Image: BBC Press Office
Mark Calape, aka Swarf Mafia is one of the Animaineax, whose group profile is really high since winning Move Like Michael Jackson, and our site statistics reflect their popularity at the moment!
I met Calape briefly last January at Funk Physics' We-R-One celebration after the main show to commend him on the group's original set. He was very humble about it all and he told me Animaineax had a lot in store for 2009. He wasn't wrong about that!
The way he picks up the different layers of the music when choreographing is what makes Calape, and indeed the Animaineax stand out, and is probably due to his "dance is a feeling, not just a routine" mantra.
Anyway, for the Mark 'Swarf' Calape fans here's a little more about the nonconformist Filipino allstar from Milton Keynes. First, to set the tone here's the Swarf Mafia showreel:
A couple of facts about Calape include his background in skateboarding. His YouTube includes videos of scoring some good air to pull off grinds on hand rails, shot skater style with full soundtrack and camera filters. Also, if you're wondering where he cops his clothing from, try Kaveman Clothing, where he's a member of the team (so are other members of the Animaineax if you were wondering where they get their clothes)
As a choreographer, Calape is very fortunate to get to travel the world to teach, judge and battle. Better yet for his fans, he's a keen YouTuber, cutting together videos of his adventures for people to watch. The video below shows him travelling Estonia, Korea, Vietnam, and others. It also has the début of the Man In The Mirror routine from Move Like Michael Jackson.
Let's get this out of the way too, ladies: Calape is a proud father, as you can tell how he signs off the above video.
His background in dance includes being the guy behind the dance group Pink Mafia (you can see him rocking the shirt in some of the videos), although before this he danced with a group Culture Shock Dance Troupe (I picked up that fact here), part of iDance.
Calape has also danced with a lot of the major street dance companies like Boy Blue in their Pied Piper tour last year, and a run in last season's Into The Hoods as well.
The music video résumé is healthy too. His most recent appearance included Jay Sean's Down video with Lil Wayne. It's been watched 29 million times, but you can probably spot Calape in one.
We believe its his relaxed attitude and quirky persona that will make Calape popular. Although he's out of his comfort zone in anything that isn't street dance or breaking, he's fared well so far in styles he's not trained in.
Same as with Tommy Franzén, being a street dancer we wish Mark Calape the best of luck in So You Think You Can Dance.
If you're that way inclined, you can 'fan' him on Facebook here.
Mark Calape's BBC So You Think You Can Dance page
Swarf TV YouTube
Swarf on MySpace - where he's posted most of his video appearances
You can comment and share your thoughts about Mark Calape below, or share this page on your social network. Also, if you linked over from Mark's fan page, don't forget to 'fan' us too, so we can keep you up to date with hip hop and street dance news and more!
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