SOC!ETY DANCE ACADEMY

ADRIAN ALICEA’S FAMILY MOVED FROM THE RAIN FOREST OF PUERTO RICO TO THE BRONX WHEN HE WAS THREE-YEARS OLD. AS A YOUNG KID AND ADOLESCENT, HE WAS POPPING/LOCKING IN THE BRONX (“YEAH, ALWAYS A BRONX BOY”).

FROM WATCHING TV OLYMPICS, AND CLASSICAL DANCE ON PBS/DANCE IN AMERICA HE WAS INSPIRED: “WE WERE TOO POOR TO AFFORD DANCE CLASSES SO I JUST TRAINED MYSELF. EVERY DAY I DID SOMETHING ELSE – A PUSH UP, A SIT UP, A SPLIT, A STRETCH, SOMETHING.” IN 1988 HE SAW WILLI NINJA VOGUEING AT THE PALLADIUM CLUB AND QUICKLY LEARNED HOW TO VOGUE AND JOINED THE “HOUSE OF NINJA,” PERFORMING AT THE CLUBS AND ON CONCERT-STAGES.

ALICEA, AT 6’ 3” (“PRETTY TALL FOR A PUERTO RICAN,” HE LAUGHS) WAS KNOWN FOR HIS STRETCH, ELEGANT LINES AND PRECISE PLACEMENTS. INCHECK YOUR BODY AT THE DOOR. THE PERFORMS AN ECCENTRIC “BANJEE” FORM OF POPPING/LOCKING-VOGUEING.

FROM VOGUEING, HE WORKED AS A RUNWAY MODEL WITH TOP EUROPEAN DESIGNERS THIERRY MUGLER, PAUL GAULTIER, THEN WITH YOHJI YAMMAMATO AND PATRICIA FIELD. HE SHIFTED INTO FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN, AND IN 2001 CO-FOUNDED “NICO & ADRIAN,” A NEW YORK-BASED FASHION LABEL OF READY-TO-WEAR AND COUTURE DESIGNS, FOR MEN AND WOMEN, FROM UNDERWEAR TO OUTERWEAR, AS SEEN IN MAGAZINES INCLUDING VOGUE ITALIA AND VOGUE RUSSIA, IN STYLE, SPOON, NUMERO AND GQ.

IN 2011, HE LAUNCHED HIS OWN FASHION LINE, “ADRIAN ALICEA.”