Meet Oscar Hernandez of Big O Productions in Glendale

Today we’d like to introduce you to Oscar Hernandez.

Oscar, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a 36-year-old Choreographer and Dance Viral Sensation from Glendale, Arizona. I started dancing by the young age of four, trained by my grandmother Olivia Sio a Choreographer for many Polynesian dance teams. I was trained in Hula, Tahitian and Samoan Traditional dances. It wasn’t until I turned six years old till I fell in love with a new style of dance called Hip Hop. My parents can afford studio training for me so I had to learn from watching a lot of MTV as a kid but the Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation Video was the start of me really wanting to dance. I joined my jr high dance team won my first MVP award for Choreographing our competition routine which we won. I was always a bigger kid so a lot of people made fun of me because I was dancing. I didn’t fit the mold next to these short answers so I had to work really really hard even when people make fun of me, classmates even some family members told me that this was a joke. I was told that dancing would never put food on the table it wouldn’t get me anywhere but it never stopped me.

When I joined high school, I got really really sick. I missed a whole year of high school due to a sickness called valley fever. At the time, I didn’t know what it was my family didn’t either, all they knew that it was killing me from the inside out. I have always been a big kid or teenager that I had dropped down to almost 100 pounds, I was so frail, I was so thin, I was on a recognizable to a lot of people who came to visit me. Valley fever is a sort of bacterial fungal disease just by breathing in particles and dust. My mother was pregnant at the time when I was going through the ICU, I was in the hospital for 2 1/2 months, I would say I was going to die. I couldn’t eat so they fed me through an IV, I would say by my second month almost to my third, I started eating, I started eating around 8 PM. I still remember the time at night we had called my parents because they had left to go get a change of clothes to come back to the hospital my aunt was with me at the time. We called my parents to let them know I was eating, there was no answer, a couple of minutes goes by, my father calls and he tells us that they are in the hospital in the emergency room. I asked why because my mom had a miscarriage at the same time, I started eating. It was a hard couple of months just being sick, in and out of hospitals, but finally getting to eat and getting better, I then went back to high school, took a year off of dance but fell in love with the pond team at my high school.

I then started working out that year, I took off getting my body strong again trying to gain the weight back once I did. I then join my high school Pom team where I was scouted by an NBA coach at one of the competitions who offered me a job dancing. I was dancing professionally for the WNBA Phoenix Mercury hip hop squad, the last months as a senior in high school. I started dancing for the Phoenix Suns then got a big opportunity for dancing for the NBA supersonics and WNBA Storm in Seattle. I then moved back to Arizona where I started coaching at a local high school teaching students dance. I love teaching my students, we did a lot of competitions, I think that’s where my training even got better working with my inner-city students. My whole goal was helping them do better in their life dance was an afterschool program for them, so this kept them off the streets not getting into trouble and really focusing on their goals but the main thing I focus on with them is education comes first, dance comes second and they definitely follow those rules. It wouldn’t be long till I got one of the biggest calls from an NBA team called the Warriors who wanted me to move out to their NBA coach for the kid’s junior jam hip-hop Dance team. I then was the coach for the Golden State Warriors and doing amazing with the students and the kid’s program that he got me moved to another team the Detroit Pistons in Michigan.

I became the Director and choreographer for the entertainment teams. I did a lot of halftimes shows where I worked with artists such as Bobby Brown, salt and pepp, Flo Rida, TLC, T-Pain, J Sean, Fat Joe, Sheila E, And many more. Once I was done putting four years with the Detroit Pistons, I was asked to perform with the Arizona rattlers sidewinders dance team. I did a guest appearance where I perform with the girls which went viral it got 1.4 million views in two days. That viral video got to Ellen DeGeneres who sent me and the Arizona sidewinders to perform on her season 12 opening show in New York City Rockafella center. I got to share the stage with Justin Bieber, pink, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Schumer, and Hillary Clinton. A couple of months later, America’s got talent reached out to put me on their season 13 performing as a contestant. Performing on America’s got talent was awesome, I made it to top 30 on the show. Since America’s got talent, I have been all over the world, I went to Rome where I performed on a national television show. I also got to be on shows such as Pickler and been on E!. I went viral just this past May with the West conference NBA game between Portland And Warriors. I perform with the Portland trailblazers dancers which got 1 million views in a day. I am now The Dance Director for the Arizona Rattlers Dance Team, The Sidewinders who was voted Best IFL Dance Team in the league.

So many good things that happen, so blessed all through hard work, I’m still currently traveling teaching NBA, NFL college and high school dance team across the state. I also have gone international in Japan where I work with many pro teams cheer teams and dance studios teaching dance every summer. I have trained so many dancers all over from coaching. I’m still in contact with a lot of my dancers and some of them are adults. Now, I’ve gotten them jobs such as working and dancing professionally in Vegas, sports entertainment, dance videos and a lot of them are local choreographers now. Some of my biggest accomplishments don’t mean anything as much as inspiring other dancers improving them that they too can follow my footsteps if they have a dream that she goes after it.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Big O Productions story. Tell us more about it.
I’m a choreographer and what I’m trying to do is to inspire creative and motivate dancers across the world. Growing up, it was hard because I was the big boy in the room trying to dance. I worked really hard to get where I am through training through never giving up even when people said I wouldn’t make it, I think this was such a great opportunity, never giving up on my dream or my passion, sticking to dance has made a name for myself and also a career. I hope my story inspires other dancers are people to show them that it doesn’t matter what age you are, if you have a dream or a passion, don’t let anybody take that away from you and never give up and always believe that the impossible is always possible.

We always love to ask about the support network – have there been people, perhaps mentors or advisors, who have played a big role in your success?
My biggest mentors are Angie Baker who is a big part of my success, she was my cheer coach and she also pushes me to do the viral video with the girls the Ellen DeGeneres show and America’s got talent. She is my best friend, I love her to death and she’s also the Arizona Cardinals director and coach, we’ve known each other for years.

Contact Info:

• Email: big.o.hernandez@gmail.com
• Instagram: Big.ohernandez

Image Credit:
Rattlers, PORTLAND, AGT, Ellen

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