This post it’s all about Niels van den Heuvel portrayed by Ivan Avila – This intrepid performer artist / model is now the muse for Ivan Avila lens, Niels used to be part of “Beatles’ LOVE” by Cirque du Soleil then he left sin city to be on tour dancing for Juan Gabriel (†) on the last tour.
Let’s dig deeper:
Born and raised in Southeast Amsterdam (1989), Niels van den Heuvel discovered his passion for the performing arts at a later age. Intrigued and constantly attracted by the movement of music and dance, Niels never actually practiced or focused on it until the age of 18. He always envisioned himself following in the footsteps of the man he looked up to the most his entire life; a successful businessman, his father – Hans van den Heuvel.
While studying Marketing & Communications in hopes to pursue his “dreams” as a future businessman, it was then that Niels realized he was not happy nor passionate about his career choice. Hopeful and enthusiastic, Niels sought out a group of talented dancers known as “Furious Flow” and thus began his journey towards becoming what his heart truly wanted the most; a dancer, a true performer, an artist.
Niels’ hard work and determination started to finally pay off when he was offered to travel the world as a dancer/model with one of the world’s biggest and well-known companies, Nike. It was then he was able to showcase his enthusiastic demeanor and positive energy. By the age of 22, Niels was able to tour through China (alongside Nike) and shared the stage with Miley Cyrus & LMFAO during the MTV Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam.
From there, this led him to compete in the popular hit TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance” in the Netherlands. Because of his free spirit and warm characteristics, combined with his epic dance skills, Niels’ immediately became a favorite on the show easily taking him to the Top 14.
It was in 2014 though when Niels’ biggest break came through, a real dream come true. He was offered his own act in Las Vegas for the Cirque du Soleil “The Beatles LOVE” show. He has now been a professional performer with them since and just signed his second contract lasting until October 2016.
For years Niels gave it his all; 110% all the way. He took classes and trained every single day. He was determined. It didn’t take long until the student actually became the teacher. Niels was a natural. Offering workshops and teaching at multiple dance studios, he became a renowned dance teacher in the country and even taught regularly at the Lucia Martha’s Institute of Performing Arts in Amsterdam.
Niels is living proof that you’re NEVER too old to follow your dreams. So follow them!
By the way photographer Ivan Avila, was mentioned and honored as Best Photographer in Summary 2016 by Fashionably Male.
