Tens of millions of people have watched Annika Verplancke dance. And while she’s released many a video, she’s best known for a performance at the Youth America Grand Prix European semi-finals in Paris.
In a routine choreographed by Magali Berael and Fundi Omari and performed to the song “Heart Cry” by Drehz, she demonstrates two very different dance styles, side-by-side, in a manner of speaking.
Just 13 years old at the time, her hybrid performance (performed in a hybrid costume) was half ballet and half hip-hop.
Turned to the side to show off her tutu, she dazzled with graceful lunges and pirouettes. With her other side dressed in black garb, she popped, locked, and gained some major flex points in a hip-hop routine.
Which side won the battle?
Well, it’s impossible to tell, in our opinion, but it’s received over 8 million views on YouTube alone, so it’s clear some people are still trying to decide.
The Belgian-American dancer went on to study at Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower from 2016-2017, followed by the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City from 2018-2019. She was a a guest dancer with the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett, Germany in 2018 and a choreographer for The Dutch National Ballet Junior Company’s Choreographic Academy last year. 2019 was also the year in which she won the Choreography Connection Award 2019 from the Regional Dance America.
It’s safe to say that her career only blossomed after her viral video.
And it’s no surprise. This performance is amazing!
As it does for nearly every other dancer, 2020 has posed quite a challenge. Practices and performances have been canceled, throwing off everyone’s fitness and the next season of dance.
In an interview earlier this year, Verplancke said she was eager to get back to the studio but had taken time off to do yoga teacher training and reevaluate thing things most important to her.
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Dancing since age 4, she said the biggest challenge to her career up to that point had been her petite stature, making it hard to pair her with a partner.
But now she’s ready to be back.
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“I feel like once quarantine started, I immediately found myself reflecting on the past. My whole dance career education and starting to question why am I doing what I’m doing. What are these patterns that I’ve created over time? Good habits, as well as bad habits – why are they there? And what do I really want to do in life? So, kind of deep questions, but it was nice to actually be able to ask myself these questions and think about them,” she said.
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She’s also using social media more and finding constructive ways to participate in dance through Instagram, for example. “I’ve been getting lots of product offers and I feel so I feel so happy to be a part of it. A lot of us have time for these things now, and aren’t doing much else, so I would love to see that continue as things go back to normal in the dance world that we stay connected and use social media more as a tool to connect and rather than just show off.
And she’s even happy to see people continuing to dance outside the studio, despite having to be in quarantine:
“…one thing that I really like is that a lot of people have been dancing in their living rooms, and it’s so normal now. I remember usually seeing videos on stage, it was like ‘wow!’…Now we’re all in this together, and it’s nice to see that environment shift. To see how it really doesn’t matter where you dance.”
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It clearly doesn’t matter what you dance either, as Verplancke proved in her incredible 2015 video.
Be sure to scroll down below to see her marvelous viral ballet/hip-hop performance for yourself.
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