Daily Inspiration: Meet Ricky Perry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ricky Perry. 

Hi Ricky, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been a professional choreographer 10 years strong now. I consider myself a hip hop dancer, but I have gained training in different styles such as ballet, modern, contemporary, and house at the University of Illinois to add to that. I take a little knowledge I’ve learned in each style and add it as a layer to my hip-hop training to make my movement unique. I have experience in teaching and performing but recently I have been focusing on merging dance with film. This interest came from originally just creating dance videos. But the more detail-oriented the videos got, I realized I wanted to reach a much broader audience. I enjoy the film technique of creating a narrative with an excellent composition while letting the choreography contribute to marrying the tone of the songs. My goal is to one day have my own project accepted into a dance film festival.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A challenge I feel every filmmaker faces are managing a proper budget. It’s even harder when every penny is coming out of your pocket. The bigger the vision the more expensive it gets. At least that’s my experience. Whether it be the cost of the venue, hiring the Director of Photography, lights, props, costumes, it can get stressful. I tend to invest in one task at a time. That’s really all I can do. Prepare and plan on top of the planning hoping come time for production day, everything goes as smooth as possible.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in creating dance concept videos that are cinematically and visually pleasing to the audience. An accomplishment I am most proud of is getting the chance to choreograph for my film “A Beautiful Nightmare” shot at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The film got selected in the “Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase”. It was my first time using my talent in the film industry in that way and I immediately craved for more opportunities like that. I have been taking acting classes to help me train on developing better characters to create clear storyboards for my own projects. In addition, I’ve added stunt classes to my weekly routine. In hopes of finding new ways for my body to move and be more self-aware of the emotion being shown in my body language.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Resilience comes to mind when I think about certain characteristics. Having the ability to tough it out. There are always setbacks but it’s all about how you act on those setbacks. Knowing how to recover and not get distracted from what you are trying to achieve. I know I’m nowhere near where I want to be in my career but I’ve come so far ahead there is no reason to stop now.

Contact Info:

• Email: rickypdancer@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slkrick4/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/slicperry.7
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb9ddy9kUWn11qmOgbVOVTA 

Image Credits
Chris Bedan