Dance Wunderkind Parris Goebel Gaining Traction

The New Yorker’s review of Justin Bieber’s latest “stellar” video, “Sorry” – perhaps “an acceptable cap to his year of penitence” – declares that, “it is impossible not to feel as if you would benefit from a new pair of neon-colored sneakers,” especially when the dancers sell them like New Zealanders.

“Choreographed and directed by Goebel a twenty-three-year-old wunderkind from Auckland (she has also choreographed for Nikki Minaj and Janet Jackson, and performs in ‘Sorry’), [the video, which has had more than 30 million views] features a dance crew known as ReQuest, a white room, and very little else.

“The women are playful – nearly mocking – as they mouth Bieber’s rueful lyrics through red lips. ‘I have transgressed,’ Bieber’s absence seems to suggest. ‘So I will let these rad ladies make fun of me a little.’”

Rolling Stone magazine dubs Goebel “pop’s hottest dance mastermind”.

“Goebel is gaining traction. Fast. Goebel is humble, but her style, which she’s branded ‘Polyswagg,’ is anything but.”

Goebel founded Auckland’s Palace Dance Studio, New Zealand’s “home of hip-hop”. She was named Young New Zealander of the Year in 2014.

Original article by Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, October 28, 2015.