Minnesota man who won national dancing title found his voice by moving his feet
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minnesota man is about to take the world stage.
When it comes to dance, he's the best of the best. Here's how he found his voice while moving his feet.
As David Stalter Jr. moves his body, his soul moves, too.
"I think every time that I do dance or express myself, I carry my friends with me, I carry my family with me, I carry everybody that I have ever interacted with with me. I take their energy and mix it with mine and then put that in my artform," he said.
It's an artform he's perfected, but it took a while to hit that rhythm.
Stalter grew up in Bloomington.
"I am half Korean and half Liberian," he said.
He says he struggled to embrace his identity and struggled to interact.
"When I was young I was always very nervous, especially when it came to expressing myself verbally and physically as well," he said. "Even the teachers, they would tell me and they would tell my parents, 'For some reason he just doesn't talk, he just doesn't answer any questions. He's just, he's very quiet.' And I already knew, I had really no friends. So when high school came around I said I have to make some sort of change or try to at least. And try to get out of my bubble, or else I don't know what other path I would go on."
READ MORE: North Minneapolis dance team Dance City wins national competition in Las Vegas
He started watching YouTube videos when he go home from school, secretly teaching himself the ins and outs of hip hop movement.
"As I'm walking home, I had my headphones in and I do this little arm wave thing and then kid behind me was like, 'Yo, what was that?'" Stalter said. "Obviously I'm still shy, I don't really talk much. So I was like, 'It was nothing. I'm just gonna go home. It was really just stretching.'"
But that fellow student was a fellow dancer, and asked Stalter to join the dance crew. And suddenly, he had a new way to cope with life.
"I 100% feel like dance saved me in a really tough time," he said.
But he wasn't just surviving, he was thriving.
"When I won my first competition it was like, wow, this is something that I can impact other people in a certain way, 'cause it saved me, but also maybe my art form can help spark a light or spark some type of energy in somebody else that was once like me as well," he said.
READ MORE: Hot Wheelz dance team is performing with unwavering confidence
He became a pro and his work went viral.
"Celebrities and things like that," Stalter said. "They felt my intention, they felt my vulnerability."
Off the stage, Stalter faced his biggest challenge when he lost his beloved father. Not long after, he became a national champion.
"My first thought was thinking of him," Stalter said.
Now his father's memory will guide him as he takes an even bigger stage, as he heads to Paris to represent the U.S. in the Fusion Concept World Finals.
For Stalter, moving his body allowed him to open his mouth and free his soul.
"It grew my voice and now I just talk all the time," he said.
Stalter is heading to Paris later this month. World finals will be on Aug. 27.
