Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen of Britain’s got talent dance group Flawless walks us through the roller-coaster journey of the show, staring in Street Dance 3D, splitting his trousers live, and the group’s upcoming tour.
“IT’S A ROLLER-COASTER journey,” dancer Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen exclaims when i ask about his dance troupe Flawless‘ upcoming tour Chase the dream: the reboot. It was at least thirty degrees and, despite the heat, the 2009 Britain’s Got Talent alumni was practicing relentlessly for his dance crew’s latest crazy tour. “You’re gonna be happy, excited, inspired,” he enthuses, with an infectious glee tingling in his voice. “When you watch our show, you don’t just see dancing, you walk away with a message. Don’t expect to see just street dance. We really wanted our show to be about more than just watching someone dancing; we wanted a show for people to be part of. It’s very diverse and appeals to the mass, because dance is universal.” The hip-hop dance group have come far from their days competing in the popular show Britain’s got talent, and by the sounds of it, have been through their own roller-coaster journey.
Soon after the competition, where they placed second against eventual winners and fellow dance group Diversity, the troupe saw spotlight on the big screen. “We were in two movies [Streetdance 3D, and Streetdance 2],” Marlon tells me. “One of them was number one at the box office. It was so much fun, but still tough, because we had to do so many takes and redo a move, each time matching the same amount of energy.” But despite the strict routines and filming struggles, Flawless blossomed. Marlon beams: “It was one of the best experiences we’ve had.”
“We are full of risks,”
If audiences really want to witness the essence of Flawless though, the live shows are what it’s all about, I’m told. The two time winners of the World Dance Championships flourish infront of a live audience, and from performing at the Paralympics, Olympics, MOBOs (Music of black origins), and the Queen’s Diamond jubilee, they’ve had their fair share of crazy gigs. “We are full of risks,” Marlon says when i ask about their catalogue of performances. “We’re not perfect, not every show goes well. I’ve sort of shot myself in the foot, by calling the group flawless, because we’re not. But it’s more about what we aim to be, it’s a reminder of what we want to be.” The craziest of Flawless’ shows has to be this though; the time Marlon had a mishap on stage. “It was on our first tour actually…we do this trick that’s a back-flip into a jazz split…for some reason, as I’ve gone to do this split, my trousers split at the front. I had to run off stage quick and get it sorted before i came back on and finished the show.”
“This was a bold decision we had to make,”
Hopefully Marlon won’t split his trousers again at their next show, Chase the dream: the reboot. What he hopes to do, however, is inspire. Packed full of crazy flips, striking visuals, and a poignant message behind it all, Chase the dream: the reboot focuses on escaping the mundane. “People get caught up in a nine to five job, they’re stuck in their day to day lives, they forget their dreams. Our show is what it says on the tin, really. It’s about chasing the dream, and people following their passions,” Marlon tells me. It’s topics maybe down to earth, but oddly the show itself is set in space, upon an ‘intergalactic dream ship’. The inhabitants, 10 astronaut/dancers, fight for their dreams, as an overwhelming wall of doubt and eventual nightmare dawns on them. From how Marlon describes, it sounds like a metaphor for real life, and the hope of chasing a dream. But why is it called the reboot? “Well, back in 2010, we did a tour called Chase the dream.” He explains with a glowing sense of enthusiasm. “It did really well, and it great, but we wanted to bring it back. We thought now was the best time because it’s been nearly ten years since and we want to reintroduce ourselves, and bring the message, to a new generation so they can see our work.”
“Don’t expect to see just street dance,”
Flawless wasn’t always around, of course, and before he started the troupe, Marlon was a successful backup dancer. “My solo career has been an incredible journey for me. I managed to work with alot of big names before, but you’d be dancing for like Britney Spears or you were able to experience dancing on like pepsi chart, top of the pops, and it wouldn’t go any further. You can dance on those shows but no-one would know who you are. Only my family and people i know would see that and be like ‘i know that dancer on there,’ or people in the industry might know who you are, but that’s as far as it goes. You don’t hear about any solo dancers. There aren’t any famous solo dancers out there, except for maybe one or two, but in a group dancers make it further. After a couple of years, i felt like something was missing. I wanted to be more than a backing dancer; i wanted to be a brand, and develop our own dance company. So i started Flawless.”
And develop their company they did, with the additional help of Britain’s got talent to propell their brand further. But the reality competition could have met a member of Flawless much sooner then 2009. “My friends and family would say to me, ‘why aren’t you on that show? You should apply.’ But i didn’t, i didn’t want to because i knew the hard work it takes to make it in the industry. Shows like that are great, but they don’t show the industry properly. Some people think you can go on those shows and you’ll make it over night. But it’s alot of hard work, and it takes alot of drive and to understand the industry properly before you can get anywhere. We used Britain’s got talent as a way of initiating our national profile, once we were ready. It was like a platform for us to show the world who Flawless are and what we do.” he explains.
For Marlon, the drive and knowledge needed to start in the dance industry was ignited when he was just four. “My love of dance stems from my family really. My mum liked Michael Jackson and i would watch his music videos and copy the moves when i was four. I would watch those, and learn the moves off by heart, and as i got older i thought ‘who taught Michael Jackson how to dance’, so i started to research it. I learnt about them and eventually developed my dance style,” he recalls. “I’m self taught mostly, the only training i had was when i studied a BTEC in dance,” Marlon continues, with a striking sense of admiration for his craft. “The BTEC was tough because i was young and narrow minded,” he laughs. “I would have to learn things like jazz and contemporary but i would be like ‘why would i want to do that, why would i need to know that, i want to do street dance,’ it wasn’t till i started performing properly that i realised how different styles influence eachother. Like, with Flawless, we did a show with the English national ballet, i want to bring that one back aswell actually, and it was awesome. It was incredible how we could mix in the styles.”
“I had to run off stage quick,”
Learning about the industry is clearly an important fixture in Marlon’s success, and the group hope to pass the torch, as it were, with their own version of current dance academies. “We opened our own dance school in Vauxhall. It’s like we have our own mini Flawless group carrying on from us. Dancers are lucky now because, when we started, there weren’t really any dance schools or anything like that to teach us. And dancers now need that sense of direction from somewhere like that.”
Through their own school, Flawless hope to inspire other young dancers, but the group themselves have found their own inspiration from less conventional sources. “It sounds really corny,” Marlon laughs, “but I’m inspired by life. Dance is life to us. It’s a sort of universal language; it’s message can reach anyone, so we can speak to anyone about life with our performances. Music does a similar thing, but dance has its own language so anyone can understand, and we can spread out message further.”
It’s clear that Marlon is passionate about dance, and it plays an integral part of his life, but what if the group never formed and Marlon wasn’t a dancer? “This was a bold decision we had to make, choosing dance. It’s not an easy profession; we could have gone into other jobs, but dance was it for us,” he enthuses. It’s a good thing the group never gave up on their dream, despite obstacles, and the troupe hope to inspire others to do the same with their upcoming show.
Be sure to catch the crazy flips, poignant messages, and possible pant splitting, on September 3rd at The Hawth, Crawley.
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