By Patrick Dennis Jr.

Happy Feet Ent. These five young men from Scarborough are ready to set the world of dance on fire with their unique style and flare.

The young dance crew takes their name from the animated film about a penguin with a passion to dance but is not accepted by society– something that happens to many of our youth. Happy Feet consists of self-taught dancers, all coming from various backgrounds to create a crew with mind blowing performances.

Happy Feet offers a refreshing vibe and style. Being from an area of Toronto that only seems to get attention when bad things happen, the dance crew are poised to show that Scarborough teens have a lot to offer.

“Youth today are perceived as lazy, uninspired, rebellious immature kids that have no backbone or mindset in what we want to do in our lives,” Crew leader Slim aka John said. “When actually we are very ambitious, determined and passionate artist that aren’t afraid to take risk that generations before us would never dare.”

We asked Slim what he and his crew members would like to see from the media, “They [media] should rather uplift what youth are involved in today promoting the positive stories that youth in Scarborough are engaged in. This will only expose and inspire different age groups and hopefully will change the repulsive perceptions people have over Scarborough youth.”

This summer the crew has been chosen to dance at the Taste of Lawrence Festival July 8-10  on Lawrence Ave. East (Between Warden Avenue and Birchmount road). The crew has set out to reach the people and make others feel comfortable in their own skin.

What started as a jerkin’ crew has now become a well rounded dance group. While still a young crew there is no doubt these talented men from Scarborough are well on their way to being a force in the dance scene.

Look for Happy Feet Entertainment this summer as they try to change people’s lives once dance at a time. Watch the video below to see Happy Feet in action.

Patrick Dennis Jr. is a media studies student at University of Guelph-Humber and editorial intern for swaymag.ca.

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