PERSONAL
What is your full name?
Corey Steven Vidal (my middle name is after my father, Steve Vidal)
How old are you?
I am currently 21 (I was born December 7th, 1986).
Where do you live?
Well, that's not entirely your business. Between the loving stalkers and the hating death threats, let's suffice it to say I live somewhere close to both Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Toronto, Ontario. For those of you who are not good at geography, the province of Ontario is located in the country of Canada. No, I am not American. No, I do not live in the United States. Yes, I have been there before. Canada is nicer.
What is your email/how can I contact you?
You are best contacting me via email at corey@aexian.com. Business related matters (if you work for or represent any form of media) should be directed to cvidal@aexian.com. You can also message me through YouTube, or send me a message on MySpace. I do my best to personally get back to every message. If you have a question, please read these 'Frequently Asked Questions' before sending me a message - the answer to your question might already be here.
I do not give out my Windows Live Messenger address for chatting online. My personal email is personal. My phone number is also personal, so no, you cannot talk to me on the phone.
Can I have a list of all the different sites you are on?
Sure!
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/coreyvidal
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey_Vidal
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CoreyVidal
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Corey-Vidal/8234135357
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coreyvidal
BlogTV: http://www.blogtv.com/People/CoreyVidal
Why are you so awesome?
Good upbringing I guess.
Why do you suck so much?
Because I am horrible at life and terrible at everything. Please accept my apologies.
Are you single?
No.
Are you gay?
No.
You're a male dancer! You must be gay!
I'm not.
Well then, are you bi?
Nope.
How tall are you?
Tall. I am 6'1".
How much do you weigh?
Wow, this is getting personal. I'm 160 lbs.
What is your religion/Are you a Christian?
I would define myself not by my religion, but by my spirituality. For the sake of being "technical" I would be defined as a born-again Christian. I call this a technicality because I feel that Christianity is more than just a religion or set of beliefs. You might not agree. That's OK with me.
YOUTUBE
When did you start posting videos on YouTube?
I uploaded my first YouTube video on Thursday, August 17th, 2006 at 11:46 PM.
How many hits do you have?
This number goes up every day, but you can see my total number of video hits in the top-left corner of this page: www.youtube.com/coreyvidal
How many hits do you get?
I receive roughly 15,000-20,000 hits on an average day. Days I post new videos are a lot higher.
Is your YouTube username 'CoreyVidal' or 'ApprenticeA'?
To be technical, my username is ApprenticeA. See, a long time ago, when I first created my YouTube account, I obviously had no idea that I would one day receive so many hits. So as opposed to using my real name, I used the same username I had on a lot of websites: ApprenticeA.
ApprenticeA is short for "Apprentice Anakin", a username I liked because I was such a big fan of Star Wars. Yes, I am a huge nerd.
Once I started becoming popular on YouTube, I wished I didn't have such a stupid username. Unfortunately by then it was too late. I DID manage to get ahold of the username 'CoreyVidal', and I now have it forwarded to 'ApprenticeA'. Thus, I use www.youtube.com/coreyvidal as my official link, but it's actually redirecting you to www.youtube.com/user/ApprenticeA.
What made you decide to post videos on YouTube?
I don't know, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
How did you become famous on YouTube?
Luck. Good timing. It was meant to be. The Force. Who knows?
Have you set any YouTube records?
I have, actually. YouTube calls them 'Honours'.
If you go to my YouTube page (www.youtube.com/coreyvidal), on the left side you can see a few honours, and by clicking '(more)' it will expand the list to show a bunch of major records I hold.
My video How To Dance: '1, 2 Step' Ciara music video by Corey Vidal has also set quite a number of impressive Honours.
What is your most popular video?
How To Dance: '1, 2 Step' Ciara music video by Corey Vidal
What is your favourite video that you've done?
I can't pick an absolute favourite, so I'll list a few:
'4 Minutes' Hip Hop Dance - Madonna & Justin Timberlake
'Le Professeur' (Acoustic) - Corey Vidal
BE MY FRIEND! :)
I heard you work for YouTube/Google, or something like that. How does that work?
I don't work FOR anyone, but technically I work with them. Google (the company that owns YouTube) pays me when people view my videos on YouTube.
What! No way! How does that work?
I am part of the YouTube Partnership Programme. The Partner Programme is a revenue-sharing programme that allows creators and producers of original content (like me!) to earn money from their videos on YouTube. I earn revenue from the advertisements that run alongside my videos.
That's crazy! How much do you make?
Yes it IS crazy! What's also crazy is how rude this question is (and how often it gets asked). See, if you told me YOU worked somewhere, it would be quite rude for me to ask you how much YOU make, don't you think?
...actually, the real answer is that I am legally not allowed to provide my payment details to you. When I became a Partner, I signed a legal form stating I wouldn't share certain information. My revenue falls under that privacy.
So you're really not going to tell me how much you make?
Nope. Sorry.
Come on. Is it a lot?
It may or may not be enough to be my only source of income, but I can confirm I do YouTube "for a living". It is enough to make me smile when I get my cheques, and then spend the money however I see fit.
DANCING
How long have you been dancing?
I started dancing in the previous millennium (in 1999). I was in grade 8, at the tender age of 12.
What did you study/where did you study/what is your dance history?
When I was 12, my parents signed me up for dance lessons at a near-by dance school called 'Joli's Dance Studio', in Welland, Ontario. My younger sister wanted to get into dancing, and the owner of the studio offered my mother a buy-one-class-get-one-free for me because I was a guy. The studio did not have very many male dancers, so I guess they were a little desperate. I wanted to take hip hop, so we ended up getting jazz lessons for free.
Throughout the next five years (grade 8, and all of high school), I went on to study hip hop, jazz, Latin American, ballroom, and ballet.
When I graduated high school in 2004, a lot of my life changed at the same time (this is usually referred to as 'growing up'), and I made the decision to quit dance. For the next 3 years, I didn't take any dance lessons at all, but still kept dancing as a hobby from home. It was during this time I started posting my dance videos on YouTube (August 2006).
In September of 2007, a different dance studio in Welland called 'Dance Place' had heard about me (via my internet fame), and offered to let me dance there for free. I signed up for hip hop, jazz, contemporary/lyrical, ballet, and performance. After about a month of that, I realized my life was too busy, and toned it down to just hip hop and jazz, which is what I now take every week.
Aside from that, I teach lessons and choreography both privately and publicly. I am willing to teach anywhere in the world as long as the expenses are covered, so if you're interested in hiring me, please contact me here.
You should audition for So You Think You Can Dance!
That is not a question.
Are you going to audition for So You Think You Can Dance?
No, and for a very good reason. The simple answer is that I CAN'T audition for So You Think You Can Dance. I am not allowed. So You Think You Can Dance is an American show that is broadcast on the FOX network. As it is a competition, I would legally be required to work in the United States, by holding either a U.S. visa or a green card. I have neither of these, and as such, am legally unable to audition.
Well then, you should audition for a Canadian version of So You Think You Can Dance!
That is not a question.
Gah!! ARE you going to audition for So You Think You Can Dance Canada?
Yes I am! In fact, I already did. My audition was on June 8th, 2008 in Toronto.
Really? What happened? How did it go?
Unfortunately, I didn't make the cut.
Following that, I made a YouTube video that talked about what happened at the auditions and how I did, but CTV (the television network that broadcasts and holds the rights to So You Think You Can Dance Canada) got upset because apparently I signed a form that stated that I legally agree not to share how I did. I was legally forced to remove the video.
LEGAL STUFF
I cannot find one of your YouTube videos. Where did it go?
Unfortunately, the bigger I get on YouTube, the more problems I seem to face (and the harder it is to get anything done). For one reason or another, the following videos have been removed from YouTube:
So You Think You Can Dance Canada Auditions (Corey Vidal)
Non-disclosure agreement infringement filed by CTV Television Network
I heard something went on with your dance video to '4 Minutes' by Madonna and Justin Timberlake. What's the story there?
I could type out everything that happened, but instead you can just watch/hear me explain everything in a video I posted about it:
Legal Battle Over Madonna's '4 Minutes' YouTube Videos!
MISC.
How can I ever thank you for being so great?
By sending me money through www.paypal.com. PayPal is a secure way to transfer money via the internet (using your credit card/debit card/bank account), and is owned and run by the same company that runs eBay, meaning it is perfectly safe and secure to use. I accept donations of any size, and you can find a quick link for donating in the 'PayPal' section on the right side of this page. -->
Why would I want to send you my money?
Why not? I deserve it.
YouTube Vid #6: How To Dance: '1, 2 Step' Ciara music video by Corey Vidal
After the popularity of my previous 'How To Dance' video teaching 'Sexy Love' from season two of So You Think You Can Dance, I started receiving messages on YouTube and emails in my inbox, with lots of questions, thanks, and requests.
One of the very first requests I got was from YouTube member 'sthsidebabiie' (who's account for whatever reason no longer exists - thanks for the request, whoever you are!). She wanted me to teach some choreography from an old-ish (few years ago) song by Ciara; the '1, 2 Step'. It seemed like it would be a fun video to learn, and I already had the music video on my computer, so I checked it out. The '1, 2 Step' move itself is quite easy (you just kind of step on the spot back and forth, but with style of course), so I figured I would learn as much of the video as I could.
I watched. I practiced. I learned. The problem with dancing in music videos is that we will have a full-body shot of people dancing (this is good), which will then cut to a completely pointless shot of Ciara's face, extreme closeup, and singing (this is bad). By the time the shot goes back to the dancing, we've missed a few moves, and have no idea what they are. So I improvised, and took moves from the second verse/chorus and brought them into what I was learning. It worked out well, and smoothed out the dance.
(It was later brought to my attention that I could have tried to find her performing it live at a concert, but I learned the dance rather quickly, and didn't have too much time to put the video together.)
This video has honestly surprised me very much. What originally took me just a few days to learn and film has become my most-viewed YouTube video, as well as the one with the most critical response. It consistently holds some very high YouTube honours, 3 of which are global, and 5 of which put me as one of Canada's top video content providers. They change every day, but they're usually somewhere around...
#75 - Top Rated (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#50 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#15 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#66 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Canada
#7 - Most Discussed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#6 - Top Rated (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#3 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#1 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
The video receives its fair share of both praise and criticism. I've been told that it is very easy to learn and follow along, especially for beginners of people with no dance experience. And then I have been told I talk too much, and should cut out a lot of the explanation and 'just dance'. To this I reply:
My videos are for everyone. They are not meant just for dancers, or people with professional training. I believe that dancing is an activity and hobby that all people, all over the world should be able to enjoy. Regardless of age, gender, location, or experience, I want to be able to share my dancing with the world, and help teach those who may not be able to take lessons. This is why my videos are free.
So there you have it! My most popular video. With over 1.5 million hits, and still receiving thousands of hits a day. Perhaps I should send Ciara a thank you letter, technically I am leaching off of her fame.
Thanks for watching!
If you enjoy my videos, please leave a donation, and help make future videos possible.
One of the very first requests I got was from YouTube member 'sthsidebabiie' (who's account for whatever reason no longer exists - thanks for the request, whoever you are!). She wanted me to teach some choreography from an old-ish (few years ago) song by Ciara; the '1, 2 Step'. It seemed like it would be a fun video to learn, and I already had the music video on my computer, so I checked it out. The '1, 2 Step' move itself is quite easy (you just kind of step on the spot back and forth, but with style of course), so I figured I would learn as much of the video as I could.
I watched. I practiced. I learned. The problem with dancing in music videos is that we will have a full-body shot of people dancing (this is good), which will then cut to a completely pointless shot of Ciara's face, extreme closeup, and singing (this is bad). By the time the shot goes back to the dancing, we've missed a few moves, and have no idea what they are. So I improvised, and took moves from the second verse/chorus and brought them into what I was learning. It worked out well, and smoothed out the dance.
(It was later brought to my attention that I could have tried to find her performing it live at a concert, but I learned the dance rather quickly, and didn't have too much time to put the video together.)
This video has honestly surprised me very much. What originally took me just a few days to learn and film has become my most-viewed YouTube video, as well as the one with the most critical response. It consistently holds some very high YouTube honours, 3 of which are global, and 5 of which put me as one of Canada's top video content providers. They change every day, but they're usually somewhere around...
#75 - Top Rated (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#50 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#15 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Howto & Style - Global
#66 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Canada
#7 - Most Discussed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#6 - Top Rated (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#3 - Most Viewed (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
#1 - Top Favorites (All Time) - Howto & Style - Canada
The video receives its fair share of both praise and criticism. I've been told that it is very easy to learn and follow along, especially for beginners of people with no dance experience. And then I have been told I talk too much, and should cut out a lot of the explanation and 'just dance'. To this I reply:
My videos are for everyone. They are not meant just for dancers, or people with professional training. I believe that dancing is an activity and hobby that all people, all over the world should be able to enjoy. Regardless of age, gender, location, or experience, I want to be able to share my dancing with the world, and help teach those who may not be able to take lessons. This is why my videos are free.
So there you have it! My most popular video. With over 1.5 million hits, and still receiving thousands of hits a day. Perhaps I should send Ciara a thank you letter, technically I am leaching off of her fame.
Thanks for watching!
If you enjoy my videos, please leave a donation, and help make future videos possible.
YouTube Vid #5: How To Dance: Warmup/Tips & Tricks/Misc by Corey Vidal
I filmed this video at the same time I filmed How To Dance: '1, 2 Step'. I had been working for a few weeks learning the 1, 2 Step as my very first 'requested video' ever, so I decided that while I had everything all set up to film it (lights and microphones take a long time to set up!), I might as well film anything else that came to mind.
So I decided to make a video about warming up, some exercises, and offering some random tips and tricks I've learned over the years. To finish it off, I talked a bit about my dance history (mostly because I get at least one email a day asking me how long I have been dancing for, and what kind of lessons I took).
There was no real fore-thought going into the making of this video. I basically just hit record, and started talking. Oh, and I was very proud of myself because I had Justin Timberlake's new CD 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' before it came out (I posted this video on September 3rd, 2006, and that CD came out September 12th).
If you enjoy my videos, please leave a donation, and help make future videos possible.
So I decided to make a video about warming up, some exercises, and offering some random tips and tricks I've learned over the years. To finish it off, I talked a bit about my dance history (mostly because I get at least one email a day asking me how long I have been dancing for, and what kind of lessons I took).
There was no real fore-thought going into the making of this video. I basically just hit record, and started talking. Oh, and I was very proud of myself because I had Justin Timberlake's new CD 'FutureSex/LoveSounds' before it came out (I posted this video on September 3rd, 2006, and that CD came out September 12th).
If you enjoy my videos, please leave a donation, and help make future videos possible.
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