We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leonardo Flores. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leonardo below.

Leonardo, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

5, 6, 7, 8 let’s talk about Street Dance. My name is Leonardo Flores and in the Street Dance community, I’m called “Inner-G”, a play on words that describes my persona when dancing and my high energy approach. I never planned to be a dancer, but I found my calling, community, and mission through Street Dance and Versa-Style Street Dance Company and only look back when my body is aching from hard work, everyday haha. But I LOVE it and wouldn’t have it any other way.

With that hard work, I have learned many valuable insights as I have developed my career and approach to Street Dance. I strive to bring weight and respect to Street Dance as a valuable and necessary art for all communities, but especially with high risk and impacted youth in the city. I take great pride in being able to share the tools that have developed me into the Street Dance practitioner I am today and continue to grow into.

I have summed my expertise in Street Dance to three main practices including Dancing, Teaching, and MCing, each of which have aspects that overlap, but also are distinct in their own necessary skills and lessons learned.

Like every career path, it takes work to be the best. An integral part of Street Dance culture is the competitive “1 up” aspect where everyone is on a quest to be the best. Of course, being the best is subjective, but I am specifically referencing my own mindset and approach to Street Dance. Growing up, I found inspiration in big sports names like Kobe Bryant and learned that their success came from discipline, consistency, and a love for the sport. I apply these principles to my dance.

At my core, I am a foundational based movement artist, meaning I highlight technique and fundamentals in my movement first. The value of training, drilling, and repetitions cannot be understated. Like Bryant practicing his Free Throw, I practice my Fresno to make sure that the base of my dance is on point. While the routines and choreography is a fun way to learn dance, speaking to longevity and developing skill, drilling and repetition is the way to do it.

Being a great dancer does not necessarily mean being a great teacher. Teaching is its own skill that requires development through practice and experience. Being a successful teacher in dance is one that is able to adapt and understand the needs and wants of students to mesh and create a fun, but also valuable learning experience. The goal is to build an individual as a badass dancer, and responsible practitioner of the culture at the same time. I often reference my own upbringing in dance and highlight the things that worked and drop or adjust the things that did not. Some of my primary tools have been using Hip Hop cultural practices like cyphers, battles, and call and response to build confidence and experience in sharing dance with others. Most people fear showcasing their dance in public and so if a teacher can facilitate a space of encouragement and feel-good activities, the students are likely to succeed in dance.

Finally, being an MC (Master of Ceremony) has equipped me with the tools to facilitate groups of people. At its core, Street Dance is social and so the ability to bring people together to dance is essential. As an MC, I have hosted a number of events and have learned that every gathering can use an MC to guide and entertain an audience. In addition, MCing has given me an edge in promoting messages as I continue to tune my public speaking skills. MCing has assisted me in spaces where I am teaching and sharing Street Dance and is a big part as to why I am able to connect with a wide field of differing demographics. An MC brings everything and everyone together.

I am not just a dancer, but am a Street Dance practitioner.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and split my time between the San Fernando Valley and the city. I went to public schools in LA and worked hard to eventually attend and graduate with a B.A. in Dance and B.A. in History from UCLA. I always envisioned myself wearing a suit and tie to work and so having the chance to wear slacks and a collar as a dancer (Funk Style Dance attire) was a welcomed reality.

My mom and stepdad are dancers and directors of Versa-Style Street Dance Company, and so some would say it was fate that I would be a dancer too. Fate came late as I started dancing at age 15, about 10 years later than I would have liked but I was dealing with my own internalized feelings of balancing what my non-dancing dad wanted, and what made me feel good. After a long slog of 15 rounds, dance won out and I am very happy for it.

Growing up, I was around lots of peers who were at risk of falling into crime, unplanned parenthood, and substance abuse. These are a common reality across communities in LA and so as someone who was guided away from that reality with dance, I strive to share my experience with others who may need it. Some of the work I am most proud of is my work with incarcerated youth through Versa-Style, something I started doing in 2019. I have learned that people fall into the wrong things when they don’t have community and support to lean into. By facilitating dance class and providing a positive platform of expression and community to participate, we are able to prevent rising crime and incarceration. Dance is a physical outlet for youth to release energy which can be accessed anywhere as opposed to sports that require equipment. Dance also promotes community and relationship building because as at its core, Street Dance is social and is best practiced in spaces with other people for call and response energy dynamics. Art heals and so we use Street Dance as a preventative and healing platform to build our youth in positive modes of expression.

In addition, I am proud of my artistic visions, specifically my choreographed works across different platforms like universities and private groups of dancers. Fine arts performance spaces are dominated by classical forms of dance and so I work to flip the script and elevate Street Dance to the same plane. Having the opportunity to choreograph on other individuals and having their trust to bring to life my vision is a truly rewarding experience that I hope to continue to explore and build experience in.

Finally, I LOVE TO BATTLE. I am proud of my work to build my own reputation in the Street Dance community. While I am not the best –yet, I am proud to see where I am now compared to where I started. The battle scene is integral to the Street Dance community as it fully encompasses the “1 up” mentality within Street Dance that I subscribe to myself. A friendly and positive exchange of artistry at a high intensity is the best feeling and thrill of them all in dance.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I feel good. Physically and mentally, Street Dance fulfils my soul and brings me happiness and healing. Being able to earn an income to support myself as an artist in Los Angeles has been a blessing. At the same time I am in a career that keeps me physically fit and healthy. I enjoy music everyday and have the opportunity to interpret music with my body to make me feel good. My life has been ideal since dance entered and so I think the most rewarding aspect is that I have the chance to share the same positive experience with others through dancing, teaching, MCing, and practicing Street Dance culture.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I am on a quest to be the best version of myself. Ultimately, I would like to make contributions to the Street Dance community that can influence the journey of others and the culture as a whole. I am still developing my own personal approach/style to Street Dance and so as I continue my journey, I will work to articulate and record the tools and techniques I implement. Overall, I would like my own approaches to be spread and taught to aspiring Street Dance practitioners. I foresee myself sharing my work in universities, conventions, studios, and other forums that promote learning dance. Overall, I want to be part of the solution in elevating Street Dance to the world stage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://versastyledance.org/about/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inner_gfunk/profilecard/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/versastylela
• Other: https://versastyledance.networkforgood.com/projects/110676-main-giving-page

Image Credits

Ernesto Galarza
George Simian