1 Yep Proudly Presents Anton Swerkström

ANTON SWERKSTRÖM

Name, Age and Country:

Hey, what’s up world! Or whoever will be reading this. My name is Anton Swerkström and this year I’m a part of the Hip Drop 1 Year Education Program. Basic information about me is I’m 23 years old, born and raised here in Malmö, Sweden. 

Dance background:

I started dancing little over three years ago now. When I was younger it was all about football and videogames. Later on I started with fitness training. With a lot of running, cardio and working out at the gym. This inspired me to do military service because of the physical challenge it offered.  I have always liked pushing my body and never been afraid to break a sweat.

Then I discovered dancing. I mean I had been trying out taking a dance class or two in school and looking back at it I thought it was really fun but I never made myself follow it up.

Then like three and a half years ago some of my friends started learning dancing from YouTube. It was a style called Melbourne Shuffle (if you haven’t seen it look it up!) and I remember going to a party with my friends and they showed of their moves. Right away I was like “I HAVE to learn how to do that!” After that night I started to train a lot and with the help of my friends and YouTube tutorials I started to feel like a dancer for the first time in my life. A couple months later I was hungry for more and I started taking classes in other styles. It just clicked for me with the whole dancing scene and I took as many classes as I could. I have been trying to be as wide as possible with my dancing. My focus has always been on Hip Hop and urban styles but I have some training in ballet, jazz, contemporary and some partnering styles as well. Last year I went to Broadway Dance Center in New York and did a program there which really made me develop a lot both dance wise but that’s also when I decided I wanted to put all I had into dancing and try to make a career from it.

Dreams and goals with dance:

My goal with dancing is to be able to live off of it. To do something you love for a living would be so amazing and that’s a motivation I carry with me every time I step inside a dance studio. Right now I work as a dance teacher and teaching is great, I like it better and better after each time I’m done with a class. But ultimately I want to combine the teaching with performing and choreographing pieces on my own and working with other creative people, doing shows, videos and other projects.

My dream (but you can also call it long term goal) is to travel the world with dancing. I love traveling and seeing new places and to do that while dancing, that would simply be the best thing I can imagine. Either touring with an artist/crew or to go somewhere to teach, maybe do both at the same time because I know that’s often how it works in this business. In the long run this is what I strive towards and I always have an eye open if the opportunity would present itself.

How did you hear about the program and what made you decide to apply:

I have been dancing at the Hip Drop for over two years now and that’s also how I heard about this education. After my New York trip I started looking for the next big challenge to take on. The second I saw Lin announce there would be an education program in Malmö I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t know all the details, not a lot was revealed at first, but I knew the quality the Hip Drop always has and what kind of teachers they bring here. 

I was lucky to know Lin from before since I had been taking her classes for a long time. So she knew my personality and work ethic and encouraged me to apply. I submitted my application and doubled my dance training and determination to prepare for the audition. I made the cut and I remember the night she announced the first people accepted into the education. I literally couldn’t sit still and was so excited I just walked/ran around in my apartment for several hours. That night I went to sleep with the biggest smile on my face.

And here I am now, a student of this incredible program. It felt right when I saw the first post about it on Facebook, it felt right when I accepted my spot and it felt soooo right sitting down with Lin, Karsten and these seven other awesome people the first day talking about what we had coming this year.

If you have read all the way down to here I salute and thank you for your patience and for reading my long a** presentation. I just want to end this with saying how happy, grateful and proud I am to be a part of this first year of the Hip Drop Education Program. I know there will also be times during this year everything won’t feel super easy because I know I have a lot of hard work in front of me. But I can already tell it will be worthwhile. 

Now it’s Beast Mode On and time to get our butts kicked by amazing dancers from all over the world and Lin and Karsten especially. But watch out for us after this year, we will be dangerous. Maybe you think you know but actually you have no idea!