom box” to create a character for his dance. His choreography also has moments of improvisation so each night will have something special.

The biggest challenge Steven had to overcome was not settling for familiarity in his dance vocabulary. Steven said, “I’m known for doing hip-hip and most colleges don’t usually have a lot of hip-hop. So I wanted to bring that to the stage but not disappoint my instructors either.” He pushed himself to try new contemporary movements which were slower and more sustained than his preferred hip-hop technique.

Steven’s favorite dancer is Adam Sevani who is most famous for his role of “Moose” in the Step Up movies. Sevani inspired Steven to find his love for entertainment.

What drives Steven to dance? “Giving joy to people,” he said. “I like to dance in the streets of Austin sometimes just to get people to smile. For me, being a dancer is about making people smile.” 

Our show opens Friday night at 8PM - you don't want to miss it!

Pictures by Anne Wharton