What inspired you to create your own dancewear collection?

Ronnie approached me with the idea of creating a menswear collection and he was very persuasive lol! There was the potential to take the menswear to another level and genre that hasn’t been explored yet. It was very exciting for Chrisanne Clover to provide the platform to build the foundations and for me to build on top of that.  It was such a super positive experience working with the team at Chrisanne Clover, they allowed me to be the creative.

What has been your main inspiration behind the collection?

For me it is most important for the shirt to dance, the shirt has to dance with your movements and not be restrictive, you don’t want to be distracted by the smallest thing. Comfort is also key, it has to be comfortable in order to dance in it is as well as wear it.

The two main focus points for this collection was for the top to either

1: feel like a second skin and become part of your body movement.

2: have the ability to be able to dance inside the shirt with no restrictions. 

How do you see your collection being worn?

I envision these tops delivering a  professional feel to the lesson and practice environment with a fashionable flare.

I believe with the dance style you craft, you should dress to suit. The authenticity of the dance form should remain and be seen through the clothes that you wear.  For me, showing the body silhouette is very important, I want to see all the nuances of the small body movements, and I feel personally, this collection does just that.

Do you have a favourite top in this collection?

Ahh that’s a tough one, I don’t have a particular favourite as all aspects of what I love in fashion are split up into every one of these tops. Each top covers different aspects of a dancers style and personality, as well as the overall goal purpose in enhancing the male silhouette.

Why did you choose black for this collection? How do you feel about colours in men’s attire on the dance floor?

Your personality should add the colour to your shirt, black leaves room for your personality to really shine through. However, if you feel you need your confidence boosted, then this can be enhanced by a colour. If you don’t have a personality sparkle in pink haha!

Tell us more about the names in this collection. For example, why is a top in particular called the Bryan Top?

I wanted the collection names to be very now, not nostalgic or futuristic. Names that are the Hollywood style of the moment; but not too strong. A name that represents the present – but with a sprinkle of Hollywood glam.

The Bryan top is called the Bryan as I loved to dance in a polo neck, you can see the entire body movement in a polo. If I had a choice back then, I would have danced my entire dancing career in a polo shirt. I believe the Bryan top signifies how I would like to see myself.

I remember when I wanted to start wearing a polo neck for competition, people were like NO you must wear a shirt with crystals! It is practicewear not competition! But in Blackpool, I just thought you know what, no, I feel I have to do this, I dared to do it and it was liberating. For me enhancing the silhouette is most important. When competing, I would not have strange things hanging off me as it would be too distracting. I used to imagine how I would dance and what I envisioned the silhouette to be, then dress to the form of that silhouette. Practice was the same.

What I wore had to be a part of me.

Were you a shirt out guy or a shirt in guy?

Definitely a shirt out guy! And this collection of menswear definitely looks great out as well as tucked in.

Did you have any costume horrors when you competed?

Yes loads! But I am proud of my mistakes because at least I dared to do it. Some dancers are so afraid to do things wrong and they have to all dress the same and have the same hairstyles. When you are a spectator and watching 7 rounds of dancing again and again, it can look very boring.

How should today’s dancers evolve to take the Latin American genre to the next level?

I would like them to be more daring. Dare to be themselves, dare to change their hair. Don’t be afraid and embrace making mistakes. I made loads of mistakes and I love every single one of them. That’s how I got to where I am today.

Where do you see your role in the dance industry in the future?

I think I will be doing what I have been doing since I retired with continuing to fight for Latin American dancing to never let it lose its authenticity.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected you with your life and your career?

I see myself as a positive person and have really tried to make the most out of the situation we are in. There have been a lot of zooms where communication has had to be much more clear - vocally. Rather than me dancing the moves in teaching, it has had to be communicated and that has made a huge improvement to the way we connect, which I take as a positive out of this situation.

However, a negative for me is not being able to reach my overseas students, for example in China and having no connection, I miss it.

Dance will always be about human touch and emotion.

With this challenge dancers all over the world are currently facing, what has been your biggest challenge in your career?

For me the biggest challenge in my career has been there has never been enough time. Now there is time. I always advise my students to keep going and keep practicing. This is a fortunate gift of time to make major improvements without the stress of the next competition. Really use this time as you may never get it again.

What have you done with your time in Lockdown?

Haha there has been a lot of spring cleaning, sorting out my filing systems and keeping up to date! I have been part of a team of 6 Latin professionals called soulm8s where we have been live streaming to keep dancers motivated and inspired. We live stream 6 times a week and the team includes myself and Carmen, Allan Tornsberg & Vibeke Toft, Hans Galke & Bianka Schreiber.

I fear we may lose a lot of dancing couples through this pandemic and we really just want to reach out to our students to stay positive.