Meet The Man Behind FKA Twigs' Latest Dance Moves
Photo by: Paula Harrowing
Benjamin Jonsson aka “Benjamin Milan” is an unexpected preacher of the Voguing gospel. The 25 year-old Swede whose androgynous looks is more Belgian avant-garde than ballroom glam, is a classically trained dancer. But once he discovered the legendary dance style — a mash up of breakdancing, martial arts, and aggressive, angular model poses— on Youtube, he was hooked. After watching the seminal documentary Paris is Burning, he headed to New York to learn about the culture firsthand.
Since then Jonsson has studied with living legends, crushed competitors on the dance floor, and performed for the late Alexander McQueen. When he is not teaching one of his popular classes in London, where he is now based, he is working as a choreographer with pop stars like FKA Twigs, with whom he recently collaborated on her latest video “Glass and Patron." Here Jonsson tells Yahoo Style about his dance moves, working with FKA Twigs, and more.
Yahoo Style: What were you like as a kid?
Benjamin Jonsson: I was quite androgynous and I sensed I was different, but I wasn’t ashamed of it. I was proud. I was a creative child—always in my own imagination. I was dancing in front of the mirror lip synching to Aqua or the Spice Girls. This led me to doing theater. After that, I got into gymnastics. That’s when my teachers were like: you have a good sense of rhythm and you look like a natural dancer. So I left my school and went to the art school, which was a bit challenging to convince my parents, but because I was stubborn, they relented. I just knew I had to dance there because it spoke to me.
YS: What kind of dance did you study?
BJ: When I was 18, I got accepted to London Contemporary Dance School. But to me, that classic type of dance wasn’t enough. I wanted to integrate what was going on now and other art forms. But the school was not really open to that. It was a struggle and I felt alienated. I also had a shaved head and wore big fur jackets.
YS: How did you deal with that?
BJ: I grew up in a very Christian, conservative community. So I couldn’t express myself as much I had wanted to, but in London you could go off. So I went into the club scene. That’s where I got my inspiration, where I could just be me.
YS: Is this where you discovered Voguing?
BJ: Yes at around that time, but not in the club scene. I had heard of it before, but I saw a Youtube clip of the 2006 Latex Ball with Javier Ninja and Joselo “Snow White” Milan battling in an out-of-control hand performance. Javier won that battle. And Danielle Polanco who is now the mother of the house of Ninja won that year too. The energy was crazy because Willi Ninja [the founder of the house and Voguing] couldn’t make it to the ball. He was on his death bed during the event, and sadly, passed away two weeks later. So the legends brought this crazy energy to the performances at the event to support him. It was just so infectious.
Photo by: Paula Harrowing
YS: What did you do next to further your interest?
BJ: I started to train at a place called Trocadero in London, and it was just me watching and learning the moves on Youtube. I also went to Germany and took dance workshops from American teachers who came to battle at an event. I went to Streetstar in Stockholm which was one of the urban dance competitions to bring Voguing to Europe.
YS: In Voguing, you represent “houses” in battles, and you are in one now. How did this come about?
BJ: I’m in the house of Milan, which feels like a “fashion” house. Milan was inspired by Milan fashion week and it was founded in the ‘90s. So for me that time was about Versace, the supermodel era, how Naomi Campbell moves and poses, glamour at Gucci, etc.
YS: How did you meet FKA Twigs?
BJ: We met very organically at a night club here in London called Madame Jojos, which is where a lot of freelance dancers used to train. We started talking. She invited me to come to one of her shows and we just kind of stayed in contact. And then she was telling me that she loved how I Vogue, and she wanted to learn more. She then took some of my classes in London.
YS: She’s been integrating Voguing into her performances lately. Tell us about this.
BJ: I have been choreographing the Voguing segments in her shows like Congregata and we did the #throughtheglass film for Google Glass together. Recently, I co-choreographed her most recent video “Glass and Patron” with Aaron Sillis. FKA Twigs’ interest in Voguing is very genuine. She studied it, she learned it, and she has taken her time with it too. It’s great to work with someone like that so we can make art that speaks to what Voguing is really all about.
YS: Why such dedication?
BJ: I think she understands that Voguing is more than just a dance. It’s about real people expressing who they are regardless of what society has to say about them. And as a performer, she’s expressing herself no matter what people think about her or labels put on her.
YS:What makes her tick as a performer?
BJ: What’s important to her is to not be afraid of collaborating as long its respectful, real and has meaning. It’s okay to play with music, movement, styling, expression and even gender. This to me is the future. She’s an amazingly talented dancer and she can take dance to another place, but its still true to who she is.
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