Cristina Benedetti

Cristina Benedetti is a dancer/choreographer born in Verona, Italy. She moved to Paris for her passion of dance, where she had an intensive training of lockin, poppin', house dancing, hip hop and freestyle.  In 2006 she moved to Los Angeles and has worked with artists such as Britney Spears, Lady GAGA, Jamiroquai, T-Pain, Common, Macy Gray, Ben Vereen, David Guetta, Kelly Rowland, BOA, and Dierks Bentley. Cristina Benedetti has also worked with companies such as Adidas, Skechers, Prudential, and Sterling to name a few. 

She is a member of The Groovaloos and, together with them, she won the international dance competition on NBC: Superstars of Dance (January 2009). With the Groovaloos, she has been invited to dance on the Ellen Degeneres Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and So You Think You Can Dance to name a few. Since 2009 she has been part of a crew of 5 girls formed by international known choreographer Shotyme.  The group is called Stylz Play. She teaches weekly at one of the top studios in Los Angeles, the Debbie Reynolds Studio,  and is invited worldwide to teach workshops.

Interview with Cristina Benedetti

MQ: How do you feel about the male dominance in Hip-Hop Dance? 

CB: There used to be a lot more women in Hip Hop, but now I don’t know why it isn’t that way now. A lot of times personal things come up where women choose to get married and get pregnant then stop dancing. Recently, I auditioned for an artist to go on tour and killed it, but I didn’t get the part because I’m considered white in their eyes. I was and still am upset at that being the reason why I didn’t get the part. It shouldn’t matter if you’re a girl or boy; or whether you’re black, white, orange, or green.” 

MQ: Do you think it is hard for women to prove their selves in the hip hop community? 

CB: Yes, women, some women are not as physically cable of gaining a high level of skill like boys, especially in breaking, so they do have to work extra hard at their craft to get to a high level of skill. No matter what you should always work hard at your craft man or woman, but women do have to work harder. When a woman gets into a circle, what often happens is that they (the audience) say she is kind of good because she is a girl and then the girl starts to believe that is enough and then stops practicing.  

MQ: When you find out about a dance event, what attracts you to it (what makes you want to go)?

CB: Good music, I am always traveling but when I have time to go to events I really just go to support.

MQ: Is there a reason why you choose hip-hop as a style in dance?

CB: I am from Italy so there was really only Italian music, when I moved to Paris I got introduced to different styles like popping and locking. Watching James Brown and Michael Jackson made me want to learn the styles.