Life & Work with Rylen Besler of Manitoba and LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rylen Besler.

Hi Rylen, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up in a very small town called Garson. This town being the home to roughly 700 people definitely forced me to
be creative on my own as I didn’t have very many friends living near by.

My mom put me in a dance class when I was just 7 years old. I was also playing
hockey at the time but definitely had a soft spot for dance. It came to the point
where we couldn’t afford both dance and hockey and I had to pick one. I was on
the fence but was told I needed a new pair of indoor shoes for dance. At the
time, some new shoes sounded awesome and so I made my decision. Dance it
was.

I continued dancing and then around age 13 I discovered class videos of people dancing in LA and was so inspired by how amazing they were! This really pushed me to start dancing and creating my own pieces outside of class. After doing that for a while I was able to travel to LA to be in those same classes I had been watching and I knew I wanted to pursue dance as my career. Soon after that covid hit and I was stuck in Canada. This forced me to get creative on how I could still grow and pursue dance. I turned to social media and made a TikTok account. I started posting consistently and grew a following. Since then I’ve expanded to more platforms and have created countless pieces of dance content as well as my first short film just earlier this year. Social media gave me a place to share my love for dance.

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 big obstacle I faced was being from a small town. As much as it was an obstacle I often feel it was one of the best things for me. With not having many friends close by and zero dancers, it forced me to think outside the box and get creative. There just wasn’t much to do and I liked dancing so why not create and practice. I would learn choreography off of videos and film my self to see how I could improve, I would do the same with freestyling. Being from a small town just forced me to lock in and work on my craft, which I think is a big reason I’m where I am today.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a dancer, choreographer and social media creator. I’ve been using my skills as a dancer and choreographer to create content. Sometimes that content is light hearted and fun and sometimes that content is more personal and serious. Over the last few years I’ve enjoyed letting all the different parts of myself be shown through dance.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with brands like PanOxyl, Sony Music Canada, Dossier perfumes, Pacific foods and more!

I’ve been noticed by artists like Justin Bieber, Jungkook, Khalid, ATEEZ, and New Jeans.

I created my first short film for dance film showcase “innovate” just this past year. My film titled “The Exchange” follows the story of “The dynamic and complex outcome of two people coming together to care and be cared for – through the process of “The Exchange” we follow a boy that is met with the dance of denial, acceptance and forgiveness.”

This project is something I’m really proud of and hopefully was the first of many!

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something surprising about me is that I grew up like every other Canadian boy and my biggest dream was to be in the NHL

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rylenbesler/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@rylenandchloe?si=9WQte6YHFZuZGEJG
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rylenbesler?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Image Credits
Clarize Ariza