Determined to Dance
Donation protected
Determined to Dance
Hi, my name is Harrison aka Havoc, I’m a street dancer and I’m 16 years old.
I have set up this page to raise money as I need to raise at least £12,000 for me to go to Dance College in September 2019, it’s my dream and it’s the only thing I’m good at!
I started dancing for fun when I was about 8 years old (year 5) but for the last two years have been taking it seriously and now want to pursue it as a career.
I found Phoenix Starr College, they are the only College in the UK that offer a dedicated Hip Hop/Street dance course. There are only two things that may be an issue for me, the first is location, they are based in Luton and I live in Windsor, which means I will have to find somewhere to live away from home and the second thing is that the course costs £9,000! I have been lucky enough to be offered a place and have accepted however I need some help, and this is why I have set up this page.
But you’re not just going to give me your money without knowing me or my story, are you? So here it is.
My Story
I started dance lessons at school in year 5 and I really enjoyed it. I always loved watching groups like Diversity on TV and I thought it would be a bit of fun and maybe one day I could be like them. I made loads of new friends dancing and when I started street dance I had crazy amounts of confidence and didn’t care what other people thought. However, towards the end of year 5 people started to pick on me and my dance friends, they would take the micky out of us and once or twice they even got physical. They were bully me for something I enjoyed!!
The bullying went on for a couple of years, until I left middle school. This affected my confidence and I began to feel more and more self-conscious and didn’t like to talk to people about my dance. Also, over those couple of years the original group of dancers all lost interest and left until I was the only original one left, I was the oldest dancer in the group. But I never gave up, it was what I loved, and I was good at it.
At the start of 2017 I began to take my dancing seriously and started to think that maybe it could lead to something. I was training every day at home and trying to teach myself, but I wasn’t improving as much as I would like. Then in February 2018 I was introduced to probably one of my biggest dance role models Lowri, and her dance school DanceXite. Without her I wouldn’t have had as many opportunities and wouldn’t have been introduced to a side of the dance world that I had never seen before. Lowri saw my potential and after only a few months of training, took me to my first competition, where I danced with the DanceXite team and also in a Duo in the under 16 beginner’s categories. We placed 1st in the team and 2nd in the duos. I felt great!
After going to my first competition I realised how much work I needed to do to be able to compete in the solo category, both with my dancing and my confidence. So, I started training whenever I could, alongside the classes I already did; Tuesdays and Thursday with my first dance school and Wednesdays with DanceXite. I worked really hard to be the best that I could be.
Then the day came for the next comp. In this comp I was entered in four categories, the Team Advanced under 16 where we placed 1st, Crew Advanced over 16 where we also placed 1st and were made to perform twice! Also, the over 16 advanced Duo where we came 2nd using a routine that I choreographed and finally the Solo over 16 beginners where I placed 1st as well!! In all of these categories I qualified for the 101 Street Dance Championship finals in November 2018. Not bad for my second comp.
After the success of second comp Lowri wanted to introduce me to her mum’s dance school, Dance world Mon, based in Anglesey, Wales. Lowri and her mum wanted to put me into their Team routine for their next competition, which was the Eisteddfod in Cardiff. While I was in Wales I was introduced to another Dancer, Rio. I have only met him a couple of times, but he has helped me so much not just with my dancing but also with my confidence in general.
The next time I saw Rio it was at a workshop day with DanceXite in August 2018. During this day I got to run my first ever workshop, alongside Rio, Rob and Lashon, all amazing dancers and now good friends. After the workshops we headed back to Lowri’s to celebrate a good day. However, when my mum turned up to pick me up it was not the best news she bought with her. It turned out that my original dance teacher, the person who I started with and had been with since I was 8 years old was trying to make me choose between DanceXite and his school. My response was why do I have to choose, why can’t I dance with both? Even Lowri and the other dancers agreed and thought that I should be able to dance with both schools.
A couple of days later I get a call from my dance teacher, in this call he wouldn’t listen to my views and actually kicked me out of my original dance group! He didn’t just kick me out he was rude to me and my mum and told me that I wasn’t welcome there anymore.
That was it – I was broken – I didn’t know what to think anymore. All I wanted to do was dance, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t dance with him anymore, I was devastated, he was my mentor and a dancer I looked up to. I lost all my confidence and started to doubt whether I was a good enough dancer to carry on.
Luckily, I was surrounded by positivity from my family, DanceXite and Swagout (Lashon’s dance crew). They all kept me positive and made sure I kept on dancing, broke me out of my shell and made me carry on. Without them I don’t know what would have happened.
With their help, I told myself it was time to prove him wrong, I continued to train even harder than ever and attended as many different workshops as I could to expand my dance knowledge. I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
In November 2018 I competed in two competitions in one weekend, it was the best week of my life so far. I could now say I was the 2018 UKsdc under 17s breakin Champion and the 2018 101Events solo over 16s beginners Champion!
My Future
Once I had found Phoenix Starr College in Luton, I attended an open day at the beginning of November 2018. It was perfect, I knew straight away that this was where I needed to go. I filled out the form and went along for the audition, I was so nervous and felt really anxious, but I did the best that I could and hoped it would be enough. When I found out that I’d got a place in the college I couldn’t believe it I finally had something to work towards. I couldn’t believe that they thought I was good enough.
The course I plan to do is a two-year Level 4 Diploma in Dance course that has a Hip Hop and Street dance focus. The cost of the course is £9,000 for the two years. On top of that I need to find somewhere to live as its too far for me to travel every day.
Although I have a very supportive family financially they are not able to help me to pay for this, they have always done whatever they can but unfortunately at the moment they have no way to help. My dad has been quite ill, over the past year and has not been able to work which has put added pressure on the family finances. I don’t want to put more pressure on them so have decided to try and raise the money myself.
I am looking for a part time job that I can do until September and I’m also trying to raise money by doing sponsored events. This is my dream and I will do whatever it takes to do this.
How you can help
The money I raise will go towards the course fees, college uniform and any equipment I need and paying for my accommodation for the two years while I am at college.
If you love to dance or know someone who does then please share my page and help to make my dream come true, if you can.
If you donate I'll send you exclusive videos that no-one else will see.
If you’ve got this far thanks for reading.
Hi, my name is Harrison aka Havoc, I’m a street dancer and I’m 16 years old.
I have set up this page to raise money as I need to raise at least £12,000 for me to go to Dance College in September 2019, it’s my dream and it’s the only thing I’m good at!
I started dancing for fun when I was about 8 years old (year 5) but for the last two years have been taking it seriously and now want to pursue it as a career.
I found Phoenix Starr College, they are the only College in the UK that offer a dedicated Hip Hop/Street dance course. There are only two things that may be an issue for me, the first is location, they are based in Luton and I live in Windsor, which means I will have to find somewhere to live away from home and the second thing is that the course costs £9,000! I have been lucky enough to be offered a place and have accepted however I need some help, and this is why I have set up this page.
But you’re not just going to give me your money without knowing me or my story, are you? So here it is.
My Story
I started dance lessons at school in year 5 and I really enjoyed it. I always loved watching groups like Diversity on TV and I thought it would be a bit of fun and maybe one day I could be like them. I made loads of new friends dancing and when I started street dance I had crazy amounts of confidence and didn’t care what other people thought. However, towards the end of year 5 people started to pick on me and my dance friends, they would take the micky out of us and once or twice they even got physical. They were bully me for something I enjoyed!!
The bullying went on for a couple of years, until I left middle school. This affected my confidence and I began to feel more and more self-conscious and didn’t like to talk to people about my dance. Also, over those couple of years the original group of dancers all lost interest and left until I was the only original one left, I was the oldest dancer in the group. But I never gave up, it was what I loved, and I was good at it.
At the start of 2017 I began to take my dancing seriously and started to think that maybe it could lead to something. I was training every day at home and trying to teach myself, but I wasn’t improving as much as I would like. Then in February 2018 I was introduced to probably one of my biggest dance role models Lowri, and her dance school DanceXite. Without her I wouldn’t have had as many opportunities and wouldn’t have been introduced to a side of the dance world that I had never seen before. Lowri saw my potential and after only a few months of training, took me to my first competition, where I danced with the DanceXite team and also in a Duo in the under 16 beginner’s categories. We placed 1st in the team and 2nd in the duos. I felt great!
After going to my first competition I realised how much work I needed to do to be able to compete in the solo category, both with my dancing and my confidence. So, I started training whenever I could, alongside the classes I already did; Tuesdays and Thursday with my first dance school and Wednesdays with DanceXite. I worked really hard to be the best that I could be.
Then the day came for the next comp. In this comp I was entered in four categories, the Team Advanced under 16 where we placed 1st, Crew Advanced over 16 where we also placed 1st and were made to perform twice! Also, the over 16 advanced Duo where we came 2nd using a routine that I choreographed and finally the Solo over 16 beginners where I placed 1st as well!! In all of these categories I qualified for the 101 Street Dance Championship finals in November 2018. Not bad for my second comp.
After the success of second comp Lowri wanted to introduce me to her mum’s dance school, Dance world Mon, based in Anglesey, Wales. Lowri and her mum wanted to put me into their Team routine for their next competition, which was the Eisteddfod in Cardiff. While I was in Wales I was introduced to another Dancer, Rio. I have only met him a couple of times, but he has helped me so much not just with my dancing but also with my confidence in general.
The next time I saw Rio it was at a workshop day with DanceXite in August 2018. During this day I got to run my first ever workshop, alongside Rio, Rob and Lashon, all amazing dancers and now good friends. After the workshops we headed back to Lowri’s to celebrate a good day. However, when my mum turned up to pick me up it was not the best news she bought with her. It turned out that my original dance teacher, the person who I started with and had been with since I was 8 years old was trying to make me choose between DanceXite and his school. My response was why do I have to choose, why can’t I dance with both? Even Lowri and the other dancers agreed and thought that I should be able to dance with both schools.
A couple of days later I get a call from my dance teacher, in this call he wouldn’t listen to my views and actually kicked me out of my original dance group! He didn’t just kick me out he was rude to me and my mum and told me that I wasn’t welcome there anymore.
That was it – I was broken – I didn’t know what to think anymore. All I wanted to do was dance, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t dance with him anymore, I was devastated, he was my mentor and a dancer I looked up to. I lost all my confidence and started to doubt whether I was a good enough dancer to carry on.
Luckily, I was surrounded by positivity from my family, DanceXite and Swagout (Lashon’s dance crew). They all kept me positive and made sure I kept on dancing, broke me out of my shell and made me carry on. Without them I don’t know what would have happened.
With their help, I told myself it was time to prove him wrong, I continued to train even harder than ever and attended as many different workshops as I could to expand my dance knowledge. I knew that this was what I wanted to do.
In November 2018 I competed in two competitions in one weekend, it was the best week of my life so far. I could now say I was the 2018 UKsdc under 17s breakin Champion and the 2018 101Events solo over 16s beginners Champion!
My Future
Once I had found Phoenix Starr College in Luton, I attended an open day at the beginning of November 2018. It was perfect, I knew straight away that this was where I needed to go. I filled out the form and went along for the audition, I was so nervous and felt really anxious, but I did the best that I could and hoped it would be enough. When I found out that I’d got a place in the college I couldn’t believe it I finally had something to work towards. I couldn’t believe that they thought I was good enough.
The course I plan to do is a two-year Level 4 Diploma in Dance course that has a Hip Hop and Street dance focus. The cost of the course is £9,000 for the two years. On top of that I need to find somewhere to live as its too far for me to travel every day.
Although I have a very supportive family financially they are not able to help me to pay for this, they have always done whatever they can but unfortunately at the moment they have no way to help. My dad has been quite ill, over the past year and has not been able to work which has put added pressure on the family finances. I don’t want to put more pressure on them so have decided to try and raise the money myself.
I am looking for a part time job that I can do until September and I’m also trying to raise money by doing sponsored events. This is my dream and I will do whatever it takes to do this.
How you can help
The money I raise will go towards the course fees, college uniform and any equipment I need and paying for my accommodation for the two years while I am at college.
If you love to dance or know someone who does then please share my page and help to make my dream come true, if you can.
If you donate I'll send you exclusive videos that no-one else will see.
If you’ve got this far thanks for reading.
Organizer and beneficiary
Harrison Whiteway-Roberts
Organizer
England
Maxine Whiteway-roberts
Beneficiary
