Remember 11-year-old Taylor Hatala, the hip hop dance prodigy that’s been blowing our minds with her killer moves for the past couple of months? Well, she’s back, and this time, she’s taking on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” I don’t know about you, but watching this gal go really makes me wish I could dance. Not only are her moves themselves impressive, but perhaps more importantly, she looks like she’s having a blast while she’s doing it.
Like Hatala’s video for “All That Bass,” this one was choreographed by Matt Steffanina, who performs alongside her. Steffanina, by the way, has an impressive set of credentials of his own; he hit the stage with Taylor Swift herself during her performance of “Blank Space” at the AMAs this year. Here, the dancing duo boogie down with the best of them. Since Hatala’s “Anaconda” video with Laurence Kaiwai dropped in September, she’s taken the Internet on by storm. “It’s been amazing watching her grow this year. So proud of her,” wrote Steffanina in the YouTube description for “All About That Bass” — and if “Shake It Off” is anything to go by, her star is still rising.
According to TODAY.com, Hatala started dancing when she was three; she cut her teeth on tap, jazz, and ballet classes. She tried her first hip hop class at the age of six, and, well… clearly it was a good move. “As I got older, I realized it was more than just fun for me, it was something that made me happy. It was a passion,” she said. She now practices roughly four hours a day, seven days a week — on top of, y’know, being a regular kid, going to school, hanging out with her friends, and so on. Jennifer Mills, the artistic director of Hyperflex Dance Studio, where Taylor got her start, commented to Global News, “She is the hardest-working, most genuine, big-hearted kid you could ever meet.” Looks like her parents raised a winner!
Watch Hatala and Steffanina’s “Shake It Off” here:
And if you’re feeling ambitious, why not try to learn the dance yourself?
Image: MattSteffanina/YouTube
