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CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: I'm so excited to work with these awesome two dancers.
I've never done anything like this before. KEONE MADRID: We really want the audience to just
feel something and to feel moved and to feel inspired. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: I'm really just
kind of anxious to see what's gonna come out of something like this.
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: My name is Christina Grimmie and I'm a singer, songwriter, piano player.
I love soulful vocals. They've always been my favorite. Strings, I love strings as well. I started out on YouTube
and you know I looked at artists like Christina Aguilera who I'm like, she can sing anything.
She can belt it. And I'm like I wanna do that. Keone and Mari are the two dancers I'm gonna
be working with. They are a couple, which is great. KEONE MADRID: Our styles are actually
still to this day really different from each other. But working together is cool cause
it's almost like we have three different styles. We have mine, we have Mari's and then we have
the one together. MARI MARTIN: Keone and I first met at a workshop that we were both
teaching at. There was no real interest that was sparked then. KEONE MADRID: There was definitely
no interest. When I went up to her to introduce myself and be very nice, I was thinking to
myself okay I'm gonna be a gentleman. I'm gonna say hi, I'm gonna be this and that.
You know I stick out my hand and say hi, and all I get is this stone face of hi. And I'm
just like ah she hates me. MARI MARTIN: Totally exaggerated. KEONE MADRID: I was, no, no, this
is exactly how it happened. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: We've always had a piano in the house um and
I would just kind of toy with it and make up my own little songs. Where's my pencil?
When I sit down to write at the piano it's it's not a job, it's not a chore, it's not
homework, because all of those things require (SIGHS). It's never a chore. You know it's
a creative process. KEONE MADRID: I remember the idea of us choreographing was very oh
I don't want us to get mad at each other and I don't want us this to ruin our relationship
and dadadadada, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. We've been able to collaborate on everything ever since.
Christina, I feel like because she comes from a You Tube background
we have that to share. Like we both come from that kind of like new generation
social networking type of background. And man, the girl can belt. Her voice is amazing.
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Just the way that they flow together, their passion for each other, their
passion for dance. You can tell that's what they love to do. It's gonna be crazy because
I created a whole new version of one of my songs and I feel like having a couple, who
are insane dancers, dance to that is gonna bring out the best and I can't wait to see
what it turns out to be. MARI MARTIN: Christina? Hi. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Hi.
Hi. So nice to meet you. MARI MARTIN: Mari, nice to meet you. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Ach, let
me give you a hug. (I m excited.) Are you guys dating or are you…? MARI MARTIN:
No, we're actually we're engaged. We're gonna get married soon. KEONE MADRID: We're engaged,
yeah. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Oh. KEONE MADRID: Yeah. MARI MARTIN: Yeah. CHRISTINA
GRIMMIE: I can be the maid of honor. (LAUGHING) Of course like we just met, so I guess that wouldn't work but…
So yeah, let's talk about the the song. I wanted to just kind of strip it down and
make it just straight piano so you guys really have something to emotionally get connected
with. KEONE MADRID: Well I'm excited to see what we come up with. MARI MARTIN: [Yeah.]
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: [Yeah.] I've never worked with dancers before. So this should be interesting.
[Sings]
MARI MARTIN: Well one thing I thought was oh my gosh, this girl is not seventeen
years old, cause her voice is really powerful and it sounds really mature. KEONE MADRID:
Obviously I thought about okay, how does this song make me feel. And the I think the second
part was how can we relate this to real life. Let's say we made it into a like a a date
kind of thing. Some sort of like room over here and then like where Mari can be and then
we have like, the majority of the stage could be like a a restaurant or something and
we're like. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Okay, so here I am. KEONE MADRID: Yeah. And yeah. MARI MARTIN:
Keone is basically being a gentleman and like pulling out my chair so I can sit down and
pushing the chair in. KEONE MADRID It's almost like choreographed acting with some little movements here and there.
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: It was so cool to see what they could pick out of one of my songs.
You're like at the point where you're just like scared now and you're like no, I don't want you to be
nice to me. I'm too I'm too afraid now. It's not gonna work. And then you're kind of
saying the same thing, like you're like no, no this can totally work, this the… And then
by (SINGS) anymore, like you kind of take over in a sense like you make her believe
it. KEONE MADRID: Right. A lot of people in in the dance world, their first passion is
dance. Ah for me it wasn't. My first passion was basketball. As I started to become more
involved with dancing I saw a mixed response between my family members and and even the
closest people around me. It was more so oh when are you gonna stop dancing, or
when are you gonna finish school. The first time I made that decision, that jump to make
dance my career and something that I'm gonna pursue, many fears, many concerns ran through
my head. But I felt a calling that this was what I was supposed to be doing.
MARI MARTIN: Dance really helped me, particularly in high school, cause I was not very comfortable
in the environment. I didn't really enjoy high school that much. When I started dancing
it really helped build my confidence and help me get over my shyness and helped me learn
how to interact with other people in a social environment. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: My song writing
usually isn't always about my life experiences. And then you have the other side where
they are. And one experience in particular, um ah, there was just this really complicated
relationship going on. Um me and a guy, of course, and he you know it was a confrontational
thing. Me and this other girl had to confront him. And ah he kind of just froze and was
like all right, Christina, I lied to you way more than I lied to this other girl. Ah, that
that hurt, that hurt really bad. Um yeah. Sorry.
Mari has this moment where she, she
like pulls away and it's like that so cool, cause I just thought of something in my mind
like okay, well when she pulls away maybe I'll play this note more dramatically or more
insecurely. KEONE MADRID: She's like ah I wasn't supposed to do that and I kind of reached
back towards her and she's like oh I don't know. You know she's still very insecure.
So that that was, I think that was a big theme throughout the choreography that we were trying
to play around with today. MARI MARTIN: It's gonna be easy for me to channel this character that's
kinda insecure and unsure about herself because that's part of who I am and who I was.
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: Now that I just see how hard they work to get to a certain point,
it's like a newfound respect for them. It's not just oh it's just a hobby. No, it's
like a way of life. Yeah, woooo. It totally worked.
CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: The performance was amazing. It went so well and Keone and Mari, they just oh my gosh, they're just so
good at what they do, it's ridiculous. KEONE MADRID: It came together, it really did.
And it was the fastest we've ever actually put together a piece. MARI MARTIN: He would
always say, he says I love you while we're dancing. And like when he says that, like
I can't help it. It's not it's not performing anymore or acting or trying to do something.
It's just me reacting to him. CHRISTINA GRIMMIE: It's so inspiring on so many levels as a musician.
I will remember this experience on Remixed for the rest of my life.