Jay from Streetdance 3D: Ukweli Roach aka Quails / Quailbird

"Jay from Streetdance 3D" is the most popular search landing people on the site right now. Although, when you're bare chested on the poster of an international movie its hard not attract that sort of attention. (Read all of our Streetdance 3D blogs here)

People will want to know a little more about Ukweli Roach, or for those in dance, Quails from Birdgang (hint: all of Birdgang's dancers are named after a bird).

On the name tip, the closest translation of 'ukweli' to English comes from the Swahili word for 'truth.' Hopefully we can enlighten you with some truth about who he be. Details of his CV seem a little scarce on the internet, so we've done the research to save you time.

After seeing Ukweli as Jay in Streetdance 3D you might wonder about his career. Dancer? Actor? ... Model? Maybe all of the above?

Ukweli Roach (Jay) at Streetdance 3D DVD launch party premiere


For some, you might have even seen him perform without realising - most recently he was in Blaze: The Streetdance Sensation, which made its début worldwide at the Peacock Theatre before touring Europe, as well as appearing in earlier runs of Into The Hoods.

Ukweli has been dancing professionally since 18, and past jobs included dancing for Mariah Carey, Alexandra Burke and Kylie Minogue.

Ukweli also dances, choreographs and teaches for Birdgang, for which he is also one of the company directors. One example of his finest choreography includes Me and Mrs Jones:


The dancing doesn't stop at street, however. Ukeweli is also capable of tap (as showcased in Blaze), flamenco and Latin, singing in tenor and baritone, playing the trumpet at grade 6 level and speaking conversational Spanish.

While Streetdance 3D is Ukweli's first film, his acting resumé includes Shakespeare, having trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he attained a Bachelor of the Arts in acting.

Notable acting appearances whilst at RADA included playing Mr Grisby in The Importance of Being Earnest, Oedipus in Oedipus the King and Achilles in Troilus and Cressida. His Shakespeare performances have seen him grace the stage at The Globe in Helen and Romeo and Juliet.

There's plenty in store for Ukweli. Although a reputable international dancer and battler, his appearance in Streetdance 3D will open the opportunities for pursuing his acting career further, but will that mean leaving dancing behind?



Ukweli's next silver screen appearance is Venus and the Sun - a short film alongside Page 3 model Keeley Hazel and Will Smith (not the Fresh Prince one).

Keep up with Ukeweli on his YouTube

Read our review of Streetdance 3D

Facts are correct at time of publishing.
You can leave your comments/corrections in the box below.

Who are Ruby Girls?

Ruby Girls: A cut above the rest.

What began as an evening class at Husky's dance studios as a side project for Birdgang has resulted in as a flock of chicks (sorry about the bird puns) that are so risqué when they perform that you're not sure whether to avert your eyes or stare in 'support.'

Several million men will be showing their so-called support with them being on Britain's Got Talent, and ITV having to tone down their performance to make it suitable for a prime time slot!

Ruby Girls showreel (see more on YouTube)


Do I want to go on about their looks? It's hard not to, considering their image!

The first time I saw Ruby Girls at Birdgang Presents: The Pioneers, which was early in their inception. Although the context of the show was mainly street dance, Ruby Girls stood out not just for their look, but their extreme and energetic style.


Ruby Girls, rather than becoming 'Birdgang Girls' the suffix other street dance groups add to their name to differentiate between companies, created a completely different image from the original Birdgang hooded-and-masked look and feel, instead taking what they had learned and were then studying in classical styles, with an emphasis on jazz - don't they look like they belong to the cast of Chicago?

Over the months, developing from training, and for some graduating too, is when Ruby Girls began to pick up. As most group members are models, the group started to get snapped up for commercial jobs.

Rai Quartley, founder and director, is also responsible for most of the choreography.

If you thought Beyoncé looked great in Single Ladies, then the flash mob that Ruby were part of will multiply your desire!

Note: the music has been changed due to YouTube's music policy... Just enjoy the moving pictures.

Ruby Girls are the stars, sorry, gems in Britain's Got Talent. However, enjoy them on TV while you can - read our earlier blog to find out why they won't win...

What are your thoughts on Ruby Girls? You can post your comments below.

Ruby Girls won't win Britain's Got Talent

Ruby Girls may be "a cut above the rest" but they won't win Britain's Got Talent
Reality TV should come with a health warning...

I can't help but feel the headline will annoy a few people. Luckily I can back up my statement. Keep reading.

Hooray for Ruby Girls, they're on Britain's Got Talent tomorrow night! The sister company to Birdgang (so to speak) and a collection of stunning women/models/dancers, all, if not mostly, classically trained. The Sun has described them as "a Britain's Got Talent gem."


Their success has been far-reaching in the industry since one of their earliest performances at Birdgang Presents: UK Pioneers several years ago. The Single Ladies flashmob they featured in has been watched over four million times on YouTube:


But, no matter how much you rate Ruby Girls when you see their performance tomorrow, they won't win the competition. I guess what you could call an editorial mistake it's already leaked Ruby Girls won't win - even though they made it past the qualifying round.

Digital Spy 'revealed' they were confident of making the semi finals, but contrary to misconstrued quotes and media spin, that will remain to be seen by how the show is eventually cut. 

In an interview with Rai Quartley, Ruby Girls' choreographer,  for a lad's sport magazine it was let slip that they won't be going through to the the later rounds of Britain's Got Talent - producers don't want another dance group winning the show.

Click below to view the full image:

In the interview, Quartley said:

"They said we were the best dance act they’d seen this season but they can’t put us through. We’re not allowed to ask them why. We’re not allowed to ask them any questions. One of the producers came up to us and explained that they don’t want a dance act to win this year so they couldn’t put us through. There’s no justice!"

This means, guys, that no amount of voting, for Ruby or anyone else of their caliber, will succeed in their progress, only make ITV and SyCo (the production company) a hefty wad of cash. It is after all the altered reality of so-called 'reality' TV, and all part of ITV's ratings machines.

Major respect to Ruby Girls for making the cut to the on air programmes, and any other dance groups who get on the show. The exposure (like 4 million YouTube views of the Single Ladies flashmob doesn't count!) from any reality TV show that pulls in millions of viewers will get the group wider recognition.

But dance groups should look elsewhere to showcase their talent - Birdgang/Ruby Girls' choreographer Simeon Qysea was one of the returning choreographers for So You Think You Can Dance and has turned around the clumsy dance talents of JLS to something more refined. These are pros on a show with amateurs.

Most of Ruby Girls are already professionals anyway. Ruby on Britain's Got Talent is like the way Flawless 'told' Diversity "This is how it's supposed to be done!"

You can find out more about Ruby Girls on their Facebook page - search "Ruby Girls"

Your comments are welcome. Use the box below to respond.

#SYTYCD So You Think You Can Dance week 3 hip hop duet videos, and routine of the week

Week three and it heated up on So You Think You Can Dance. The dancers were paired up with dancers they hadn't worked with the previous weeks, and there were even more solo performances too.
That means we're not going to look at all the routines except the hip hop duets and the routine of the week, otherwise it would take forever - by the time it would be done it would be Saturday and time for the next episode!

To see the week three solo hip hop routines, click here.

Alastair and Hayley dance hip hop

Choreographer: Simeon Qsyea (Birdgang), assistant Kayla Lomas
Song: Chris Brown - Forever
Outstanding moment:
Conceptually this impressed me. Each week the bar is being raised in terms of creativity, and you might think "Oh, wow, a wall prop," but the choreography is what sets it aside, such as the connection the dancers have between it - 20 seconds in and I was laughing at the (assumed) reference to Birdgang. 
Technically this routine wasn't danced flawlessly as made obvious by the screen divided by the wall - imagine how it would look if it was.

Week 3 group hip hop routine

Choreographer: Simeon Qsyea (BirdGang)
Song: Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
Outstanding moment: "B-boys and b-girls" lyric is where the breaking starts. It doesn't take a genius to work out why that's good: the elements of the music were being adhered to!
This had so much Bird written all over it that it would have flown over (no pun intended) the heads of those who have never seen a Birdgang performance before. Group moments, good use of the solo dancers (Tommy and Mark both breaking) and just a good all-round piece, on many levels.

Routine of the week: Tommy and Yanet dance salsa

Why is this routine of the week? Because once again Tommy manages to adapt to a style not familiar to him, and further to his credit as a dynamic dancer, he even went to a Cuban night club to learn more about the dance! That's commitment you don't see very often, which is why it was a shame he was voted as one of the bottom two.

Dance2HelpHaiti Fundraiser demonstrates hip hop's sense of community

I said it before in my report and I'll say it again - Dance2HelpHaiti was an event that should be remembered for being turned around the in the shortest time - and it showed the community that hip hop holds.

Off their own backs (with the support of Sadler's Wells), Zoonation and Impact Dance set up a fundraising day for the victims of Haiti earthquake, and hundreds of people turned up.
So many turned up, in fact, that the total amount raised stands at £2,458 (if you include those who donated online).

What's more, the choreographers involved, namely Kate Prince, Simeon Qsyea and Kenrick Sandy, took time out of choreographing for next week's So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) to be there at such short notice.

Choreographers, when commissioned for big jobs such as SYTYCD, won't usually have a lot of time on their hands, considering the time they need to travel, teach and rehearse. Yet after a few phone calls appointments had been moved around and all were able to make the time to do the fundraiser.

It made me think back to the Mr Wiggles Pioneers lectures where Wiggles and Billy Bizzness talked about this sense of 'community' in hip hop - well last Sunday was just that! Which is why I decided to ask: did Dance2HelpHaiti show the unity of hip hop dance today?

"The fact that we had hundreds of people pass through today shows what it's all about," said Hakeem to us afterwards. "It shows you can fall back on the community. There is a community, they (you) can tap into it, it shows that people do care about other people."

Check out Kate Prince and Hakeem talking about the unity of hip hop (from 2min, 54sec):


Further credit must be given to the dancer from Unity (and that's not a pun on the topic of this blog) who even reached out to our writer, Archie, who was watching as I took a class, and asked her how she was. It's stuff like that that brightens a person's day and shows how accepting people in hip hop are.

After leaving were were discussing this and she said to me "Even stuff like today brings people together and shows community - asking a complete stranger how they are."

I said "That's not just being polite. That's hip hop."

If your hip hop or street dance teacher isn't teaching you about the hip hop community or its history, find a new class.

Read the Dance2HelpHaiti report here.

You can comment below!

So You Think You Can Dance hiphop routines

So You Think You Can Dance hip hop routines courtesy of illegal YouTube...


Tommy Franzen and Charlie Bruce "The Bench Routine"

 
Choreographer: Simeon Qsyea of Birdgang
Song: Timbaland - The Way I Are
Outstanding moment:  Knee drop (30sec); The tutting section (1min 17sec)
Tommy and Charlie's routine had some moves that reflect Simeon's style in the choreography with plenty of 'and' counts, although considering Charlie's main style isn't hip hop, reproduction of it was a little under par (but not bad considering - if Simeon can turn around JLS' talents, think what he can do with a developing jazz dancer).
With a bench prop the routine worked well to include levels, a meeting point for the dancers, as well as a stage to pull off moves, which worked to Tommy's strengths as a b-boy. Of both hip hop partner routines, I preferred this one.

Mark Calape and Lizzie Gough
 
Choreographer: Kate Prince of Zoonation
Song: Rihanna - Take A Bow
Outstanding moment: Hat and kneeslide (30sec) - slick
A big NO to the choice of song, considering Take A Bow is so often a sending home song on X Factor! I wasn't feeling Kate Prince's routine last week in the choreography camp, considering it was labelled 'hip hop' when it was actually a) not to a hip hop song, and b) a fusion with hip hop styles but not specifically hip hop - don't be misled.
The style of the routine (lyrical hip hop) was a wink in the direction of her Into The Hoods production, which included full props and costume, with big smiles and jazz hands. Both Mark and Lizzie performed the routine as it was intended to look, although it was nothing they wouldn't have been capable of, so it was a lucky pairing of styles and dancers.

Lizzie and Tommy are both starring in Blaze at the Peacock Theatre in March - click here to buy tickets!

What did you think? Which do you think was the better hip hop routine on So You Think You Can Dance? You can comment below!