Breaking Series Part 2 – Dawn of the PR BBoy

Breaking Series Part 2

Five part series describing the evolution of breakdancing through fiction stories – Breaking Series Part 2

The strobe lights were so bright! We stepped toward the crowd. We were up next. The crowd had split down the middle and there was a couple busting some sick moves down the path that had been created. I put on my brightest smile and stepped up to the crowd. 

I looked toward Don and he winked at me! Don Cornelius winked at me! I took one big step, ready to get down. When my heel hit the floor, my foot skidded out from under me! Down I went, right on my ass. The crowd went silent. Then, a snicker came from somewhere, followed by uproarious laughter. They were all laughing at me! 

That’s when I woke up. Jolted upright in bed. God, that dream again? Remind me to never go on Soul Train. I looked over at Max, he was sound asleep. I grabbed a glass of water and went back to bed. We had a big day and I needed to get some rest.

MAX

The alarm went off at 6am. We spoke animatedly about the day as we got ready. Today after work, we were going to meet Crazy legs from Rock Steady Crew! Max was Djing at a local club and Rock Steady Crew was going to be there tonight. Max had set up a meeting between me and Crazy Legs for a sort of casual interview for an article that I was writing about bboys. I was so psyched!

Work dragged as it only can when you have something exciting to do afterward. I passed the time by practicing my cool voice. Which was just me trying not to freak out because I was so excited.

We got to the club and I ordered a long island iced tea. I needed to chill out. Max went off to get set up and I settled in with my notebook full of questions. God I wished they made a word processor that was easy to carry around. Typing up notes after the fact was a real downer. 

A couple hours later, the club started to fill up. I put my things away and started to mingle with some of my girlfriends while I waited for the crew to show up. There were bboys everywhere and bgirls too, but I wanted Crazy legs for this article. So, I was willing to wait. 

Around 11pm they walked in the door and the crowd let out a loud woop! One of the things that I loved the most about the crew was that they were made up of a lot of Puerto Rican guys. My dad was Puerto Rican and we grew up in the Bronx. I was proud to see the boys doing something with their time. These guys were introducing all kinds of new moves too, like the windmill. 

They danced for a couple of hours. Their moves were so slick. Then, Max took a break and he brought Crazy legs over and introduced him to me. He was pretty interesting. He told me that he was leaving that weekend to go to France! There was a dance competition there and he was going to compete and show off NY bboying in another country! That was pretty impressive stuff. 

WRAP UP

We wrapped up our interview and I went home to type up my notes. I had used my RCA Pro wonder to record some video of the guys dancing and I was going to include it with my article when I sent it in to Rolling Stone. The chances of them using my article weren’t great, but I had hope. I wanted to bring attention to these incredible dancers in the Bronx. To shine a light on the talent in the shadows. 

Til next time… stay chill -Crystal @nevernaire