Performing Since Five: How Breakdancing, Rapping and Choreography Shaped Me

From age five, LUI FAZO has performed as a breakdancer, rapper and choreographer. Here's how performing young shaped my artistry.

Tags: breakdancing, rapping, choreography, hip-hop, performer

I started performing at five years old. Before I ever wrote a full verse, I was already learning what it feels like to have people watching and to give them something worth watching.

Three skills came up together for me: breakdancing, rapping and choreography. They look different, but they all teach the same lessons.

Discipline. Nobody gets good at a freeze or a flow without repetition. You practice the boring parts so the exciting parts look effortless.

Stage presence. Starting young took away the fear of the crowd. Eventually the stage felt like home.

Structure. Choreography taught me how to build a piece with a beginning, a build and a payoff. The same thinking applies to a song or a video.

Adaptability. A crowd changes. A room changes. Performing early taught me to read both and adjust in the moment.

Today those three skills feed each other. The dancer in me shapes my rhythm, the rapper in me sharpens my words, and the choreographer in me plans the bigger picture.

I'm still learning. That's the fun part.