{"id":199,"date":"2021-02-14T12:44:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T12:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/djuki.vagrant.devtestnet.com\/?p=199"},"modified":"2021-02-14T12:44:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-14T12:44:18","slug":"the-breakers-palm-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/djuki.com\/newport\/2021\/02\/14\/the-breakers-palm-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixing Music and Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Krystian von Speidel, Notables Editor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On any given night at HMF \u2014 the favored watering hole at The Breakers \u2014 Kirill Basov is in the driver\u2019s seat. Standing atop a corner stage in the massive room, DJ UKi (as he is known professionally) has begun his eight-hour musical set. The evening may have started with cocktails and morphed into dinner, either for guests of the hotel or local bons vivants. But as the night progresses and voices grow louder, the music becomes central. For patrons at HMF, the music is the atmosphere, an essential ingredient to the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mixing the music and building that atmosphere belongs to a handsome 38-year-old with an easy smile. When he descends from the stage to greet a friend in the crowd, he does so with grace. Ten years after putting away his ballet shoes, Basov still exudes its elegance. As for that smile? It didn\u2019t always come easily. Few onlookers amid The Breakers\u2019 gilded splendor might imagine the hardships Basov overcame. They are not obvious as he directs the scene atop a stage, creating musical magic night after night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in a Ukrainian village in the last years of the Soviet Union (the town\u2019s name, Kamenka, means \u201cpebble\u201d), Basov\u2019s family was well-off by local standards. \u201cWe owned a car, a television and a radio,\u201d said Basov. \u201cWe lived in a three-bedroom apartment.\u201d All that changed with the collapse of the USSR. Following his parents\u2019 divorce, Basov moved with his mother in 1993 to the capital, Kiev, into a one-room apartment with no furniture, no hot water and an infestation of mice. \u201cMy mother and I shared a pull-out sofa,\u201d says Basov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his mother had started working in real estate, she focused mainly on a good education for her son. The city\u2019s best school was the performing arts academy. For the next eight years, Basov traveled 90 minutes by bus, tram and foot to get to school, where his athleticism and size helped him become one of the top dancers. After two years he was representing the school in international competitions. Many of his former dance partners have flourished as ballerinas throughout Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

American adolescence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By the time he was 16, his mother had remarried an American and the family moved to a trailer park in West Palm Beach. \u201cAlthough I didn\u2019t know Florida, I knew I wanted to go there,\u201d says Basov. The culture shock was jarring. He didn\u2019t speak any English, but Basov aced his dancing audition and gained admission into the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts. However, Basov didn\u2019t anticipate that some of his fellow students assumed that his proficiency in ballet meant he was gay. This was a surprise to Basov, who is straight and comes from a culture where classically trained dancers are known primarily for athleticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His athleticism proved useful when Basov earned a spot on the school\u2019s varsity soccer team. Unable to pronounce his name, frustrated teammates would yell, \u201cHey Russia! Pass the ball!\u201d Basov explained he wasn\u2019t Russian, he was Ukrainian, a country most had never heard of. Furthermore, his teammates were unable to pronounce his first name, Kirill. Over time, calls
of \u201cHey Ukraine!\u201d were shortened to \u201cHey Uki!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 11th grade Basov had overcome his struggles with English and started taking honors classes at Dreyfoos. At the same time, he landed a full scholarship to the Academy of Ballet Florida. Seeking a stronger dance program, Bosov transferred to The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton during his senior year of high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although accepted into Indiana University on a dance scholarship, a snafu with the paperwork resulted in Basov attending Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU). He continued to practice dance, working as a private dance instructor. In order to pay the bills, he juggled working as an entertainment director at a nursing home, a nightshift security guard in a Palm Beach Gardens office building, and as a valet at the (since closed) 264 The Grill in Palm Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basov still hoped to attend Indiana University. All that changed one night when a fleet of Ferraris roared past 264 The Grill. They were participating in the annual Cavallino Classic auto show
at The Breakers. \u201cI reconsidered my decision to leave and chose to stay in Palm Beach,\u201d laughs Basov at the memory. He\u2019d never been to The Breakers and couldn\u2019t afford the $50 admission fee. Peering over the hedges was enough to ignite a lifelong love of exotic cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A two-year stint as a dance instructor at Seminole Ridge Community High School in Loxahatchee followed graduation from PBAU. Basov instilled discipline in his students. \u201cDance involves every part of your body,\u201d said Basov. \u201cYou evolve as an individual as a dancer.\u201d His teaching techniques paid off when the class performed Michael Jackson\u2019s Thriller \u2014 recreating the music video\u2019s choreography \u2014 which Basov further embellished with techno and hip-hop music for the school\u2019s first pep rally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breaking into the business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two years later, Basov left the school. He had started making his own dance mixes, and a friend with a recurring DJ gig in Wellington during horse shows, invited him one weekend to spin tunes as a duo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He parlayed the connections made in Wellington to land a regular gig spinning at an after-party that followed horse shows. At one of these popular parties, Basov met a manager from Braman Motorcars. The dealership was planning to unveil a new Porsche 911 at Trump International Golf Club. Would Basov like to handle the event?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d already incorporated the UKi Productions name. Now the company had its first client and the first event to produce. \u201cWhen I pitched them the cost of the project, I forgot to include my fee,\u201d Basov now admits. The event went off without a hitch. It involved a crane, fireworks, and a car (plus a fashion model) suspended in mid-air. Naturally, there was choreography. For Basov, it was an important learning opportunity and led to other events with Braman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years in business, UKi Productions and Basov were invited by Nick Velarado, Vice President of Food and Beverage at The Breakers to help identify and supply the music for a new concept the hotel had in the works. \u201cKirill instantly understood what we were trying to do with HMF. He is an old soul and got excited about the idea of creating a different sound rooted in another era and bringing it into modern timesto act as the perfect backdrop for the social scene we were looking to create,\u201d said Velarado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basov immediately envisioned a take on the renowned Hotel Costes in Paris. Its music mixes lounge, house and dance, like Basov\u2019s own preferred playlists. HMF opened over Thanksgiving in 2012 and was instantly successful. The concept is still going strong, and Basov remains
the resident DJ and entertainment director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going full throttle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UKi Productions is now a fully integrated production company that provides its clients every aspect of event planning. In addition to the private clients who call on UKi Productions for weddings and parties, past corporate clients have included FP&L, The Brazilian Court, Lamborghini Palm Beach and Palm Beach Symphony. Upcoming projects in the pipeline include a collaboration with the Love Street marketplace restaurant Topside at the Beacon in Jupiter Inlet Village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Basov, he\u2019s come a long way from that one-room, mouse-infested apartment in Kiev. It hasn\u2019t always been easy and there have been periods of personal struggles and times when he had to rely on unemployment to support himself. But the drive to succeed never stopped. Striving to reach the American dream of success never stopped. It still hasn\u2019t. \u201cI hope people who hear my story realize that there are so many cool things that are waiting to happen in this country,\u201d said Basov. He\u2019s amazed at the opportunities the United States has provided him. And he\u2019s excited for what the future holds, both for himself and his adopted country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For UKi Productions founder Kirill Basov, dance always provided the path to overcome life\u2019s obstacles. But it wasn\u2019t until he stopped dancing and started mixing music, that Basov\u2019s life truly took a turn for the better. Now he\u2019s living his American dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMixing Music and Dreams - Newport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mixing Music and Dreams - Professional technical support - Professional DJ services\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/djuki.com\/newport\/2021\/02\/14\/the-breakers-palm-beach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mixing Music and Dreams - Newport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mixing Music and Dreams - Professional technical support - Professional DJ services\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/djuki.com\/newport\/2021\/02\/14\/the-breakers-palm-beach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-14T12:44:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/djuki.com\/newport\/2021\/02\/14\/the-breakers-palm-beach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/djuki.com\/newport\/2021\/02\/14\/the-breakers-palm-beach\/\",\"name\":\"Mixing Music and Dreams - 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