Street dance is an umbrella term covering all dances that originate and are still done on the street.
HM: You have just launched the book ‘B-Boy Championships from Bronx to Brixton’ which explains the history of the event. What prompted your decision to tell the story? We were approached by Ebury publishing they wanted to know if we had enough content to create a book. When I showed them the photos we have from the last 15 years it pretty much sealed the deal. The other great thing about the book is all of the dancers stories. You really get to see what inspires and motivates these Champions. There’s also an explanation of the moves and history of the event.
HM:You collaborated with Crazy Legs in producing the Sony Playstation game ‘B-Boy’, what was your involvement and what did you most enjoy about the experience?
Myself and Crazy Legs were the main consultants on the game. We ensured that the characters in the game were all real b-boys. I got the best from Europe, Asia and the US and we motion captured their moves. The development of the game was a great experience. I got to put all the music together, put forward all the relevant international events I thought should be environments in the game and of course have the B-Boy Championships as the top level. I’m even in the game as the the DJ, naturally!
Dance is global and it’s has a lot of commercial interest. Our job is to keep the standard of excellence.
HM: How close is the game to a real life B-Boy battle? It’s incredibly close, maybe too close for most gamers. I think it needed to be more fantastical to be really successful. There needed to be b-boys with lazers coming
out of their eyes! Haha. The b-boys love it. I’m always being asked when is part 2 coming.
HM: How have shows like ‘ABCD’ and ‘Got to Dance’ and crews like Flawless influenced the popularity of Breaking and Streetdance as a whole? Well mainstream TV is always going to affect the awareness of things but the perception that that is the environment in which these dances exist is wrong. Street dance is an umbrella term covering all dances that originate and are still done on the street. The styles that really good crews like Flawless and Plague do are Breaking, Popping, Locking, House and Hip-Hop. Each of these styles are stand alone dances and are amazing. To be great you need to learn these dance styles properly.
HM: What would you say are your top 5 breaking tracks?
I like playing the classics so, James Brown – Give It Up Turn It Loose, Babe Ruth – The Mexican, Jimmy Castor Bunch – It’s Just Begun, Mando Dibango – African Battle, Bobby Byrd – I Know You Got Soul.
UK B-Boy Championships Finals Sunday 16th October at Brixton Academy for further info see
www.bboychampionships. com
hotminute mag 27
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