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Beau Casper Smart is trying out something new to commemorate International Dance Day. The actor, dancer, and choreographer (and Jennifer Lopez’s boyfriend for about two years), partnered up with Pepsi to create the first-ever Latin fusion dance class hosted in the Metaverse.
In an exclusive interview with HOLA! USA, Smart discussed various topics, including his desire to be involved with innovative ideas, the world’s increasing interest in Latin music, his extensive career in dance, and the time he co-starred alongside Bad Bunny in Becky G’s music video.
Pepsi is hosting the first ever dance class in the Metaverse
HOLA! USA: Can you tell me a little bit about your experience with dancing and how your career kicked off?
Smart: Yeah, let’s take it back! I started dancing when I was about 17. I started dancing in the streets and parking lots and got really big in the street world. I became pretty known worldwide because it was a big movement and I was pretty good. I got signed by 19 and did my first music video with Sean Paul and Keiyshia Cole. And from that moment I just started working like crazy. By 22 I was choreographing for Beyonce. I did the choreography for “Run the World,” and some Grammy performances for her. By 24, I quit dancing. I never took another dance job and I was just purely choreographing. And then along the way, I started acting, and then I went back and forth with both.
Latin music has been experiencing this really wonderful boom all over the world. Has your work been impacted by this? Do artists want to dance and get involved with more Latin music nowadays?
I think so, yeah. I think the big boom that started making artists interested in Latin Music was Justin Bieber’s “Despacito.” When he did that feature, everyone started doing the same, and I feel like that really crossed Latin music over to not just the US market, but to the world market. And now Bad Bunny is the number one artist in the world. I played Becky’s love interest in the “Mayores” music video and I remember that the director said: ‘This guy is Bad Bunny. He’s gonna be one of the biggest Latin artists in the world.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, cool. Yeah, great.’ You know what I mean? Everyone says that about artists. But then Bad Bunny started rapping and I was like ‘Wow.’ His tone just cut through. And there are a million good singers, good rappers, and good artists, but tone is what cuts through and what separates people.
What inspired you to partner up with Pepsi?
Pepsi came to me with this idea to team up with International Dance Day and do this big master dance class in the Metaverse called “Muevelo con Pepsi.” And I just felt it was fun but also very forward-thinking. It’s an idea that brings people together and that lets everyone all over the world participate in the same activity if they want to. The entire world is involved in the same thing at the same time. It’s the first effort to do this, so I felt like it was a very innovative and fun project to be a part of.
Can you explain to me how the Metaverse plays a part in this whole thing?
Well, the Metaverse is something that we can all live in and do at the same time. Think of it as, in very basic terms, an online class. The entire world can take this class at the same exact time together and be in this futuristic space that we’re all pushing towards.
Do you have a favorite song that you go to when you’re teaching dance?
I don’t know about a favorite song. I have favorite styles of music for sure. Favorite genres. We’ll do five genres in this class: we have Salsa, Reggaeton, Cumbia, Norteno, and Banda. Definitely, salsa and reggaeton are my two favorite genres of music in general. If I’m gonna dance somewhere, which I rarely do because I’m very shy, it’s gonna be salsa and reggaeton.
Lastly, I wanted to ask about your future. Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you want to share?
Yeah. I just dropped the movie last week called No Way Out. It’s on two Tubi and It just went number one in three categories. I play the villain. I also have two more movies coming up that I’m shooting in the next couple of months. I’m also really excited about this partnership with Pepsi, this dance masterclass. Don’t miss it on April, 29th. Join me!