John R. Edwards

John Rick Edwards took up hip hop dancing in 2000 at a gym as a way to keep fit as his age advanced: He was 55. His teacher, DHQ, was a former back up dancer with MC Hammer so he got good and funky with old school hip hop and R&B. On a lark he auditioned for ABC-TV's Dance Machine in 2008 and to his surprise got on the show and won it -- the prize: $100,000. In 2009 Tricia Gomez, owner of Hype Dance Studio in Torrance asked him to teach a hip hop class for seniors. In 2010 he retired from his job as Deputy Director of Engineering for the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The same year he and his son, Darwin, won $10,000 on CMT's Your Chance to Dance competition. He appeared in M.C. Hammer's AETV viral YouTube video "Hammer Pants Dance" and more recently in a Flash Mob on Modern Family. He studied Michael Jackson's dance with Phillip Dang, and took classes from Rino Nakasone and Anthony Thomas. JRick appeared with Jackson's choreographer, Travis Payne in a Flashmob to raise money for Haiti. He is also in two Michael Jackson videos, "Hollywood Tonight" and "Behind the Mask." More recently he won a dance contest on EXTRA-TV to be in a Jennifer Lopez video. JRick currently (2014) teaches Hip Hop for 50+ and Intro to Michael Jackson at Boogiezone Utopia (formerly Hype) in Torrance, and similar classes at Alvas in San Pedro. JRick observed in himself and students that age-related limits are more in people's minds than in their bodies, and that dance reinvigorates one's entire being. In 2013 JRick formed JRick & The Hot Flashers. The Hot Flashers are students of JRick who are 50 years or older. JRick & The Hot Flashers have been invited and perform at the Palos Verdes Summer Fair, the Tri-Arts Festival in San Pedro, and Lula Washington's Dance Theater. JRick & the Hot Flashers are sponsored by Alvas dance studio in San Pedro.