14-year-old Cape dancer excels in Atlanta

A local dancer recently finished in the top eight spots of an urban dance contest in Atlanta.

He’s 14.

Yan “Insanity” Zhang said he won his way through to the final portion of the contest — so-called 7-to-Smoke, meaning seven contestants to beat — at The Smoke, Vol. 3.

Zhang competed against about 70 dancers from around the country, most much older than he, in front of several hundred fans. According to Zhang, some of the contestants have appeared on television, late-night talk shows and even at halftime performances of professional sporting events.

Zhang is a student at Fingerprint Urban Dance Studio, owned by Michael “Crank” Curry.

Curry said the two met five years ago.

“He was my first-ever student. When we first started teaching kids, he was my first kid,” he noted.

Since then, the two have worked to expand Zhang’s skillset, with an eye toward the future.

Curry said Zhang’s work ethic has been impressive.

“He’s very hard-working and very focused. Also, he’s very aware, and that is important when it comes to being an artist,” he noted.

Contest mechanics

The contest, Zhang said, consisted of several rounds. At first, judges whittled the field to 16 contestants. Those 16 battled each other one-on-one for a spot in the eight-person final. The final involved a one-on-one battle, with the winner getting a point and remaining to face the next competitor, and the loser going to the end of the line. In this instance, the person first scoring seven points was the winner.

Zhang explained several categories of urban dance. Break-dancing, familiar to most who lived through the 1980s. “Popping,” which is a robotics-centric genre. Light feet and juking, which focus on ostentatious leg and foot movements. Zhang said he favors one type but overall uses a hybrid approach in contests.

“I am stronger at popping,” he said. “I combine all those, though.”

When asked his mindset at a contest, Zhang said it’s all about the start.

“In my mind, it’s very simple. The first thing you have to do is show up strong, very energetic, really get the crowd hyped up,” he explained.

Zhang said he started dancing after not excelling at sports. What is in his future? He’s not sure.

“I might try to become a performer,” he said.

Curry has his sights set on the 2024 Olympics, which will have break-dancing as a sport.

“We are working on getting in as many qualifiers as we can before they pick a team,” he said. “That is what we are focused on — getting him into the Olympics. The main idea with him is just continue to grow.”