Developing Original Choreography
Interview with Edmund Chau
Eddie and co-choreographer Nicole practicing in the streets
below Pure Funk Dance Studio
Edmund Chau is a very familiar face on this blog, in a way he has become my gateway to the Adelaide hip hop community, and through his guidance I’m finally becoming immersed in the scene. After taking his classes at Pure Funk Dance Studio and interviewing him about the recent collaboration workshops between Pure Funk and Kultivate Dance academy (Check here for the full blog post and interview) I gained a lot of respect for Eddie and his work. His love for dance and for the studio seemed so genuine and It made me want to listen to him talk for hours.
And so… I did just that. I met up with Eddie again to learn more about his dance history and how he develops his original choreography.
Eddie recalls that when he first started choreographing, his main style was generally known as urban. However, as he began to better understand the culture surrounding hip hop he settled on a more R&B base saying “I do use a lot of early 2000s songs”, making mention of being very inspired by Brian Puspos’ abstract choreography in the early days.
Click here to watch one of Brian’s most well received pieces, a unique interpretation of ‘Hope You Do’ by Chris Brown which has gained over 1 million views.
Despite this, Eddie says his inspirations do change from time to time. When looking for a new muse he admits to spending a lot of time on YouTube, soaking up all the content that other choreographers are creating, “it’s really easy to fall into the creative journey of it all” says Eddie. This method helps him to develop new ideas and concepts to explore through his own choreography, emphasising the importance of finding inspiration this way saying, “sometimes they might project something you never thought of, and you want to use that as a reference after”.
As an example of this, Eddie references a fellow Adelaide dancer who created his own unique piece after watching the following video by one of their all-time favourite choreographers, Kyle Hanagami.
As a final note, Eddie shared some inspiring insight into the process of choreographing and the importance of connecting with a song –
“The way that you create the story and the movement, how it blends into the music, makes you create something more heartfelt. It helps to release some of the stress in life and has a positive impact. How I choreograph is all about what I feel about the music. If I have something I can relate to, I can create something deeper and project better into the performance. I would say I’m inspired by everyone in Adelaide who are involved in the scene, the creative process Is just beautiful to watch”
Thank you so much to Eddie for lending your time and doing such amazing work through Pure Funk!