For Joey Mato, dance was something that he was surrounded by at a young age. Little did he know that it was going to become his life.  He is now our reigning Mr. Dance America in which he received the honor at our 2013 Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Finals in Las Vegas – Purple.

Since the age of 4, Mato earned all of his dance training with TJE Dance Force located in Hollbrook, NY.  The 18-year-old dancer won the title with his impressive hip-hop performance to “Inspector Gadget” wow-ing the crowd with his ultra-robotic movements, his effortless fluidity, and superstar showmanship.  Choreographed by Mario Velez, Mato said “I really like his hip-hop style, but I think I might have surprised him too– in a good way.” Along with this winning moment, Mato shared his background and other proud moments in his dance career thus far.

Back to the beginning–

“My sisters were on the competition team. My mom was like, ‘Let’s put him on because he’s there anyway,’” Mato tells. “I would always cry when I would go to class. I would be standing there and everyone was watching me. Then, I got to the point when I wanted to be there, and I wanted to dance.”

The New York native remembers clearly—

“I was competing with my group with my dance studio. It was hip-hop, and we were dancing to ‘Funky Town’ I remember.  I [usually] danced with two other boys, but they couldn’t make it to Nationals. So I was the only boy, and I was so nervous because I felt like it was just me. I ended up doing my thing and just loving it. I accomplished it.”

When he realized his passion for dance —

“When I first started, I thought this was something I was going to do until high school. ….

Well, if I’m dedicating my life to dance now, then why do I have to stop? Why can’t I keep going?” Mato claims, “(Now) I just look it as like just letting go, and giving it all I got.

Then, real opportunities started coming—

“I danced with the Knicks for four years when  was in middle school, and I was the captain of the young kids that would dance on the courts for the crowd.”

The young male dancer didn’t stop there—

“I auditioned for the Sesame Street float in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. They only picked 2 boys & 2 girls. And we performed on the Sesame Street float. That was really cool. I also performed for Mariah Carey. I was one of her back up dancers for the Christmas tree lighting when she was pregnant with the twins.”

When it came time to make big kid decisions—

“I really like auditions, so I wanted to go to college for something that really focused on that.

Saw this Commercial Dancers audition that was based in the city. It was all kinds of dance, vocals, it really caught my eye. It was a 4 hour audition, and they said they’d call me.

A couple months later, I’m in my theater [at my school] performing. At the end of the show, my sister hands me the phone and it’s my mom telling me that I got the call. I bust out in tears, I started crying, I don’t even know why. I really didn’t think I was going to get in. I was so amazed. I feel like I’m living the dream that I made.”

Things didn’t always come so easy —

“With hip-hop, it’s the most creative in my case. It’s my strongest. I could be myself truly with hip-hop. I could express my true feelings, like freestyle, break dance. But, the challenges.. hmm.. well, learning how to turn, fan kicks,  I’m not one of most flexible guys in the world. I’ve learned that and accepted that. I’ve pushed myself to get it. But, it motivates me to get better and stronger.”

And when people said he couldn’t do it —

“I got that impression that people doubted me, but I feel like if you really want to do something. Then, you should really do. If you dedicate yourself to it, you can really do anything you possibly want.”

Lastly, Mato shares,

“My advice to other dancers would be never give up. To always fight, and you can always be better than who you are no matter what you do. You can always improve. There’s always something that you can do, whether it’s point your toe just a little more, pull on on your passe a little more, anything, there’s always a little something that you can give to become a better performer. I feel like you shouldn’t just put that in dance, you should apply that to your life. And you should always put a smile on.”

Kids Artistic Revue wishes Joey the best of luck as we definitely see a bright future ahead for this talented young man. Watch his award-winning performance here: