Inspired by dancers like Michael Jackson and WildaBeast Adams, Broadus looked up different YouTube videos and taught himself the dances.
To this day, he said he has never taken a professional dance class.
“The funny thing about me is that I have zero rhythm, so I just taught myself,” Broadus said.
Broadus said he started by making YouTube videos of himself dancing just for fun before starting to take it more seriously when he was a senior in high school.
Once he got to IU, Broadus auditioned for Essence Dance Team and danced with them for about a year and a half, he said.
A sports management and marketing major with a minor in business, Broadus decided he wanted to venture out and do his own thing by teaching dance classes at IU. Broadus said he is not an IU Recreational Sports employee, so his classes are completely free. His dance classes range from beginner to moderate experience levels, and he describes his style of dance as contemporary hip-hop.
Broadus said his ultimate goal is to open up his own dance studio and teach little kids how to dance.
“When it comes to teaching little kids how to dance, I think it’s really cool just to see a part of you in someone else,” Broadus said.
Although he loves teaching dance, Broadus said performing is his favorite part. He said he realized how much he loved to dance when he first started performing.
“When I’m up there, it’s just kind of exhilarating,” Broadus said.
Broadus is often booked to perform at events for student organizations on campus. He was even asked to perform at the IU Dance Marathon last year. Right now his goal is to help fraternities choreograph their serenades at least once, he said.
Broadus creates original choreography in his head. He said he has to get obsessed with a song and listen to it about 30 times a day while paying attention to all the little beats and clicks because those are the basis for his moves.
“If I am not dancing, I am still thinking about it in my head,” Broadus said.
He also said he can occasionally be found twitching randomly in class because he is thinking of a dance move or routine.
Dance isn’t the only form of art Broadus takes part in. He said he likes to consider himself a jack-of-all-trades because he has also taught himself to play the piano and the guitar.
“I would call myself an artist at heart,” Broadus said.
Everything he does in terms of art is for himself so he can appreciate it. He said he is a low-key person, so he doesn’t try to show the whole world what he can do. Instead, Broadus uses dance as a way to relieve stress and get rid of any bad feelings.
Broadus will graduate from IU this May and said he hopes to move to Los Angeles or Chicago to get involved with the dance community there.
“I feel like everybody has their thing, but not many people get to realize what that is, but now I think I’ve found my thing,” Broadus said. “Now that I’ve realized that, I plan to stick with it as long as I can.”
