What started as a simple video paying tribute to a wife and mother has forever changed Tulsa’s very own Hurd family.
“God is good man. We just keeping it going, keeping it pushing,” Emmanuel Hurd said.
That video with millions of views has led to the family appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", a dance studio, a GAP commercial, Emmanuel working with the NBA, the family working with Disney, and an appearance on "America’s Got Talent".
READ MORE: We're Open Green Country: Hurd Family Studios Dancing Through The Pandemic
“It went really well,” Emmanuel said. “I can definitely tell you that. We really like Simon. That particular routine we put together the day before and then practiced all that day.”
For the Hurd family, dance is a way of life. It started when Emmanuel was a kid growing up in a very tough neighborhood.
“We used dance as an outlet instead of the other things that were presented to us to do,” he said.
Emmanuel said he had a lot of young friends die, while others went to prison. But he kept at it even when his faith in dance started to waiver.
“There were many years where it seemed like it wasn't going to produce what I had wanted it to produce,” he said.
Now that he’s a father, Emmanuel is using dance to teach his kids about life and the importance of family. He, Manny, Emma, and Elijah dance as often as possible.
“We do it in the car,” Emmanuel said. “We do it everywhere we go.”
And now the family is dancing on "America’s Got Talent".
“Right after we finished the show, I cried super hard, because it was like man, we actually made it,” Manny said.
“We had a really good time with it,” Emma said. “I was very excited.”
Emmanuel said God has blessed them with dance for a reason.
“To not only help us, but to help other families and other people,” he said. “So, it's a blessing to ever be able to do it.”
And they’ll continue to dance until there’s no beat left.
“Stay tuned, we got a lot more coming,” Emmanuel said.
“Thank you channel 2,” the entire family screamed as they said goodbye.
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