Red Bull BC One

**Interests: **Directing, editing, drawing, photography and anything to do with art **Other Profession:** All around artist. I do photography, direct, edit, music, etc. **Credo:** The only person you battle in life is yourself. **Titles** - **1998 1st Place** Blaze Battle, Miami Florida **Profile** Daniel “CLOUD” Campos first discovered B-Boying outside of a bowling alley in San Diego, CA. He remembers, “I was playing on the monkey bars. Some kids were across the street in a semi circle and one was in the middle doing a flare. I was amazed. I said to my older brother Kevin aka Deft-One, ‘Oh my God! Did you see that?’ and he looked down at me and said ‘Yeah, that's called breaking. I can do that.’ And I said ‘Yeah right.’ Then my brother did windmills! I looked at my brother like he was a hero. He was so cool to me!” CLOUD began B-Boying when he was just 11 yrs old. Support from his family was already built in because both of his brothers, Deft One and A-Ron 1 are B-Boys. They refer to themselves as 3 Brothers Grim. After a friend pointed out the resemblance between Campos and the character “Cloud” from the Final Fantasy 7 video game, the name CLOUD started to stick with him. He elaborates, “For me it means when a cloud floats across the sky, it's forever shifting and changing forms creating pictures and paintings in the sky. That's what I try to do when I dance. Clouds have many different moods like rain, thunder, lightning, power, bright, beauty and so on. I try to combine all of that in me every time I step on a floor.” At the age of 26, CLOUD has already enjoyed great success as a professional dancer, touring the world and working with universally famous pop star Madonna! He appears on both of her DVDs “The Confessions Tour” as well as “I’m Going to Tell You a Secret”. Commercially he played the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz in a General Electric commercial and appeared in a Wrigley’s gum commercial. In 2010, look for him on the big screen when feature film “Step Up 3D” hits the movie theaters. Dancers who have heavily influenced him include Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly but he also includes Bruce Lee and Charlie Chaplin as influences and considers them to be dancers, too. Dance-wise CLOUD says, “I'm into whatever feels good and comes out naturally - however my body reacts to whatever music is playing.” Besides dancing he enjoys many other art forms outside of Hip Hop including directing, editing, drawing, photography and anything that has to do with creating art. CLOUD credits Hip Hop as what first inspired him and opened him up to be more creative. 2009 will be CLOUD’s first year battling in the RED BULL BC ONE. Being selected is a big honor for him and he appreciates that only a select group of the world’s best is invited. He looks forward to the battle recognizing, “It’s a great opportunity to inspire the youth and to find personal inspiration within the talent that will be attending.” When asked about his goals on the battlefield he details, “To not defeat myself and remember that dancing is supposed to unite us, not separate us.” He jokes that he has to remember to breathe when competing and of course, to let his soul (and not his mind or his ego) dance through him. He wants to make sure not to get ahead of himself and not let his ego get the best of him. To date, winning the 1998 Blaze Battle is CLOUD’s most memorable victory. He is excited that this year’s RED BULL BC ONE will take place in New York City because he loves the diversity one finds there. CLOUD observes, “Every culture in the world lives there. It's just so real. There’s artistry in everything. It's a city that has a unique flow. It's a city that dances. It has no limits or boundaries, which gives you energy free from judgment that allows you to express yourself.” On RED BULL BC ONE judging, CLOUD hopes the judges will look for the artistry of the dancer. He explains, “Not by what the dancer is doing but where it comes from when he is doing it. I hope that the judges don't get blinded by big fancy tricks and crowd reactions and remember where B-Boying or any dance form comes from…the heart.” To his competitors CLOUD declares, “I just hope that everyone comes with great positive energy. I don't care about winning. I just care about having amazing experiences and inspiring others and in return being inspired.”