Will B Whitesell, Actor, Singer, Musician, Rising Star!

WillBLogo2015

“With hard work and believing you can live your dream.”    Will B Whitesell 

THE ARTIST

Will B Whitesell
Will B Whitesell

Twelve year old William Brandon Whitesell or better known as “Will B” was born August 18, 2002 in Las Vegas, NV.   He goes by Will B, his middle name; because he says the “B” is for BELIEVE! 

Will is one of 5 children in the family but the only one who is into the music world. “He has been since he was 2”, says his Mother Tammy. “We noticed Will would sing songs all day long and change the words to what it sounded like. Everywhere we would go Will would attract attention.” 

When Will was 12 months old he was entered into a baby pageant and won almost every category. His family didn’t take it too seriously, because to them he was special no matter what, but it seemed others could see it from the moment they met him. Will just seems to have a special charm that brings out the best in others, generating smiles and laughter, making this one of his greatest attributes. 

Will B Whitesell swing 2015
Will B Whitesell

His parents shared, that when Will was 8 they enrolled him in a few acting lessons because he was so funny and loved to entertain. The instructors asked if Will could sing and they said a little, like any other 8 year old. So he sang for them and they thought it was cute. A little over a year later they asked him to sing in front of a showcase. Will said ok and told them he wanted to sing Adelle. They said no, that he couldn’t do that, but he insisted. Little did they know he had been listening to Adelle all day every day and had been studying her. “Will came out and sang and everyone was blown away, especially us”, said his Mom. “We didn’t know he had taught himself to sing! It was amazing.”

Will despises Bullying! Because of that, he started anti-bullying events in schools and local radio stations. “Will wants a world of peace and love”, says is Mom. “He is known to be a hugging machine, hugging everyone he meets! He is a very lovable young man.” 

THE ACTOR

At 10 years old Will was called on to audition for a Musical. His parents were a bit reluctant because Will hadn’t had much experience in musical stage performance, but decided to go anyway. To their delight the audition was a complete success with them loving Will! While they still had auditions to do in LA and NY they told Will’s parents that they would let them know. A short time later they officially awarded Will a placement in the cast for an 11 month tour of the United States. Knowing what a great adventure it would be they accepted the appointment and with great anticipation got ready for the tour. 

“It was a big decision for us”, said his parents, “Will loved school and was an A – B honor roll student all through school, and this would mean being away from school and his friends and family. But in spite of that, Will wanted to do it. A private teacher was assigned to travel with them helping Will to keep his grades up. Will worked 6 days a week usually traveling on the 7th day, and did school 4 days a week for 11 months. “He loved it and never complained”, said Mom. 

Will B Whitesell water 2015

When Will completed the tour he did 2 movies, both bully movies, one where he played the part of a bully and the other where he gets bullied. I’m told they should be out late 2015. 

Will has done two commercials and a web series. He takes his craft very seriously taking acting classes and vocal lessons. In addition he is also now enrolled in dance lessons. He is currently home schooled through Connections Academy and doing extremely well. He’s been very busy touring with JoJo Siwa from dance moms and with Kidz Bop. 

THE SINGER

Will is currently recording his own EP which will have 5 new songs, 4 covers, and 1 original that he helped write, “I Will B Yours”.

Iwillb musicvideoWATCH WILL’S NEW MUSIC VIDEO

Will sings all day long, it’s in his heart. He’s learning Guitar and Ukulele and also enjoys playing the keyboard and piano. If that’s not enough, he wants to add drums to his many musical talents. 

When it comes to acting, Will is amazing! He writes his own scripts often in class. His class mates are so impressed they ask him to write some for them too. Like all preteens Will can’t wait till August when he turns 13!  A legit Teenager! 

Will is great when it comes to social skills. The younger ones look up to him and the older ones enjoy hanging out with him. Will has a very positive outlook on life and brings that same energy everywhere he goes, providing encouragement and showing love and support to everyone. Will simply loves everyone and somehow always finds the good in everything and everyone. His Mom told him that he was a combination of Bob Hope, Jim Carrey, and Sam Smith! (The heart and brain of Bob Hope, the comedy of Jim Carrey and the voice of Sam Smith!) 

THE PERSON

Will B Whitesell 2015
Will B Whitesell

Will spends most of the day on something related to his dream. He writes short screenplays and creates short films cutting and editing them on his Apple Computer at home. Will loves Apple products.

While most kids are playing video games, not Will, he is in his room creating something to do with either music or movies!  

On a personal side, Will is a vegetarian. He loves animals and hates the thought of what happens to them. He is very conscientious about what he eats. A very healthy, smart kid who is into Chia, Flax, Almond milk, all kinds of healthy choices and in addition loves to cook his own creations.

Will’s hobbies usually have something to do with his Dream. He makes music, creates movies, attends shows or movies and is constantly learning from others. Outside of his career pursuits Will enjoys swimming, hiking, and spending time with his best friend and Buddy his dog! He is happy just hanging out with all his friends. 

His mentors in life are Billy Hufsey, his acting coach and Steven Ventic his music producer. 

He loves them both and is blessed to have them in his life. 

Will works very hard on fulfilling his dream to become a professional singer and actor and along the way wants to inspire other kids to follow their dreams.

After Fox 5 News saw Will perform live at the Silverton Casino, they featured him on their program saying, “Watch this kid! He’s going to be a singing sensation.”

 

For More About Will B Visit:

Gavin Morales: 10-year-old dancing sensation

“Keep trying harder and harder, and never, ever, ever give up!
- Gavin Morales

Gavin profile 2015Watching a dancer is a spiritual experience. It can be life changing to see another human being with flesh and bones like our own (well, almost!) defying our assumptions of what we thought was physically possible while communicating through every fibre of their being. Watching Californian dancing prodigy, Gavin Morales, perform was one such experience. I have never seen such power and intensity of communication coming from a 10-year-old boy. It was both challenging and incredibly moving.

Born to Dance 

gavin split leap showbiz14Some people are born to dance and I do not say that lightly. I strongly believe that I was born to sing, simply because I know my life would feel empty and meaningless without it. Having spoken to Gavin and his father though the wonders of Skype, I am convinced Gavin is born to dance. Not least because he never stopped moving for the entire conversation! But more so because of the way his face lit up every time he spoke about his dancing. As eloquent as he was, I believe Gavin’s mother-tongue is movement. 

For me, this raises some interesting points on the established education system in the Western world which still considers education to be a static activity – bad news for those who need to move to think. But that is definitely another blog! On with our featured artist…

A world-class performer

Let’s establish before we go any further, that Gavin Morales is a world-class dancer and almost certainly one of the most competent boy dancers performing now. He has won multiple awards for his talent which have resulted in opportunities that most professionals could only dream of. As much as Gavin has had some amazing opportunities and clearly is blessed with an incredible natural talent, much of his success is down to a level of hard work and dedication which is staggering to see in such a young boy.

Gavin and JadeFurthermore, Gavin is coached by some of the top professionals including Jade Hale-Christofi – a graduate of the Royal Ballet School in the UK and choreographer of Take Me To Church performed by Sergei Polunin. Jade is currently Gavin’s ballet and technique coach, helping fine tune Gavin’s incredible talent. Gavin says that Jade is ‘an amazing male role model’.

The Take Me to Church music video has propelled the lyrical, expressive form of dance in which Gavin excels into the mainstream media. Coincidentally, my fiancée sent me a link to the video a few days before I interviewed Gavin while I was still unaware of the connection. I am sure her thoughts express the feelings of many when they see such a powerful performance:

“Seeing someone else express feelings we all hold inside somehow makes it feel as if he’s released them on our behalf. I wish I could go and dance the angst out sometimes! 

But at the same time, it just makes my heart burst with joy and gratitude that such beauty exists.” 

Though Gavin has never met Sergei Polunin, he is his biggest professional inspiration, not only for Sergei’s strength and incredible technique, but because Gavin has been described by many as a ‘young Sergei’. One of Gavin’s dreams is to meet Sergei and perform Take Me To Church with him.

Boys don’t dance…

turn2dust2Gavin is competent in many dance genre’s including ballet, lyrical, contemporary, open, and jazz. As a rare, left footed dancer, Gavin has had to work extra hard on his right side but, as a result, is now equally at home on both sides. You could say he now has two right feet as opposed to two left feet!

His earliest and greatest inspiration is his older sister MacKenzie who also dances to an extremely high standard. Gavin says:

“My biggest influence is my sister because I learned how to dance from her. I watched her all the time and thought ‘oh that looks fun’ and I just tried it!”

So we might say that if there had been no Mackenzie Morales, there would be no Gavin Morales! It is very rare to have two such competent dancers from the same family, especially considering that neither of the dancing siblings’ parents are dancers.  

Gavin’s father told me:

“At first I wanted Gavin to be a wrestler, football player because, you know it’s ‘not cool’ to have a boy dancer. But now I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. I started to appreciate Gavin and MacKenzie’s passion. That’s them, I mean they were born to do that and it’s beautiful to be able to see them express themselves in that way.”

 

Gavin and FamilyGavin with Family

Without the support that they enjoy from their family, it would never have been possible for Gavin and MacKenzie to come so far. Having danced as a boy myself, I was saddened though by no means surprised to hear that Gavin endures a lot of bullying. Most of this is through social media where he has to put up with a lot of unsolicited criticism at best and at worst some cruel remarks from envious haters. As always, I would strongly encourage you to take a moment to encourage Gavin through positive comments as much as possible. Please don’t underestimate the difference it can make!

Gavin’s Instagram

Gavin’s Facebook Page

Gavin’s Twitter

However, I am quite sure that it will take a lot more than a few haters to pull Gavin down. I asked him what advice he would give to other young people trying to achieve their dreams. He answered:

“Keep trying harder and harder and never, ever, ever give up.”

Gavin emphasised some of the people that have inspired him to be a better dancer.

Gavin with Dance Trophys
Gavin proudly displays his much earned awards!

Christina Lyon is founder of Gala de Danza. She invited Gavin and his sister McKenzie to perform at Gala de Danza in Cabo San Lucas Mexico in 2014 with these amazing professionals: Misty Copeland, Hee Seo, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Marlon Dino, Irina Dvorovenko, Qi Huan, Lucia Lacarra, Brooklyn Mack, and Gillian Murphy to name a few. They were just asked to come back in 2015 to perform again.

Chris Todar was Gavin’s first lyrical teacher and huge influence on his success.  Last year Chris had an accident that left him unable to teach and a large temporary void in Gavin’s growth.  He has since latched on to others for that needed training and inspiration.  Chris choreographed the solo The Face that went viral when Gavin was 8 years old.

Gavin Turn To Dust 2015

 

Derek Piquette is in Gavin’s eyes one of the best male teachers/dancers he knows. Derek choreographed an amazing solo for Gavin this year Turn To Dust and will soon be known by the world for being on this years So You Think You Can Dance.

Tiffany Burton Rojas is Gavin’s current dance teacher. She has played an amazing role in taking Gavin’s talent to the next level, not only through her training, but with her life experiences as an amazing young dancer/actor.

One final question…

I was keen to ask Gavin the ‘Billy Elliot’ question, sure that he would give an interesting answer: ‘how do you feel when you dance?’

“I feel like… I don’t know… it’s just a very good feeling. I feel like I’m expressing myself and I get to be free when I dance.”

And so I conclude that here is a boy who was surely born to dance. It is clear that to deprive him of dance would be a cruel prison for Gavin as well as a crime against the future of dance! I am sure you would like to join me in wishing Gavin all the very best in his career. We will hopefully be hearing much more from him as he continues his exciting journey in the world of dance.