This year, Victorius Remak joined the Fieldston Dance company and started teaching hip-hop and ballet classes as well as choreographing the annual Rep Project. Victorius is an arts and education teacher from The Hague, Netherlands. He has a bachelor’s degree in musical theater and education from Lucia Marthas University in Amsterdam and got his postgraduate degree at The Ailey School.
I had the chance to sit down with Victorius and ask him some questions about his life, career and the upcoming Hip-Hop Rep Project.
Grace Negroni: Tell me a bit about yourself.
Victorius Remak: So, my name is Victorius Michelle Remak. I’m from the Netherlands. My parents were born in Suriname but they were multicultural and ethnic. I’ve been dancing since I could walk and my parents put me in dance class when I was three; a kids ballet class. I did that for almost three years. Then my parents were a little antsy about it, saying “I’m not sure boys should do that stuff,” and they let me try new things. I’ve done judo, arts classes and soccer, but I’ve always gone back to dancing.
GN: When did you know you wanted to study the arts, dance specifically; and when did you know you wanted to study education?
VR: When I was 100% sure I wanted to do arts, I was 15. I quit dancing when I was 14, but that’s when I realized I should keep going. So I found a jazz dance group, where I met my mentor and he was the one that kept pushing me to go to a dance academy. But I knew it since I was little when I saw Michael Jackson – “I wanna be a dancer!”
GN: How did you start your career?
VR: It started before college actually. I went to a studio in a pre-professional program when I was 9, and when I turned 12 they actually asked me to join the professional company and I was the youngest member. The person that was the youngest after me was 16. So every weekend I would go perform with them.
GN: What were your first steps after college; was there anything that was really significant to you?
VM: My first gig after college, I was signed with an agency and I think I signed the week that I got hired for that gig. What happened was, one of the dancers was injured. Coincidentally, that dancer was also from my school – graduated from my school – so they recommended me, and I had to learn 18 choreographies in one night. It was 9 choreographies and 9 ways to walk because it was a fashion show with dance. It was stressful, but I made it. After that day, I knew I could do anything.
GN: When did you start teaching dance?
VR: I started teaching when I was 19. I just started college, but my mentor was like “You need to teach. That’s the only way you’re gonna be a great choreographer.” I was like, give me a class! A year later, because I was studying education, I had to teach a few days a week in college because the university that I went to was very practical; everything was in practice right away.
GN: Do you have any favorite teaching memories, either from college or a little after that?
VR: I basically put half a show together for my mentor because all the kids wanted me to be their teacher. I ended up teaching half his classes, and that year they did all of my choreographies while I was in New York and they sent me a DVD.
GN: What was your inspiration for the Rep Project?
VR: Since we’re in the Bronx, the birthplace of Hip-Hop, I was like we need to do a Hip-Hop Repertoire. Hip hop has influenced my whole life consciously and unconsciously since I was little, and I felt like I never had a chance to do something with that type of dance, so this is my chance to do that now.
