By Aja Seldon
Sometimes The Man above grants individuals with an undeniable talent. A talent so powerful, the one who possesses it has to question “why?”, while the rest of the world is in awe and inspired. There is no denying that Brice D. Vick possesses that exact type of talent.
Born in the heart of Queens, New York to a single mother, who worked tirelessly to maintain a stable home for her three children, Brice was the baby of his family. It wasn’t until his older sister’s dance director noticed his potential that Brice’s niche was found.. Brice jokes that he was “manipulated” into dance. As a child, he would tag along to his sister’s dance classes and that opened him up to the realm of dance. While the concept of dance is complex, Brice says he has always been a fast- paced learner who could quickly emulate even the most difficult of moves.
Dance embraced Brice whole -heartedly, so he indulged himself into jazz, modern dance, African and ballet. His love for modern dance and ballet surpassed all other genres of dance. As a young dancer, his muscles developed at a very young age, allowing his body to move more fluidly while he studied and perfected his ballet technique. As Brice and other dancers know, loving to dance is one thing but having technique, to correlate with that love of dancing, is the icing on the cake.
The Martha Graham Dance Company-the Grammy’s of dance- would be where Brice called home. Not for the amateur or mediocre, The Martha Graham Dance Company is held in such high-regard that they only house dancers that are the cream of the crop. Brice says his experiences with The Martha Graham Dance Company have been both “rigorous” and extremely difficult while providing him with the techniques that shaped his choreography style and assisted with his notoriety.
A day that was supposed to consist of attending a ballet open class, ended up being a turning-point for Brice. A dance scout, who had been looking for dancers for a United Colors of Benetton Commercial, spotted Brice and history was made. Born with the gift of gab, Brice saw the opportunity and went in for the kill, marketing himself to the scout: No resume, no recommendation, just a trained dancer.
“Can you be on set tomorrow?” was all Brice needed to hear from the scout. Brice went from dancing on the street before class to directing and organizing a routine for a national commercial. Some call it luck; he considers it a God-send.
“My craft is my heart,” the Queens native says and, indeed, it is. Brice pours himself into any dance he is choreographing. Storytelling is a component of choreography; it brings the best out of the dancer and, with the right message, viewers relate. Brice says he digs deep and relates to his past and the dances come to life. Never shy of mixing different genres of dance for a choreographed routine-Bob Fosse with a pinch of African dance- Brice has proven that he’s willing to try different things in the name of dance. So it was no shock when Brice contributed to pushing Hip Hop recording artist, Ashanti to her peak. Responsible for Ashanti’s choreography for her “Only U” video, Brice’s moves had people fixated when the intro dance came on.. Credited with working with big timers like Beyoncé and Chris Brown, Brice says he attriubutes his success to the struggles of the world, the drug epidemic, misuse of power, and unfit mothers. Brice tells the heart wrenching stories through dance that others dare not go.
Brice D. Vick is an encyclopedia of dance and is no stranger to bringing a wide variety of styles of dance to even the hardest rappers; his new client , raptress Azealia Banks, proves that to be true. On top of pairing dynamic moves to catchy beats, Brice has also joined the movement of leading children towards healthier lifestyles with the release of his innovative “Hip for Health Plus” DVD.
“Do it like a legend, Do it like it’s the last thing on Earth.”
