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Social Media Star of the Week: Marideth & Austin Telenko
The duo win for their creative, short funny dance moves that they perform in their #RingtoneDances Reels series
If you thought ringtones were annoying, this Los Angeles-based choreographer couple may just change your mind with their choreography Reels series, where they dance to different ringtones. The first Reels by Marideth, 24, and Austin, 27, who met in New York while dancing in the cast of a Halloween production called Dead Man’s Party, got more than a million views overnight, encouraging them to continue the series.
What if?
The ringtone idea was originally an idea to dance to the iPhone alarm sounds, the couple inform us from LA. In May 2022, when their alarm went off one morning, Marideth said, “what if we danced to that?”
“We thought it would be a great idea because of the deep connection people develop with alarm tones,” says Marideth. “For example, I never use the alarm tone I used in college because it reminds me of my oh-so-dreaded 8 am classes. However, we then realised that some of these alarm sounds were quite long, and decided to create choreography to text tones as a short-form and easily digestible social media alternative.”
As these were tailor-made for social media, the series has consistently been getting great reactions. But the two weren’t sure if the Reels would be a hit or miss.
“We just knew it would swing one way or another depending on if people thought it was really funny or really stupid,” they say. “We value consistently engaging with our community much more than having follower and view spikes, and it’s so wonderful that our community seems to appreciate that long-term relationship as much as we do.”
Yin & Yang
Austin began dancing in musical theatre when he was nine, and later picked up hip-hop, while Marideth began in hip-hop and later studied jazz and theatre. It was during the 2020 Covid period of isolation that the couple realised that their blended backgrounds of hip-hop and theatre could lead to unique choreography. They began sharing this choreography online and started their page, which now has 5 million followers. To top it off, they also got married at the end of 2021.
What’s next for them? “Our goals lie in choreographing for TV and movie projects, but with no intentions of ever stopping creating videos for our social media platforms. We are working to find new and creative ways to bridge our entertainment careers with our social media careers,” they conclude.
Who should be the next HT Brunch Social Media Star Of The Week? Nominate using the hashtag #BrunchSocialMediaStarOTW or email htbrunch@hindustantimes.com
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From HT Brunch, June 18, 2022
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