Ryan Conferido

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ryan Conferido, 2005
Source: Fox.com

Ryan Conferido (b. 1983) is an Filipino American bboy, best known for being a contestant on the first 2005 season of the United States dance competition television series, So You Think You Can Dance.

[edit] Biography

Born on June 13, 1983 in Downey, California, Conferido was raised in a strict religious household where dance was discouraged. He picked up bboying style on his own in high school. In 2005, though he had no formal training, he decided to audition for the first season of the Fox dance competition So You Think You Can Dance. His impressive self-taught breakdancing style earned him rave comments by judges, and he was passed through to the top 20 finalists for the actual competition. On the premiere episode, his ability to pick up a different Latin style of dancing brought him a standing ovation. He proceeded through multiple rounds of eliminations, and was one of the last 16 dancers eliminated. Prior to his fame in the Fox show, he has appeared in numerous movies as an extra, as well as a prominent role as a breakdancer in You Got Served where he displayed his signature head-hopping and elbow-utilizing moves.

He was also seen in some of the audition episodes during the 2006 season, accompanying some of his dancing associates who were trying out during the new auditions in Los Angeles, and he and his "Sickstep" dance troupe were invited to be featured performers on the June 21, 2006 episode.

Conferido has officially left his bboy crew Sickstep and started his own crew Quest together with Hokuto Konishi, Steve Terada, Victor Kim, Nick Teti, Brian Hirano & Aris Paracuelles. He is also core member of the b-boy crew "The City Drifters". He has been in music videos for Papa Roach, the live action adaptation of Fat Albert, the Bboy DVD Unsigned Undadog, and "Based on a True Story, volume 2". He also appeared for both an interview and performance on Live with Regis and Kelly.

Of those members of Conferido's team Sickstep that tried out for the 2006 season, the one that got the furthest was Hokuto "Hawk" Konishi (age 21, Santa Monica). Similar to Conferido's journey, Konishi had no formal training but showed remarkable raw talent and unique dance moves. He passed through several rounds of the competition and was on his way to being approved for the finals, but at the last minute was disqualified because it was discovered that he was only in the United States with a student visa, and without a work permit, he was ineligible to compete.