Directed by Topper Carew, "Breakin 'n' Enterin'" (1983) documented the Los Angeles B-boy scene emerging at Venice Beach and MacArthur Park's Radio-Tron nightclub. Keep your eyes peeled for a young Ice-T, Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, and Adolfo "Shabba-Doo" Quinones who all appeared the following year in Breakin'. The dancing in this documentary is much better than in the feature film though -- more complex, raw, and aggressive.
Dance battles have come a long way from a bunch of kids breaking on a piece of cardboard. Watch as The Lab shows how it's done these days, replete with gymnastics, tight choreography, and the slick production values of a major network show. Read the rest
[UPDATE 7:20pm PT: Snopes reports that Electric Slide's songwriter "Bunny Wailer" Livingston denies that the song was about a vibrator. "Although many shared this rumor as if it were a fact, this claim is based on little more than an interpretation of the song’s lyrics...As this rumor picked up steam, Aazios.com published an article reporting that the song’s writer, Neville “Bunny Wailer” Livingston, had confirmed the subtext of its lyrics...This is not a reliable story; the alleged “confirmation” comes from an anonymous third party, despite what the site said in the article’s title."]
The line dance song that's popular at celebrations like weddings and bat/bar mitzvahs is about a SEX TOY. LGBTQ news and entertainment site Aazios is reporting that Neville Livingston aka Bunny Wailer, the songwriter behind "Electric Boogie" (the song also known as "The Electric Slide") has confirmed rumors that it's about a vibrator:
Rumors of the songs meaning began circulating on social media a few weeks ago and everyone has been desperate for answers. According to a source close to Livingston, word of the question about the origins of the song reached him in Kingston, Jamaica where he currently resides and he put the rumors to rest. "I'm surprised it took people this long to figure out" the source tells us he said. Apparently Livingston wrote the song after a girlfriend told him she didn't need him because she had a toy she nicknamed the "electric slide"
Here's a taste of those naughty lyrics:
Read the restIt's Electric!
This cool geometry teacher didn't take offense when a student told him his class was boring. Instead, he asked her, "Would it help if I breakdanced?" She said "Yeah," and even offered to bake him a caramel apple pie if he did. So he got down on the floor and showed off his breakdancing moves to delighted students. Now give that man his pie! Read the rest
A battle at the Montreal Swing Riot:
Modern Street Dancers represented waacking, locking, popping, breaking, hip hop and krump: Taminator, Venom, Wook, Rawss, Bourrik, Ddimplz, Treklock , Scramblelock, Boombeast, Jigsaw, Cherry and Zepol Rock.
Vintage Street Dancers represented vernacular jazz dances like the Charleston and the Lindy Hop: Nathan Bugh, Gaby Cook, Annie Trudeau, Aleix Prats Ferrer, Joyss, Gina Helfrich, Anthony Chen, Rebecka Decavita, Emelie Decavita, Zack Richard, Natalia Rueda, Jonathan Desroches and Marie-Anne Rochon.
(video by Alain Wong)
World of Dance just held their World Finals in Los Angeles, and the breakout team in the Youth competition brought insane levels of energy and breakdancing precision to win their division. Read the rest
