05.07 Keith Silva

Hip Hop Dancer Extraordinaire

By Christine R. Walsh

Keith Silva is a magician, a creator. A modern muse of the hip hop genre. His body pulses with rhythm, talent and ambition so strong you can feel it from a mile away. The 26 year-old who once believed that dancing was reserved for family weddings is now bringing it to a higher level for beginners and professionals alike. He’s trained with the choreographers responsible for the hot moves of stars like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Usher, and Christina Aguilera, just to name a few, and now he’s become the go-to guy for the next generation of smooth movers. On top of all this, he loves kids. Have we discovered the perfect man, ladies?

“My first hip hop class was mind boggling,” Silva recounted as he remembered a not-too-distant past. Growing up in his home city, he had always known that he was passionately drawn to dance, but there was never the opportunity to explore the art. Hip hop, his true calling, was never offered in his community.

“I always loved dancing. But I wasn’t going to take tap and I wasn’t going to put on any tights for it,” Silva said. The artist’s path took a turn in 2002 when he traveled to New York City and happened to take a dance class that focused on hip hop. From the first moment he heard the music, the moment he moved his body in time with the beat, he knew he had found a lifelong love.

“After that first class, I started practicing everyday,” Silva said. “I was in the studio every night. Then I started teaching.”

And how did a talented Fall River boy like Silva shake his groove thang into the Worcester area? Silva was bitten by the hip hop dance competition bug and hit the stage at Worcester’s DCU. “I was brought to the Center to compete in a competition called ‘Hall of Fame,’” Silva remembers. “I choreographed the piece I performed with my dance company, Motion Specialists [his award winning and in demand dance team], and we won top scores and received good reviews. The DCU center gives dancers and performers great opportunities to perform and get work. The crowds were very uplifting and they gave us a great hype to feed off of.” Silva says he always looks forward to finding work and performing in Worcester.

But Silva’s environment at the time was a difficult one, filled with people who did not understand Silva’s true calling.

“I was hangin’ around people who were smoking and drinking a lot, and it would be a Tuesday night! That wasn’t my thing. But there were some good guys and we’d get together, pull up in a parking lot, play a CD and just dance to it,” Silva said.

The disciplined artist remained strong as he honed his craft. With time, with practice and with fierce dedication fueling his fire, he began to teach hip hop to disadvantaged children through the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. For three years, Silva worked with children each day from 7:30AM to 3PM. Then he’d be in the studio from 5PM until midnight, only to rise at 6AM the next day and start the routine all over.

“You’re like their parents,” Silva replied when asked how the experience had affected him. “[The children] are taken away from their families. I went with them to school and then helped them after school, I set up dance classes with them.”

Although DSS was providing care, stimulation and exercise for the children, Silva believed something was lacking in the after school program.

“They didn’t do too much ~ [it was] video games or basketball,” he remembered. “It was boring. But I had built up a good relationship with the kids. They got along with me and they were excited when I brought up the idea of a hip hop dance class. I would be walking around and they would stop me and show me what they practicing.”

Silva only recently left his position with DSS and, according to him, it was one of the hardest decisions he had ever made. He misses the children terribly and believes every one of them has amazing potential. But Silva had to move on. Today he is a full time dance teacher at Artistic Dance Studio in Westport, MA. His classes invite all people ~ from the beginner to the advanced dancer ~ to give hip hop a try. Regardless of the class level, Keith makes sure that it is fun, safe, and full of energy.

He remains very close with his family, is presently in a loving romantic relationship and embraces life during each step of his journey.

“You’ve gotta love what you do,” Silva mused in a recent interview when asked about how others might become involved in dance. “Because if you love it, there is a lot of dedication. It will take everything you’ve got.”