I just watched the documentary "The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-boy" (2002). It’s an entertaining introduction to how breakdancing got started in the Bronx in the 1970s. The documentary intersperses awesome dance footage with interviews with legends of the hip-hop world — from Cool Herc to Ken Swift to Mr. Wiggles to Africa Bambataa.
Breaking afficionados will appreciate the extras on the DVD, including battle footage, longer interviews, and music videos featuring b-boys. It’s great to compare the newer generation of b-boys with the original innovators, watching the evolution of steps and styles.
I did find distracting the music video style of the direction, with lots of quick cuts between dance sequences and talking heads and unnecessarily zooming title graphics. I guess for the MTV generation, you need these kinds of gimmicks to keep them watching.
And why the hell was Pauley Shore in this movie? Weird.
That said, I could watch the groundbreaking Rock Steady Crew, particularly Ken Swift, dancing for hours. They had such rawness and expressiveness in their b-boying, despite the lack of flash and "power-moves."