David Placentino
David started studying dance at the age of 13. Contemporary and ballet were his grounding foundations of dance right up to the age of 17 at Charles Campbell Secondary School; which is an arts specialist school.
Always passionate about all sorts of dance and music, David started his freestyle journey through experimenting with Hip-Hop, Popping and Krump. Freestyling’ in a club in Adelaide at the age of 23, David was poached by a local Urban Hip-Hop school. With great direction and mentoring David started his Hip-Hop teaching/choreographic career.
Teaching in various studios, primary and high schools across South Australia David has extensive teaching experience at every level. He joined a Hip-hop crew called the Ground Breakers in 2012 and was involved in numerous showcases, competitions and back up dancing for various events. The Ground Breakers were two-time State champions in World Supremacy Battlegrounds and were the first open Hip-Hop Crew in the state to compete at Hip-Hop International qualifiers in QLD and NSW.
Still not satisfied with his level of dance knowledge, and his eagerness to push his repertoire; David started Ballroom Latin competitively. Over a four-year period, David trained at Madeleine Dance Emporium, a renowned Ballroom/Latin competitive studio. He competed in three national Ballroom Latin championships, and numerous state competitions and showcases.
David is also involved in the freestyle battle scene of Adelaide, when his talents were recognised, and he was inducted into the Freak Nation family. By where he is an inaugural member of the Krump crew, Beast Mode. One of his best achievements was winning Dancekool Vol. 30 all-styles battle and was flown to Sydney for the nationals and made the quarterfinals.
When David retired from competition both Hip-Hop and Latin to pursue a career as a Performing ARTs High School Teacher, his commercial dance career blossomed. Over a ten-year period, David has been a professional dancer and choreographer through Ding Productions and various other Dance studios. Through this journey David has had been involved in numerous corporate and sporting events. Highlights including dancing and choregraphing for the Adelaide Strikers, Adelaide Crows, Port Adelaide Power and Liza Emmanuel fashion parades.
Whilst dancing and developing his choreography for the commercial scene, David has become a High School teacher at Henley High School, where he has helped develop their mainstream and academy dance program over a seven-year period. This career path has enabled him to develop more styles and skills, as the director of musical productions, working collaboratively with an amazing performing arts team.
High energy, flow, creativity and passion are at the forefront of his style and classes. With such a wide spectrum of styles, David’s ability is to speak dance in most languages and at all levels.