Dance moves to bring Tech grad fame and fortune

LYNN -Devin Woolridge has got the moves and, come November, millions of gamers will be trying to emulate them.The 24-year-old Lynn man served as a choreographer for a new Xbox dance game that was developed by Harmonix, the developers of the hugely popular line of Rock Band games.Woolridge, who grew up in Neptune Towers, choreographed the moves in Dance Central, which is designed exclusively for Xbox 360 and made its debut at E3 in Los Angeles last week. The game is scheduled to be released nationwide on Nov. 4.Woolridge, a 2003 graduate of Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, said when he heard about the auditions for choreographers for the game he decided to give it a shot. He said the audition process took several weeks and he had to choreograph dances for several different types of music.”It was a challenge because instead of choreographing routines to fill an entire stage, I had to come up with moves you can do in your living room, which is a much smaller space,” he said.Click here to see a clip of Woolridge performing.Woolridge readily admits he was surprised when he was one of five choreographers hired for the project.”I was really happy to be selected,” he said. “A lot of very good choreographers auditioned for it. I really didn’t expect to get picked.”Dance Central Lead Producer Naoko Takamoto said Woolridge was a valued member of the development team.”Dance Central would not be the same without Devin’s contributions,” Takamoto said. “His routines have an amazing energy and style that we’re excited to share with everyone.”The game made its debut at the E3 convention in Los Angeles last week and Woolridge said he’s glad he can now talk about the game.”I couldn’t say anything until after the debut,” he said. “I’m glad I can tell people about it.”He hasn’t had a chance to play the game yet, but he’s heard a lot of good reviews about it.”I’m excited,” he said. “I can’t wait to try it.”Woolridge added he has been an avid gamer since Xbox made its first debut.”I like Madden and Call of Duty,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of time but I play a lot on the weekends when I have time. That’s when I get my game on.”Dance Central, the first non-Rock Band game that Harmonix produced and MTV published, is designed for Kinect, which allows users to play games without using a controller. Kinect will also be released Nov. 4.According to Harmonix, Dance Central is the first immerse-dance video game that features and tracks full-body dance moves. According to the company, each routine in the game has authentic choreography for beginners and experts to master. The soundtrack includes pop, hip-hop and R&B tracks.”Take it step-by-step with Break It Down or jump right in and start performing for your family and friends,” the promotional literature states. “Either way, you won’t just learn dance moves, you’ll own the dance floor!”Click here to see the trailer for Dance Central.Woolridge, who started dancing when he was five years old, said he loves working with kids and would like to open his own dance studio in Lynn in the future. He is currently employed as the assistant school-age child care director for the Greater Lynn YMCA’s Lynn branch, where he used to hang out and play basketball as a kid. When he was teen, he worked as a janitor at the YMCA. He graduated from the marketing program at LVTI in 2003, where he was active in the marketing club, and went on to get a degree in fashion merchandise from Fisher College in Boston. Despite a desire to work in the fashion industry, Woolridge returned to Lynn after a stint in New York City, due to the poor job market there.Woolridge was a dancer in the opening scene of MTV’s “Dancers from the Hood” and is very active with Phunk Phenomenon, a hip-hop dance group based in Chelsea. The group has won several national hip-hop dance titles over the years.Next month, Woolridge is going to Las Vegas with Phunk Phenomenon, which will be competing in the annual World Hip-Hop Dance Championships.”This will be