Dancer Elliott Howell tells stories through shapes

Fresh out of high school and only 19, dancer Elliott Howell said he hasn't counted his awards in a while, but he has at least eight major wins under his belt -- including one World of Dance title in 2017.

He even had the opportunity to judge last month's World of Dance competition in Dallas, Howell said by phone Thursday.

Howell is one of several hip-hop artists and performers taking the stage at the Cape Be You Urban Dance Festival this weekend.

Fingerprint Urban Dance Studio in Cape Girardeau is hosting the festival.

Traveling from his home state of Oklahoma, Howell is set to judge this year's Battlez of Originality dance competition, a segment of the main festival. Last year, Howell took home first place.

First-place winner Elliott Howell and Micheal Curry at last year's Battlez of Originality Vol. 2.Submitted photo

God placed the passion to dance inside of Howell, he said. He first modeled his moves after entertainer Nonstop, who performs with the group Dragon House. But Howell quickly found his own style.

"The movement to me was unreal and completely mind blowing, and I was like, I want to do that," Howell said.

He said under the umbrella of hip-hop there are many styles, including popping, breaking, locking and tutting.

Tutting is his thing.

"That's what I specialize in, and that has taken me so many different places so far," Howell said. "And I'm excited that I'm coming back to Cape."

Tutting is basically making shapes and angles with your body, he said. Different patterns or combinations of movements can "kind of tell a story through the shapes."

And not like a "Oh, Elliott went to the grocery store today," kind of story, Howell said, but a "story of patterns."

One movement leads into another movement, which then leads into additional movements, he explained. And it all "kind of connects coherently from Point A to Point B." But it's done in a way that is unexpected or that people didn't think was possible, he said.

He said competition is different from casual or "just for fun" dancing.

Before each performance, he evaluates the room, analyzes the dancers and decides who might be the biggest threat.

"I'm strategically planning out different moves or different combinations," Howell said, "or sets that I can pull out against certain opponents who are going to be more of a threat to me."

Sometimes he'll even find a corner and go over and study some of the combinations, "away from the judges, away from everyone else."

And when judging contestants, he mainly focuses on how well the competitor connects to the music and his or her level of originality.

"You can tell when a dancer takes time to practice their own stuff, and whenever they come to a battle just to battle, because they can," Howell said.

"I like personality as well. To be entertained, as a judge, is really an awesome thing."

He said when somebody takes you on a journey or has you really wanting to see what they're doing next, a lot of that is expressed through individuality.

There's also a feeling you get, as the dancer, whenever you know you're "killing it and everyone loves it," he said.

That's what drives him.

One day, Howell said, he wants to be the Conor McGregor of the dance world.

"I want to be the guy that people are thinking, 'He's unstoppable.'"

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