Melvin Timtim has had quite a year. In addition to teaching and choreographing all over the globe, he led his crew, S-Rank, to a fourth-place finish on Season 2 of World of Dance.
To cap off his World of Dance experience, Timtim was nominated for his first Emmy in July in the Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming. He submitted three pieces — "DNA," "Headband" and "Drop It Like It's Hot" to represent his work with S-Rank over the season.
Dance Dish caught up with Melvin while traveling internationally on a teaching tour. He updated us on his whirlwind year and what he hopes to accomplish next in his career.
Dance Dish: Where were you when you found out about your Emmy nomination?
Melvin Timtim: I was in India and at the time, I was pretty sick. NappyTabs texted me to congratulate me. My manager, Cheyenne also FaceTimed me. It took a while before it even hit me.
DD: Tell us about why you selected "Drop It Like It's Hot," "Headband" and "DNA" for your Emmys reel. What stood out about each of these pieces for you?
Melvin: All of these sets had a different significance. “Drop It Like It’s Hot” had a fun vibe to it with Snoop Dogg and lowriders, so I wanted to do a mechanic theme to play off of it. “DNA” was about S-Rank and what it means to be Superior Rank. The theme behind “Headband” came from a comment that JLo made about me being the "conductor" of the group, so we quite literally turned S-Rank into an orchestra. These three stood out to me and represented what S-Rank is, which is why I selected them for the submission.
DD: Now that you've had time to reflect on your World of Dance experience, what was the most rewarding part of the show? What was the most challenging part of the show?
Melvin: The most rewarding parts were getting to work with my amazing team, sharing my work with the world and winning the team division. As far as challenges, we all gave up a lot to be on the show like work and sleep. Finances were also hard and we had to come up with material so quickly. There were times we didn’t get music approved and we pushed ourselves to exhaustion. In the end, though, it was all 100 percent worth it because it was so rewarding.
DD: I know your father first saw you dance on World of Dance. Has this journey brought you closer together?
Melvin: Definitely. I can't put into words what it meant to me to have my dad in the audience. He was watching me for the first time on national television. It was the most amazing feeling and kind of surreal. I wanted to make him proud and was so happy that he was there. We have gotten even closer since the show ended. My dad has always loved me, and now having him understand my love for dance has been really great.
DD: What does it mean to you to be nominated alongside some of your Season 2 and Season 3 World of Dance peers?
Melvin: Wow, it’s amazing. I have so much respect for these incredible artists. I am so blessed to be nominated alongside them.
DD: Since you are teaching and performing all over the world, what are your next goals for dance and choreography?
Melvin: I want to do choreography and creative direction for artists and choreograph for TV and movies. I've never been on tour and I would love to do that — dancing for Bruno Mars would be amazing.
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