A dancer from Morley just took his skills to Hollywood.
Cory Beaver, trained primarily in hip-hop dancing, auditioned to be a backup dancer for Janet Jackson in Los Angeles.
“The audition was so much fun, it was an incredible experience,” Beaver said. “I’m a little bummed because I didn’t get a call back, but I’m still grateful for the experience.”
Beaver has been a dancer his entire life and an avid Jackson family fan.
He recalls dressing up and dancing around for his family back when he was four years old.
“I had the red leather jacket Micheal Jackson has on Thriller, and I remember just putting that on and my mom making me dance for aunts that came to visit,” he said.
Up until his teens, Beaver was a self-taught dancer, though he also helped teach dance to other youth on the Stoney Nakoda Nation where he grew up.
By 2007, he began dancing professionally in Calgary and Edmonton.
His dance resume boasts performances at WE Day on several occasions, dancing with University of Calgary’s Dance Montage and choreographing his own dance show in 2008 for Alberta Dance Explosions (now known as Alberta Dance Festival).
Though Beaver did not receive a call back for his audition in LA on April 23 for a position among Janet Jackson’s stage dancers, he still hopes to pursue his dancing career while he studies at Mount Royal University.
“It is not the end of the world, I mean things happen for a reason. These reasons usually break us or make us, and I’m not going to let that stop me,” he said. “I have been re-inspired; I gave it my best of my ability, and I left everything on that floor when it came down to dancing in our smaller groups.”
Beaver said he also had the opportunity to get critiques and praise at the audition.
“I received great feedback from other dancers that were there as well as feedback from the choreographers that were present,” he said. “I did learn a lot about myself in these last couple days, though. I think that fire inside me has been reignited to burn even bigger, so we’ll see what happens.
“I’m glad I can at least cross auditioning for Janet Jackson off the list, now it’s a matter of dancing for her/with her that I would need to check off.”
