Liliana Ralph still has years ahead of her before she'll be burning up nightclub dance floors or major competitions.
But a video of the Oak Park Elementary second-grader dancing under an iconic Des Moines sculpture has proved a viral success this week.
The video of Liliana and her stepfather, Kenny Link, dancing to Skrillex's 'Bangarang' has racked up 41,810 YouTube views since it was posted Sept. 10.
Liliana's smooth 'liquid' dance moves are impressive, largely because the 7-year-old picked them up just by watching her stepfather. She's known in her family as a tomboy. She has a big smile and a simple explanation for why she took after her stepfather and started dancing: 'It looked fun.'
Link, 35, found his passion in dubstep, a type of electronic dance music, after leaving his Pleasant Hill home at age 17.
Living in Biloxi, Miss., Link said he began going to parties at the State Palace Theatre in nearby New Orleans and heard electronic dance music, a genre that's grown in popularity in recent years thanks to artists like Skrillex and David Guetta.
'It took me a couple of parties before I actually got into the music,' he said. 'But once I got into the music, it was just a passion for me. ... I didn't have anybody say, 'Hey, do this, move your body like that.' I taught myself.'
Link hadn't danced for several years, but he and his daughters watched YouTube videos of other dancers and Liliana fell 'in love,' Link said.
Link showed the girls his own dance moves. At first when he told them he could dance, they didn't buy his story, he said.
Link came home on a recent Saturday and found Liliana listening to dubstep music with headphones on, he said. She was imitating dance moves that she'd seen him do.
Link's wife told him that the girl had been dancing 'all day' and wanted to make a video with her stepfather.
The pair went to the Pappajohn Sculpture Park downtown and chose to record their dance together under 'Nomade,' the sculpture that's served as a backdrop for thousands of Des Moines photo opportunities.
Link said he plans to make more videos with his stepdaughter as local and national media outlets have learned about the popular video and have called to learn the story behind it. Link hopes there will be a future for the two at dance competitions.
'I thought, 'Wow, I've got a partner, a partner in crime,' ' he said. 'It was priceless for me. ... It melted my heart, really.'
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