Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Castro Leal.
Hi Alan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Well i started dancing when i was 18 yrs old. I met some OG’s at a party and they taught me a little step & it was love at first sight with me and dance. After that, I started to seek out. Everything i could about the street dance style called POPPING. Thats when i met my teacher’s ( Sweepy, Suga pop, Skeeter Rabbit, Pop N Taco, Mr. Smooth and the one and only Boogaloo Sam) they taught me everything i know about this dance style. I got where i al today because of the values they taught me work hard, work smart, talent is nothing without hard work and always be humble! Never forget where you came from and remember dance is about sharing and enjoying life!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road specially with dance. Our struggles will always be financial specially in the street dance world we were never taught business & money management skills. So sometimes paying the bills would be a struggle but we manage to pull through and take care of business. other obstacles that we had to deal with in Street Dance would be you know going to different neighborhoods just to dance and dealing with the local gangs trying to press us on the way we look or the way we were dressed. Also us having to dance just to show them that we were just there to dance and nothing else.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Well I’m a professional dancer. I travel around the world to teach that Popping dance classes, judge dance events and do shows and actually make money from my passion. Because of this dance, I was able to see the world which I would’ve never thought or even dreamed of doing before I was dancing my proudest moment that I’ve had in my whole career is me for the first time traveling to China and climbing up the Great Wall of China, cause a person that comes from where I come from, I would’ve never thought that I would be able to do that..
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define my success with only one word happiness if I’m happy and if I’m healthy, I am succeeding. yeah I could be out here making more money, but being unhappy or disliking what I do to make that money is to me not really the definition of success because I am making money with my passion with the love that I have for Dance to me. That’s the ultimate success.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidboogie_official
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KidboogieOfficial
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kidboogie?si=ZJfBjUZN0clEfxvy
Image Credits
Photos by sean wavy and bubbas
