Summer catch-ups: Mikaere's dance crew driven to be world's best

STAR: Chevy Mikaere has had a busy year on the dance scene. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Chevy Mikaere has been taking the dance world by storm this year.

He is part of the IDentity dance crew, which won the New Zealand Street Dance Championships, took second placing in the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas and made the grand final in New Zealand's Got Talent.

Mr Mikaere admits the past year has been a whirlwind one.

He said a "lucky break" in 2012, which saw him join IDentity dance crew and helped propel this "boy from Rotorua" into the spotlight. This year has been an amazing one for Mr Mikaere and there are big plans under way for the next 12 months.

Mr Mikaere said he had been living the dream this year, making a career from dancing, as well as travelling to America for the first time and taking part in the world competition.

"The competition was amazing. I loved it."

He said seeing the influence the different cultures had on hip hop was one of the highlights.

Mr Mikaere said the crew did not have high hopes heading into the international competition, but success in the preliminary rounds and a top spot in the semifinals made the dancers believe they could win.

He said missing out on the title by just one-hundredth of a point made them more ambitious for next year.

"It was a bit of a disappointment coming so close but we're still over the moon."

Mr Mikaere said they were keen to return to the world championships with one goal in mind - the top place.

Mr Mikaere said the New Zealand's Got Talent experience was a great learning one. He said the crew learned a lot during the show.

"It brought us together even tighter."

IDentity is an 11-man crew from Auckland. They also include Nathan Kara, Joshua Cesan, Cameron Cranston, Taniora Motutere, Carlos Skipper, Joshua Faleutua, Ahutoa Lanefale, James Tautuku, Andrew Cesan, and Richard Cesan.

They perform in dance theatre shows such as Out of the Box and Under the Influence, and they aim to become a fully fledged dance company that produces its own shows and works in the community to develop young up-and-coming dancers.