If you didn’t manage to get a ticket for Mad Hatter’s Tea Party at the Royal Opera House because there were no tickets left or if you missed the live stream on the 18th December 2014 then this is your chance. It can now be viewed on BBC iPlayer until 22nd January.
Join us tomorrow morning (25th May) on BBC Radio Saturday Breakfast Show 94.9FM at 8.15am. The show is hosted by Joanne Good & Simon Lederman We’ll be talking about Some Like It Hip Hop. Hope you enjoy! đ
This is a performance I did with ZooNation at the Olivier Awards 2011 and was broadcast on BBC Red Button. It was mainly choreographed by Kate Prince but Duwane Taylor, Teneisha Bonner and I helped her with certain sections. It’s the BBC Symphony Orchestra playing an out take from West Side Story.
Since finishing as the runner up in BBC1’s “So You Think You Can Dance” UK season 1, Tommy has since then been a busy choreographer. He is Cher Lloyd’s choreographer for Swagger Jagger and is currently choreographing for ZooNation’s new show “Some Like It Hip Hop”. Tommy also choreographed in the streetdance show “Blaze”.
Hope you like it!
Since those toe tapping days Tommy has gone on to star in musicals, appear in films, adverts, and dance talent shows like âSo You Think You Can Danceâ (SYTYCD) U.K. If youâre still trying to place where you may have seen Tommy â think back to the âPepsi Can-Fuâ advert.
The âUrdangâ Academy graduate has achieved so much already, and is in talks to create his own dance show featuring âdancing and choreographyâ. He seems so passionate about this idea, he beams; âI really want my own project that I can put all my experience and heart in to.â Â I ask if he is worried that as a result of all the success and coverage of street dance in recent years, whether audiences will get bored of it. Tommy explains âYeah itâs possible but thatâs the risk with everything, choreographers could take things so far that thereâs no room to improve, but I think thatâll take at least a couple of years.â
The life of a dancer is certainly not all glitz and glam, Tommy recounts jobs where he has had little or no time to prepare and warm up âyouâre just on and you go ahead and do it and you donât have much time to take care of yourself.â While Tommy was in the bubble of SYTYCD he claims he had to âblock out everyday lifeâ he said âyou need to do that in order to do well, you canât have your mind anywhere else but in that place.â
SYTYCD dancer profile shots
I imagine one of the hardest things about a dancers life is the constant physical pressure. Tommy explains there are other less obvious aspects where dance can test you; âitâs also the mental pressure that you go through, itâs the panic of whether your brain has got enough capacity to take in any more information.âIt appears, not only do you have to be a positive healthy performer but you also need to be mentally strong. Tommy drives home the point âitâs such hard work to keep training all the time, you need to keep on top of it all the time even if youâre not working.â
No sooner had Tommy finished filming SYTYCD, then he was then snapped up by the smart people of Sadlers Wells to choreograph and perform in âBlazeâ the West End Street dance sensation. Used to dancing 10 hour days, the b-boying prince took it all in his stride. He explains that the unpredictability of dance is something he enjoys âyou donât know how much the next project is going to pay, but I kind of like that.
âThe thought of not really knowing, I kind of buzz off that.â
I ask Tommy what he thinks of starting to dance at an early age, he agrees that training earlier means youâll get more practise at the dance style, however âit could mean that you get bored of it earlier.â You often hear people reminiscing about the past, sighing âI really wish Iâd kept that upâ. Tommy himself is one example of picking dance up at a young age and has years of experience.
One dance forum suggested that all dancers who want to go pro are expected to commit to about 15 hours a week of technique training i.e. ballet, and anything up to twice that during summer months. Tommy explains that taking up technical dance styles that are designed to âtrain your body to look unnaturalâ at an early age can be âtough on the body in later years.â
The qualified massage therapist, yes you read correctly, feels most comfortable b-boying and conceptualising hip-hop choreography. We start discussing the topic of b-boying, or rather b-girling. He agrees that it is still very much a manâs game âI canât really think of any female b-girl pioneers off-hand, it would be nice to see more women in that styleâ adding âyou get a lot of b-girls that dance like men.
âIt is nice sometimes to see men dance like men and women dance like women.â
Most of the male pioneers of B-boying are old school battlers who stand for the East coast or the West coast of America. The U.S. soul and funk movement is where b-boying was given birth. From the hot stepping feet of James Brown, to battle-zoneâs like âHarlem Worldâ of 116th street, Harlem. âI Love dancing to old funk tracks, and I look up to East coast and West coast greats like Mr. Wiggles and the guys from Rock Steady Crew.â
How have the last 12 months been?
“It’s been brilliant and it’s still accelerating. It’s not stopped even 12 months on. I have moved slightly into choreography. I haven’t done that consciously because I want to dance for a bit longer. But I’ve had lots of requests and it’s just naturally moved that way without me trying. I can’t complain really.”
What projects are you working on right now?
“I’ve got three exciting projects at the moment. One is choreographing for Cher Lloyd, her first single and her promo tour, which is new to me. At the moment, I’ve got a show on at The Place, a show I’ve done with Supple, one of the choreographers for So You Think You Can Dance and creative director for Got To Dance . Then I’m also working on Some Like It Hip-Hop, where I’ll be choreographing and playing one of the leads. We’re doing a month of that at the Peacock Theatre.”
Is the Cher Lloyd work getting you lots of attention?
“The hype is so high about her. If you mention anything on Twitter all her fans start following me and start tweeting me, ‘say hello to Cher for me’. They are just so excited about what she’ll come out with, so I tease them a little bit with information and pieces like that.”
What do you make to her first single?
“I am actually. I think the song will do really well. Especially among teenagers. It’s really catchy. I think the video is going to be wicked too. From what I’ve seen on the shoot, I think it will be a good one. There is something special about her. She’s got that swagger and you can see that on X Factor when she’s performing. She moves really nicely too. She’s not a trained dancer or anything, but when she does, it’s really, really good.”
The So You Think You Can Dance final airs on Saturday at 7.15pm on BBC One.
Well this was recorded last November so it’s kind of a bit dated! They used some weird clips of me and Lizzie (well particularly me lol) which would rather qualify as outtakes. Haha! Never mind…. Enjoy!
Tommy Franzen and Mandy Montanez’s Broadway routine from week 4 of So You Think You Can Dance UK 2010. Video clip includes the VT and the judge’s comments. It’s so funny as I didn’t say ‘….we are an unfortunate couple…’Â in that context. What I really said was ‘People might see us as an unfortunate couple but we feel very strong together’ or something like that. Lol!
I love Nigel Lythgoe’s comments at the end! His words makes me feel so honored.
Choreography: Stephen Mear
Music: There’s Got To Be Something Better Than This from Sweet Charity
Tommy Franzen and Yanet Fuentes Salsa routine from week 3 of So You Think You Can Dance UK 2010. Video clip includes the VT and the judge’s comments. I had never done salsa before and it was so difficult but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Latin queen Yanet helped me a lot đ
Tommy and Charlie’s Pop Jazz routine from week 2 of So You Think You Can Dance 2010. Video clip includes the VT and the judge’s comments. Slightly cringe worthy VT for me with the drama going on between me and the choreographer but I’m sharing it anyway. The disagreement between Arlene and Sisco at the end is hilarious though.
Choreography: Frank Gatson
Music: “Everybody In Love” by JLS
Tommy Franzen and Charlie Bruce’s hip hop routine from week 1 of So You Think You Can Dance 2010. Video clip includes the VT and the judge’s comments as well.
Choreography: Simeon Qseya.
Music: “The Way I Are” by Timberland
This is Tommy Franzen’s final solo from “So You Think You Can Dance UK”. Series 1 week 6 (final week). The song is “Cry Me A River” by Justin Timberlake.
Simeon Qseya choreographed a hip hop routine for the choreography camp of So You Think You Can Dance 2011 and Tommy & Lizzie performed it for the contestants. Afterwards Simeon, Tommy and Lizzie taught the routine to the contestants but unfortunately the performance didn’t make the edit in episode 2. The video of Tommy & Lizzie rehearsing the routine is by no means polished as it was done in 2 hours but I thought it might be interesting to see the whole routine.
My solos from So You Think You Can Dance where taken off YouTube for some reason so I’m uploading them again and we’ll see if they stay on there. This one is from SYTYCD Series one, week 3. The song is Beggin’ by Madcon.
Don’t forget to watch the Olivier Awards tomorrow (Sunday) at 6pm. I’m dancing with ZooNation in a hip hop interpretation of The Quintet and Somewhere from West Side Story. The night is also celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday.
@IAPonomarenko Iâm really happy and proud of my country đžđȘ to finally send these and hope they will prove to become very useful for đșđŠ đ 1 week ago
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