Cio Malonzo
Cio Malonzo was born in Queens, NY and raised in the Bay Area of California. After graduating from De La Salle High School in 1998, he ventured to Southern California to attend UC Irvine for college. There, he was introduced to hip-hop dancing and became a member of the award-winning collegiate team, Kaba Modern. In 2001, he took on a leadership role as co-coordinator which he continued to serve through 2002, and again for his last year on the team in 2005. Cio was also part of Legacy, a branch of Kaba Modern that was first created in 2002 for its 10 year anniversary. He re-founded the team in 2004 and continues to dance and choreograph for the team today. In 2005, he founded Kaba Modern’s youth team, Kreative Movement (formerly known as Kaba Kids) in hopes to get the youth out of the streets and provide training and experience for the future of our dance community. Kreative Movement has since then won various youth competitions, held numerous dance workshops and just recently put on their first showcase, “Inspire” who’s profits were donated to “Big Brothers Big Sisters of America”. His dedication to the KM family was honored during their KM Generations Banquet where he was given the “Outstanding Commitment” award.
Outside of the KM family, Cio has performed with other teams such as Expressive Doubt and Surreal Project, and has recently co-founded a new team based in Fullerton, Paradime. He has also choreographed for C3 and Alhambra High School, to name a few, and did a project for Choreographer’s Carnival in 2006. Today, he can be seen performing with Paradime, KM Legacy, and teaching his artistry to aspiring dancers of all ages at ARC classes at UCI and West Coast School of the Arts in Costa Mesa (formerly Irvine Dance Academy). As one who began his dancing career in his college years with no prior experience, but had all the heart in the world for it, he cherishes those who have the love for dance, no matter how skillful. To him, hard work and passion mean more than just talent. He hopes to continue to bring inspiration to future dancers and dance teams, but the most important thing to him is creating an atmosphere conducive to learning while keeping a high energy and positive vibe.
