Dancer Austin Taylor, 18, has 2.6 million followers on TikTok and created a dance that went viral with greater than 52 million views. Picture / Alex Cairns
For a lot of teenagers their first job out of college is in quick meals or retail however one college leaver has hit the jackpot, due to his dance abilities. After overcoming a severe well being blow, Austin Taylor has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers inside a yr and is taking his expertise from the Bay into the fantastic world of Disney and past. Catherine Sylvester finds out what makes the 18-year-old Tik(Tok).
What began as a little bit of enjoyable after dance class has shortly blossomed right into a TikTok following of two.6 million for Austin Taylor.
The Tauranga teen’s social media profile “blew up” in a single day after a dance he got here up with in his kitchen went viral on-line.
His clip has attracted greater than 52 million views on TikTok.
Taylor recorded it with buddies after a dance class in February final yr and it “blew up” in a single day.
“I woke as much as one million views after which it simply took off from there.
“It was much more loopy when everybody began doing it,” the 18-year-old says.
“It ended up with over 200,000 folks utilizing that sound and doing my dance to that.”
Sounds, posts, likes and followers – all phrases right now’s youngsters are well-versed in. They can be monetised by these expert sufficient to faucet into the present zeitgeist.
Inside months of going viral, Austin acquired paid presents from corporations wanting him to publish movies with sounds [music] they despatched him. Typically they request he create a dance and different occasions he’s given a dance to carry out.
“I additionally get model promos that are a bit rarer, however they’re additionally cool.”
He had labored with Nike, JD Sports activities, Jay Jays, and native manufacturers like YouKnow. Clothes.
“They ship you garments and when you put on them, you’re reimbursed.”
Lately, he has added modeling in photoshoots for manufacturers to his repertoire.
“I didn’t realise what number of alternatives might come from social media however it’s just about a job for me now,” he says, including he was nonetheless studying methods to maximise it.
“Most jobs have a set pathway and that is form of something goes.”
A stroke and misplaced imaginative and prescient
Simply three years in the past, Austin’s desires might have been derailed when he had a stroke at age 16.
It occurred 5 minutes after leaving the stage at Baycourt in the course of the Tauranga Performing Arts dance competitors.
It left him with out imaginative and prescient in a single eye, and when he returned to the dance studio six months later, he needed to discover ways to transfer his physique once more.
“It took fairly some time to regulate initially, however it doesn’t have an effect on me anymore,” he says.
He had been dancing for greater than a decade with expertise in jazz, up to date, lyrical, ballet, and musical theatre with Dance Avenue, however the ex-Ōtumoetai School scholar has made his mark with hip-hop.
He’s carried out with Tauranga’s House Studios and was a member of its varsity crew, Outkasts, who received bronze on the Hip Hop Worldwide world dance championships in Arizona final yr. He’s now with Auckland’s Id Dance Firm [IDCO].
Director of IDCO Josh Cesan says, “I’ve been a choregrapher/dancer and coach on the worldwide stage for over 10 years and might positively say Austin is up there with a few of the greatest dancers and performers we’ve ever had come to [our company].
“He’s humble, hardworking and immensely devoted and that reveals not solely on the stage however along with his worldwide following.”
Dancing for Disney
Earlier this yr, Austin noticed a casting name on social media for Disney film Zombies 4. Although solely two days earlier than the audition, he thought, “Why not?”, and went for it.
After a irritating week, he realized he had made it. He moved into an Auckland condo the studio organized for him and work began the following day.
Describing the month of day by day 9-to-5 rehearsals as “intense, unimaginable and so cool”, Austin says the choreographers had been “tremendous welcoming and wonderful folks to work with”.
One in all a core solid of 24, filming took 36 days of lengthy hours on set with early begins requiring 3 or 4am wake-up calls.
With an infectiously optimistic angle, Austin says it was initially a tough adjustment – “It’s not a youngster’s schedule, is it?”.
He tailored shortly and located catching the dawn was an “unimaginable expertise”.
Grateful for each alternative, Austin notably loved the appearing side of performing within the movie and hopes to do extra.
With Zombies 4 – due for launch subsequent yr – on his resume, his social media success, and an invite for his IDCO crew to showcase on the World of Dance competitors in Los Angeles later within the yr, he plans to profit from his profession momentum.
“I’m in Los Angeles for all of August and can take a bunch of dance and appearing courses, and have a look at brokers.”
The last word job? “An enormous dream is to have the ability to backup dance for an artist and when you’ve accomplished that, it could actually enable you to transfer from job to job.”
Regardless of his dad and mom and two youthful siblings lacking him, alternative knocks, and after a brief break again residence in Tauranga, the younger man is heading again to Auckland. That’s, till his subsequent enterprise beckons.
Catherine Sylvester is a multimedia journalist on the Bay of A lot Occasions and Rotorua Each day Submit. She has a background in characteristic writing, radio and tv, and has taught media at a tertiary stage.
