15 Minutes with Patrick Loo

I had the chance to interview Patrick from Danz people. He can be considered the Godfather of Hip Hop in Singapore being one of the pioneers that did Hip Hop way back in the 1980s. Advocating a local style for the hip hop in Singapore, he has charted the path for the growing scene in Singapore.

1. So when did you start dancing?

It was way back in 1986 where I started at Neptune theatre restaurant. I then joined the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation as a full time dancer in ’88.

2. So its been like 20 over years you’ve been dancing… What got you started and what kept you going on with it?

Believe it or not it was because of the dance movies back then. It was John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, Fame and of course Break dance movie. I started with popping back then but with SBC, I was required to do Jazz and Ballet as well. My hip hop influences came from Michael Jackson and Bobby Brown. The important thing is that you wake up in the morning knowing that you’ll be doing something that you love.

3. Could you tell us about the changes that had happened in the dance scene since back then?

There was no materials back then for Hip Hop. Everything was quite DIY. Only later when we had the VCR and video cassettes tapes that we started to have a bit more to work with. It was more of sharing among peers.It’s the better days now for hip hop then ever before. As long as artistes continue with hip hop songs the dance will stay.

4. Could you tell us more about your recent trip to LA? What is the difference between us and them?

LIGHT YEARS!!! It’s a totally different scene. Its all about the attitude. People over there are generally very much “in your face”. Singaporeans are so shy in comparison. And the people there are more open to criticism, they just move on despite the bad stuff they encounter. Like how you see it on American idol, everyone who auditions thinks they can sing and will not be put down so easily.

They also have a very mixed genre of dancers with examples of Tucker, Kenny and Misha which are trained classically but are as competent in street styles as well. Its all about versatility.
As for the standard of dance in Singapore, I believe we can go very far with the exposure in recent years we’ve seen Singapore dancers going to places like Australia to compete. It’ll be just a matter of time before we get on par with the international scene.

5. Any advice for the younger dancers out there?

Its all about hard work. Talent is 10 percent, hard work is 90 percent. A person who goes crazy working on dance whenever he/she goes would definitely be better than one who has talent but doesn’t practice at all. What I can say is practice, practice, practice.

You can see some videos of his classes @ http://www.youtube.com/user/yippy43