Fil-Canadian choreographer nominated for work on 'Joy Ride'

Joe Tuliao was nominated for British Columbia's equivalent of the Oscars for his work on the comedy film "Joy Ride."

Rowena Papasin

TFC News

&quot;I got a message from my agent saying, congratulations,&quot; he recalled. &quot;I was like, congratulations on what? And I look at my phone and she&#39;s like, you&#39;re nominated for two Leo awards. And I don&#39;t know, I&#39;m still processing it to this day.&quot;Aside from &ldquo;Joy Ride&rdquo;, Tuliao was also nominated for co-producing the music video of Filipino-Canadian R&amp;B-Gospel singer Warren Flandez.He also choreographed and directed an MTV that has yet to be released.Flandez, a two-time Juno nominee, has nothing but praise for Tuliao.&quot;As artists, sometimes you limit yourself and you think that you can&#39;t go a certain path,&quot; said Flandez. &quot;Joe just inspires you to think that or just to know that the sky&#39;s the limit.&quot;Tuliao has staged his latest dance project called &nbsp;&ldquo;Icon&rdquo; with the illustrative society, &nbsp;at the Dance Center in Vancouver.It was an immersive theatrical experience that seamlessly merged dance scenes filmed at various locations outside, with live performances on stage.&quot;It just came to me in a dream,&quot; Tuliao recalled. &quot;It all came in perfect timing as if God was talking to me.&quot;Through dance, &ldquo;Icon&rdquo; speaks about the journey of young people seeking to find their place under the sun &mdash; and the challenges they face along the way.In a way, Tuliao said Icon is also partly his story and also draws a bit from his own experience that led him to where he is now.&quot;I just feel so fulfilled and so grateful,&quot; he said. &quot;I came such a long way, starting in this industry 10 years ago and now reaping the benefits of my faith and the risks that I took to be here.&quot;Fil-Canadian provincial lawmaker Mable Elmore, who also came to watch &ldquo;Icon,&rdquo; lauded Tuliao&rsquo;s double nomination at the Leo Awards.&quot;He&#39;s a visionary,&quot; Elmore said of the choreographer. &quot;He&#39;s creative, he&#39;s talented, and I think we&#39;re going to see more great things from him.&quot;Tuliao&rsquo;s parents Rod and Rose, who also attended the limited run of &ldquo;Icon,&rdquo; expressed pride at their son&#39;s achievements.The winners of the Leo Awards will be announced in July.

At a special screening of the film last year in Vancouver, Tuliao talked about the challenge of mixing hip-hop and K-pop into one dance sequence while staying true to the K-pop culture.Tuliao was speechless when he learned of his nomination, which made him the first Filipino-Canadian ever to be nominated to the Leo Awards.

Joe Tuliao was nominated for British Columbia's equivalent of the Oscars for his work on the comedy film "Joy Ride."

Fil-Canadian choreographer nominated for work on comedy film 'Joy Ride' | ABS-CBN News

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Fil-Canadian choreographer nominated for work on comedy film 'Joy Ride'

Fil-Canadian choreographer nominated for work on comedy film 'Joy Ride'