{"id":2230870,"date":"2026-01-12T00:15:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T00:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2230870"},"modified":"2026-01-12T00:15:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T00:15:46","slug":"pacific-profiles-dancer-corbyn-taulealea-huch-on-life-after-the-royal-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/pacific-profiles-dancer-corbyn-taulealea-huch-on-life-after-the-royal-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific profiles: Dancer Corbyn Taulealea-Huch on life after the Royal Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Pacific profiles<\/a> series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, we meet dancer and choreographer Corbyn Taulealea-Huch.<\/p>\n

All photos by Geoffery Matautia.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since she was seven years old, dance has been at the centre of <\/span>Corbyn Taulealea-Huch\u2019s universe. The West Auckland dancer and choreographer spent over a decade in Parris Goebel\u2019s esteemed Royal Family Dance Crew, and has since branched out with her own crew, BEAST<\/a><\/span>. <\/span>We caught up over Zoom to discuss her career highlights, lessons and ambitions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where were you born and raised?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m 27, full Samoan, and I\u2019m a professional hip hop dancer and choreographer. I was born and raised in West Auckland, and my grandparents are from the villages of Savai\u2019i, Mata\u2019utu, and Faletangaloa. I\u2019ve got three younger brothers, and I\u2019m the only girl.<\/span><\/p>\n

What sparked your passion for dance?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been dancing for 21 years. I started dancing when I was seven, when my aunt put a group together with my cousins and me \u2013 we were called the Lil Saintz. She saw something in all of us, and we thought it was fun. We performed at many community and church events. Then I joined the Royal Family with the Palace Dance Studio. I was with them from 2010 to the end of 2020. That\u2019s where I got all my training and knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who are some of your dance inspirations?<\/b><\/p>\n

There are a few American choreographers I grew up watching on YouTube \u2013 one is Luam. She\u2019s amazing. I was watching her before I discovered Parris or anyone else. I\u2019d religiously watch her videos and copy every dance move. Missy Elliott\u2019s been a huge inspiration for me, too. She was my ride or die \u2013 I wanted to be her backup dancer so bad!<\/span><\/p>\n

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The 2010s was such a big decade for the Royal Family Dance Crew, as so much of your work blew up internationally, from the Justin Bieber music videos to competitions and performances. What was that experience like?<\/b><\/p>\n

Parris is such a hard worker. She has a specific way of working and teaching \u2013 the more I was around her, the more I absorbed her work ethic. It\u2019s just practice, practice, practice, all day, every day, no matter what. I missed out on a lot of family occasions, events and social activities. It was a massive commitment for sure, but I\u2019m so grateful for it because it gave me the work ethic I have now.<\/span><\/p>\n

What were some highlights from that era?<\/b><\/p>\n

We did a world tour in 2017, travelling for six weeks through 12 countries. It was a full-length show, and we also got to teach in each city. I also got to perform at two Super Bowls: JLo 2020 and Rihanna 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s incredible! What was it like performing the half time show?<\/b><\/p>\n

I honestly didn\u2019t understand just how huge it was being from New Zealand and not being the biggest sports fan [laughs]. I remember getting there and seeing how crazy it was. JLo and her team were amazing, and it was cool to perform alongside other Pacific Island dancers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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When did it click for you that you could turn your passion for dance into a full-time career?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think it was when we got professional jobs with Parris. Doing those gigs \u2013 especially seeing how it was done in Los Angeles, really expanded my horizons. I saw that I could keep up with these experienced, professional dancers. The more I did those gigs, the more that feeling grew, and I started to believe I could pursue this professionally. Towards the end of my Royal Family journey, I felt that it was time to branch out and find my own style of movement outside of a crew.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like leaving a sports team you\u2019ve been with for so long! What did that journey to creating your own style look like?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

So I left the Royal Family at the end of 2020. Honestly, I had no idea what I was gonna do, but I just wanted to go with the flow. In 2021, I went to Australia. This was the first step for me to branch out in a place that still wasn\u2019t too far from home. Laurence and Colette Kaiwai lead a crew over there, and I joined their company, Home Base dance studio. I got to travel around Australia dancing, teaching and growing my name. I made the proper move there for just under a year, returned to New Zealand, and then I moved to London in 2023. I love London, it\u2019s my favourite place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What inspired the move to London?<\/b><\/p>\n

I booked a job there and fell in love with the dance scene. We\u2019d been there on the Royal Family world tour in 2017, but I only got to see a bit of it. The dance scene there is so different from America, and I really wanted to experience what the UK and Europe had to offer. So, I threw myself in the deep end and moved. I wasn\u2019t there long \u2013 I didn\u2019t know what to expect and wasn\u2019t as prepared for the move as I thought, especially when you realise all your people are here in New Zealand. But I\u2019ll definitely be going back!<\/span><\/p>\n

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You\u2019re the founder of BEAST. Tell me about that.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I always wanted to have my own collective of like-minded creatives and people who understand my movement style. In 2024, when I moved home, I wanted to build something here. I knew a bunch of people, and I just reached out to a few artists and asked if they wanted to link up. This year was crazy. My team is stacked; they\u2019re the most beautiful humans, creatives, and choreographers. It\u2019s magic whenever we create and perform. We\u2019re still in the building phase. I knew nothing was gonna happen overnight, but I wanted to start putting ourselves out there early on and let people know who we are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We did two full-length shows, Intro with TAPAC and then Pt II at Mangere Arts Centre. We also had our international debut at Dancechella (Australia) and Afrosoul\u2019s inaugural festival. That was amazing. The goal is to make it a full-time gig. At the moment, it\u2019s more seasonal \u2013 our goal for 2026 is to have more consistency and solidity.<\/span><\/p>\n

How would you describe your movement style? What\u2019s your point of difference?<\/b><\/p>\n

One thing about my movement that hasn\u2019t changed is that it\u2019s quite masculine. I like to call it masculine femininity. I\u2019m known for my strength, power, texture and body control, and I love to represent that in my movement. But in BEAST, there are 15 of us, and we\u2019re all so different individually \u2013 different styles, heights, shapes, everything. There\u2019s something so special when we all move together, but you have to see it in action. It can\u2019t be described.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What else do you get up to day to day outside of dance? Do you get any downtime?<\/b><\/p>\n

Moving home, you realise that being a creative is tough. I\u2019m so used to dancing as a job, and I\u2019d never done a 9-5. Now that I have more adult responsibilities, I need something to help make ends meet. I work part-time at CHECKS downtown and also teach. In my downtime, I love spending time with family and friends. Dance has been my focus for so long, but I also want to try a few other things\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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What\u2019s keeping you inspired at the moment?<\/b><\/p>\n

In this creative stage, I\u2019ve been choreographing a lot to Afrobeats, dancehall and Amapiano. I\u2019m really gravitating to those genres at the moment. Also, what keeps me inspired is the positive reception from my team, family, fans, and whoever\u2019s engaging with my craft. That makes me want to continue creating and evolving my movement practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambitions for 2026 and beyond?<\/b><\/p>\n

A massive goal for BEAST is to take it internationally \u2013 I\u2019d love for the world to see my team and what we do as a collective. For myself, I want to continue getting the work out there. When it comes to working with other artists, there are choreographers I\u2019d love to get in front of, such as Luther Brown (Canada). A lot of this means leaving New Zealand, but it is what it is. Our motto at BEAST is homegrown \u2013 world ready<\/em>. That\u2019s our motivation to get out there no matter what.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ On Air.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n