Singing, dancing and acting, he does it all. Many of you may know 18 year-old Jordan Francis from the hit Disney movie Camp Rock, but he has done so much more than that. Over the weekend, Francis was in Buffalo to grant 12 year-old Dallas' wish through Make-A-Wish, with the help of Live! Starring...YOU.
Saturday evening, Francis also held three workshops, and I was there for all of them. First was an interview workshop where we learned how to put on a good on-camera interview. We also learned more about Francis. After coming up with some questions, we were able to have a one-on-one interview with him.
Later, Francis held two hip hop classes. One was for dancers ages 7-11, the other for dancers 12 & up. My friend and I watched the 7-11 year old class, and participated in the 12 & up class. I enjoyed both watching and participating in his classes very much. In both of the classes, he taught his own choreography.
Between classes, I had the chance to interview Francis about dance, work and more.
What do you enjoy about teaching classes like this?
What I enjoy is that it’s like the give and take. Working with the students you almost get a sense of how their bodies move and how everybody works in different ways. I learn a lot from my students because creatively I let them go to places that normally other teachers won’t do in a technical atmosphere like jazz and ballet and stuff so it gives them the freedom to have fun and party.
How did you get involved with Make-A-Wish and what was that experience like?
I got an e-mail from Tim [O’Shei, author of Live! Starring…YOU]. I’ve been to Buffalo before and did a couple workshops at a school. This year I wanted to do something and I was praying on it too because I wanted to do something with the Make-A-Wish foundation just to give back and to show my gratitude and stuff like that. When Tim called me and said Make-A-Wish wanted me to make a song with one of the girls, Dallas, I was like, “OK.” It was a done deal. I’ve always wanted to do something like that. It was great to be in rehearsals and be in the studio at the same time. I’ve never done that in Buffalo either.
You have been dancing since you were three years old. What have you trained in and do you keep up with everything?
I try to keep up with everything as much as possible. I’ve taken jazz, tap, ballet, modern, contemporary. I’ve taken hip hop, lyrical, and yea and I try and keep up with it as much as possible. There’s a lot of good training spots in LA like Millennium, Debbie Reynolds, the Edge, so whenever I have time I’m in there and training and taking classes.
Someone told me that you have won choreography awards. What have you choreographed for?
I’ve choreographed for a few studios in Canada and Ontario. I won a young choreography award over at the American Dance Awards and it was a big accomplishment for me because I’ve only been choreographing for a couple years now. It’s great that I’m getting recognized in that angle because I know that I have more than one thing to do than to just entertain myself, I get to share it with my students. It’s great.
You’re in Camp Rock. What’s it like to be in Camp Rock and the upcoming Camp Rock 2 and if they wanted to do a Camp Rock 3 would you sign up for it?
If they were to do a Camp Rock 3 I would most definitely want to be involved with it. I don’t know what the storyline would be but most definitely I would love to come back and do it all over again. Camp Rock 2 was an amazing experience and it just evolved. Everybody evolved and grew up and was a little bit more mature. The skill level as a whole definitely developed. All together we’re just like one big family reuniting again. We’re on the dance floor and doing what we do best which is entertain.
You were “Young Simba” in The Lion King in Toronto. How does performing in front of a live audience differ from being on a closed-set for a movie or a TV show?
Well with live audience you have to be really, really on point for the most part with what you’re doing. You have such and such thousands of people watching you. You get notes every single day on what you can fix all the time. With on screen stuff you have time to perfect what you’re doing throughout that process because you have take after take after take and there’s a lot of sitting and waiting for TV where in live theater you’re always moving and you’re always working off of somebody else during the process. I think that’s the main big difference is you’re more on your toes with the theatrical stuff and for the on-screen stuff it’s more relaxed and you have more time to perfect it.
Which one do you like better?
I like them both. It’s good to have a variety. I like the fact that I’m able to do music videos and to show people in general like overall what I’m about and at the same time at a concert I get to do the same thing except you’re getting it 100 percent singing and dancing. The whole aspect of entertainment and feeding off of each other is unbelievable.
Have you had any interesting audition experiences?
Yea, recently I auditioned for a movie where I had to act like a woman in drag [laughs]. So I had to go all high pitched and act different and then I had two scripts. I had a Charmaine script and then I had a guy script. So yea that was definitely weird and different for me so I had to put myself in a female’s perspective a little bit but it was cool because I had to be a female and I had to act like a male trying to be a female. It was like a real big difference!
What are you currently working on?
Right now I’m currently working on my album. I know it has been a while for my fans because I’ve told them I’ve been working on my album but I still am. It should be out closer to the time that Camp Rock 2 comes out, I just finished that a couple months ago. Also I’m doing a few more episodes of Connor Undercover season two. Connor Undercover should be coming out in March sometime and I think it airs first in Canada and the UK and Australia. Also I’ve been working with Demi Lovato and stuff like that. I recently did her Sweet 17 birthday party which was a lot of fun. We got to dance to one of my records “Diamonds in the Desert” and that will shortly come out too, I’ll be doing a music video for that. Also my song called “More” got licensed for a Disney pilot recently. So yea just working , working a whole lot and traveling a whole lot.
Do you have any college plans?
At the moment no because it has been really, really busy for me. I plan to consistently just work and work and work. If I have any time off I’ll consider it.
For those who want to be like you, what would you say to them?
I would say to them to stay grounded. Always have your family or your closest friends there by your side. Also to just laugh at yourself sometimes. A lot of times you can kind of get frustrated with yourself if you’re not having the best of days. I know with me I’m a perfectionist so just lay back a little bit on those days and know when to get your rest and to relax. If you don’t get your sleep you’re going to feel it the next day.
I am very greatful to have met Jordan Francis. He is a nice, funny, down-to-earth teenager who knows what he wants and goes for it. One thing that I'm going to leave you with is something he said during the interview workshop that got me thinking. "I am a student in this industry. As the days go by, I keep on learning." I challenge you to apply this to your work and your everyday life. The learning you will experience is limitless.
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