Dancer takes hip-hop on to the world stage
‘‘Representing New Zealand over in Las Vegas for the first time wasmy first tick off the dream list.’’
Being confused for a girl gave Upper Hutt dancer Connor Masseur a push to improve his hip-hop moves.
‘‘When I was around eight, I had really long hair and was quite overweight, giving my chest area quite a lot of hang and jiggle,’’ he said.
With his love of hip-hop, he entered a dance battle and was confident he could come out on top.
‘‘Until during my round, showing off my moves I had been working so hard on, a voice from the crowd yelled ‘Wow SHE is dope!’’’
Stunned, he left the competition and stepped up his training, working out before practising.
Masseurs has come a long way since then. He is now a third-year contemporary dance student in the New Zealand Dance Company and is on tour with them, performing the Absurdity of Humanity.
Masseurs fell in love with hip-hop after watching dance crew Jabbawockeez take out the winners title on the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008.
During intermediate school, he would memorise the group’s dances and perform them at school talent shows and hoped one day to perform with them.
He has been working in and around hip-hop for the last 11 years, and danced at the World Hip Hop International Championships in America..
‘‘Representing New Zealand over in Las Vegas for the first time was my first tick off the dream list. Massive sense of fulfillment, which I also feel every time in the middle of a [dance] battle. The satisfaction of all your work been tested against someone else’s then to see all the judges’ hands pointing towards your end of the dance floor (the voting system on who wins) is unreal!’’
When he competes in hip-hop competitions, he goes by the name ‘‘Ooshcon’’, his ‘‘alterego’’. His life as Ooshcon features heavily in his future plans.
‘‘I have two primary goals, one of which is to make my battle persona ‘Ooshcon’ an international threat within the battle scene.
‘‘The other is to create my own company called SUB based in Wellington with my business partner Toa Paranihi where we will make original work combining and clashing the worlds of hip-hop and contemporary.
‘‘Watch this space!’’
Absurdity of Humanity September
The House. Ticketek. 20 at the Opera Tickets through