Benjamin Ritter joined the Jasper Dance Program in 1999. At the time he was seven years old and his mom was looking for a way for him to burn off some of his never-ending energy.
Fast forward 14 years and now the 21-year-old Jasper native is living in Los Angeles, dancing every day with the best in the business and trying to make his passion his living.
“For a dancer, you can either go to New York or LA. New York has a really good contemporary based environment, with a lot of companies and Broadway, obviously, and LA is more into music videos and tours and artists. That’s why I’m here,” he said on the phone last week.
“It’s definitely a whole different world out here. The standard of dancer is definitely higher than anywhere else in the world, I think. The talent alone in this city is so crazy. In class I’m always shocked to see that no one is really struggling, everyone is on point, which is amazing.”
He doesn’t struggle either, mind you. In fact, the move to LA and the move into the “business” is something Ritter has been working toward for the last six years.
“When I turned 15 or 16, I really started taking it seriously and I was like ‘Yeah. I really want to push for this. This is what I want to do.’”
So for the last three years he lived in Vancouver, dancing for two years with the Source Dance Company under director Joanne Pesusich, who has worked with the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Prince.
He was also a part of the Faculty hip hop dance crew, which won the World of Dance Seattle in 2012, World of Dance Vancouver three times in a row and Artists Emerge Hip Hop competition three times in a row as well.
Over the summer, he was also named the first place elite protege by The Pulse On Tour, which means he is funded to be an assistant on the 2013/14 tour for world famous choreographers, like Brian Friedman (Britney Spears and Justin Bieber), Tyce Diorio (Janet Jackson and Taylor Swift), Laurieann Gibson (Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys), as well as many others.
“That’s super exciting,” he said. “I’ll be assisting in a class, so I’ll be on stage and basically I’ll just be showing what the combo looks like after the choreographer teaches it.
“No pressure!” he said with a nervous laugh.
Ultimately Ritter, who’s been featured in a Disney movie (Girl Vs. Monster), a TV series (Package Deal) and a music video for Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush, wants to tour with a music artist.
If you put the soft spoken dancer on the spot, he’d say his first pick would be Lady Gaga, “because she’s just weird and I feel like I’m really weird in a lot of ways, too.”
But for the moment, he is just taking classes and training at the top dance studios in the city.
“I signed with an agent out here and now I’m just starting the whole work Visa process, so I can start working in the US.
“I feel like I’m getting decently close to getting it,” he said, noting that he still can’t believe he’s now in LA.
“Sometimes I have to pinch myself and be like, ‘Whoa, wait a second, you’re living in California right now’ and to just be doing what I love every day, it’s pretty stellar.”
Ritter said he wouldn’t have made it to where he is today if wasn’t for the support of his parents and the patience and the help of Nicole Koebel, who taught him here in Jasper for those first seven years.
“She definitely taught me the basics and laid the groundwork for building the blocks on top of.
“I definitely credit a lot of my current success to her.”
Nicole Veerman
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