Last night I finally made it to one of these breaking practice spots that b-girl Monica keeps telling me about. On Mondays and Wednesdays (for now, at least) there is a free breaking class and practice session at the Bushwick Hylan Community Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When I arrived, the staff directed me to a…
Tag: b-boy
“Groovaloo” brings b-boying to the stage with mixed results
Got to see the Groovaloos stage show at the Joyce Theater last night with some friends. It's a very impressive hip-hop dance show with the most fully realized combination of dance performance, staging, sound, and theater that I've ever seen staged. For someone who wants to see an energetic, well-presented demonstration of b-boying, you can't…
America’s Best Dance Crew Season 4 kicks off! (video)
America's Best Dance Crew (Season 4) – MTV Shows Now that season 5 of "So You Think You Can Dance" has finished (congrats, Jeannine!), it's time to move on to my favorite dance show on TV "America's Best Dance Crew." Season 4 kicked off last night on MTV, and the first full episode is already…
Ken Swift: “We are destroying our bodies to do what we do.”
"We are the hardest working artists in hip-hop because we are literally destroying our bodies to do what we do." – Ken Swift, legendary b-boy, talking about breaking at "Gems" Class, July 2009
5 b-boy crews from 3 continents gather for “Hip Hop Generation Next” at Lincoln Center August 6!
I'm pretty excited about the "Hip Hop Generation Next" event at Lincoln Center on August 6. It's an amazingly dope line-up of crews representing b-boying from all over the world: From New York City and Chicago to South Korea and Sierra Leone, five crews from three continents reinvent hip hop dancing with breathtaking virtuosity, jawdropping…
Breaking barefoot (pics)
I was doing some long-overdue breakdance practice tonight and decided to take some pics of myself barefoot. Not really practical, but I thought the pictures came out cool. The hardest part was hitting the timer and then rushing over into some kind of freeze. Yeah, I know, I need a remote. More in my flickr…
Breakin’ Soap: When you want to feel “supa fresh”!
My friend Emily saw this at her work and had to get it for me: "Breakin Soap." I love that comes with a soap cassette tape and old skool boombox. This is the awesomest random gift I have received in a long time! Thanks, Emily!
Everything Remains Raw: Moncel Durden on the links between lindy hop and hip hop dance
I managed to catch the film preview and talk with filmmaker / dancer / historian Moncel Durden about his work-in-progress "Everything Remains Raw: Hip-Hop's Folkloric Lineage." Here Moncel talks the importance of dancers knowing the roots of the movements that they do. As lindy hoppers, it was great to see how Moncel was able to…
My 1st breaking gig: cupcakes, hokey-pokey, and b-boying!
Today I performed at my first paid breaking gig: a kid's birthday party in Queens. The spot was one of those party spaces for toddlers complete with themed decorations (from Power Rangers to Hannah Montana), lots of group games, gift bags, and everything else that a six-year-old wants to celebrate his or her special day. …
“In a Cypher Far, Far, Away”: PMT Breakers at the Spring Showcase
Yesterday and today I performed with the PMT breakers at the PMT Dance Showcase, which is always a blast. This season's show was particularly appealing to me because we had a "Star Wars" theme going on with our routine. I got to be the main evil jedi, leading my troop of Dark Side b-boys against…