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HERALD TRIBUNE
'Break!' provides hip-hop history lesson"
Review
By BARBARA LEVERONE CORRESPONDENT
Click To Read Online
Sarasota's own version of "So You Think You Can Dance" filled the Van Wezel
Performing Arts Hall stage Thursday night with a crew of local hip-hoppers
strutting their stuff as the warm-up act for "Break! The Urban Funk
Spectacular."
Selected during a Van Wezel Education Outreach program, the 20 youths set
the tone for the evening with high-energy break dancing and a sheer joy of
performing.
Attracting an eclectic audience that filled the theater, the performers of
"Break!" followed with two hours of the latest in urban dance and music. DJ
Shake (Chet Samuels) spun records, mixed and scratched his original beat,
and played with the audience by passing out chips and drinks.
Percussionist One Time kept up a steady rhythm behind the music track,
blasted out a vigorous drum solo and entertained with a story and
demonstration of his skills on overturned buckets.
Anointed S (Shaun Roig) defied description with his impressive vocal
percussive rhythms. With his mouth held close to the microphone, he clicked,
hissed, gulped, popped and bammed, creating a veritable symphony of sound.
The three artists combined their talents in "Pass the Beat" or provided
background rhythms for the dancers.
Kumiko Naito, known as Locking Q, took us back to the club dancing of the
'70s dressed in the distinctive striped kneesocks and caps of the L.A.
Lockers while she kicked a knee sideways and sent her elbows flying and
forearms spinning.
Another group, in casual T-shirts and sweatpants, moved in unison or shone
in their solos, showing us the highlights of break dancing with its head
spins, fast footwork and gravity-defying handstands.
Aquaboogy (Otoniel Vasquez) proved a master at slow-motion isolation which
he then sped up, moving as if lit by strobes, while Angel Feliciano slid
into the ever-popular moonwalk and swiveled into a static shape before
popping to the pulse of the beat.
Each performer offered his or her special gymnastic trick, including aerials
with attitude and breathtaking head spins, legs flying and arms held out to
the side. In "Video Jam," one dancer directed the others in robotic moves,
vibrating and popping to an electronic score.
Even though the production integrated visual graffiti as backdrops, smoke
machines and sophisticated lighting, the company retained the essential
rawness of urban street dancing, pushing their physical boundaries and
charming us with their abundant youthful energy.
GAZETTENET.COM
"Shock and awe took on a whole new meaning"
Review
By Kathleen Mellen
Shock and awe took on a whole new meaning Friday evening as New York City's
finest (no, not the ones in blue) very nearly blew the roof off the Fine
Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
I'm talking here about the cast of 'Break! Urban Funk Spectacular,' a
display of fast-paced, high-energy hip-hop and break dance that appeared,
sadly, for one night only on the concert hall stage.
In a 90-minute virtuosic display of mind-boggling spins, gravity-defying
headstands, stupefying robotics, wild gyrations and athletic one-handed
freezes, the performers had the audience hooting and hollering and
clamoring. Beatboxing is a method of creating increasingly elaborate
percussion-like sounds using only the voice and a microphone.
Dance moves were met with equal enthusiasm. With names like Dizzy, Jumpin'
Bean and Aquaboogie, the performers took the audience through a step-by-step
history of 30 years of this distinctly American art form that has its roots
on the streets of the nation's cities.
Much like urban street-corner tap dancers of years gone by, these
energy-charged dances have been created over time largely during impromptu
dance competitions, with the moves growing more daring and breathtaking
through contests of one-upmanship. From break dancing and the Electric
Boogaloo ('locking & popping'), to 'freestyling' and power tumbling, these
dances are as much about improvisation and just plain 'showing off,' as they
are about technique and style.
Pumping up the energy before the show, DJ Shake (Chet Samuels) was already
on stage when the audience began to filter into the auditorium. His onstage
setup included a selection of records (yup, real LPs) stored by his side in
a crate, and two turntables on which he spun his discs. Later in the show,
Samuels used those records to scratch out syncopated rhythms and unusual
sounds, using not only his hands to control the turntables, but his feet,
his head and even his behind.
'Are you ready to have a good time tonight?' he bellowed at the audience
when it was still only half full. 'Yes!' came back the enthusiastic reply.
By the time the show's master of ceremonies, Angel Feliciano, dashed onto
the stage, urging the audience to 'make some noise,' they needed little
encouragement. Primed and ready, the audience first welcomed the two winners
of a dance contest that had been held the night before at the UMass Student
Union Ballroom.
Michael Kim (Onion), winner in the 'popping' category, and John Ying (Tienchii),
winner in the BBoy (break dancing) category, both got to show their stuff.
Then came the pros - each one a tightly wound coil of potential energy. And
when they were sprung - watch out! From the drummer who bounded on stage
with a back flip and a handspring before taking his seat and grabbing his
drumsticks, and 'Locking Q' (Kumiko Naito), a tiny Japanese bundle of pop,
lock and break, to Honey Rockwell (Eureina Valencia), a former champion
gymnast and mother of three, these young performers have to be among the
hardest-working in the business.
Jumpin' Bean for example can be seen regularly dancing on the streets of New
York City, where many of the performers got their start. This dynamo came on
stage doing a series of back handsprings (eleven to be exact) that were so
fast his body seemed to blur. He ended those with a mile-high layout that
would have had any Olympic gymnast beaming.
Another dancer, Guadalupe Rodriguez, aptly nicknamed 'Dizzy,' spun on his
head (with no hands, mind you) for longer than seemed humanly possible. In
one of his solos, he rotated 23 times - and that was before he sped up,
turning so fast that counting became impossible. His spins, fueled by
momentum, were followed by balancing acts that included shoulder stand
freezes and one-armed handstands.
One of the evening's most awe-inspiring entertainers was Aquaboogy (Otoniel
Vasqez) the show's pop-and-lock star. Pop and lock refers to a 'locking' of
the joints of the arms and body that produces staccato movements and
isolated sharp body angles.
A tiny ripple of energy that begins at the tip of Vasqez's fingers might
'travel' up his arm, across his shoulders and out to the tip of his other
hand. Then, the ripple might reverse, traveling to the top of his head, then
down his trunk and a leg until it seems to shoot out through the end of his
foot. In one sequence, Vasqez repeatedly adjusted the position of his hat,
using tiny, sequential jerky movements that made him look for all the world
like a drawing in a flip book.
'Break! Urban Funk Spectacular,' was presented in collaboration with the
UMass Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, and is part of the Fine
Arts Center's student and family series. Not only did the Friday evening
show sell out, but a performance earlier in the day for area schoolchildren
did the same. The dancers also presented two shows on Thursday at
Northampton High School.
The thunderous standing ovation at the end of the Friday evening show
attested to its popularity among the surprisingly mixed-age audience. (I,
for example, actually remember doing The Twist - you do the math.)
It was delightful to see the crowd of young children and high school- and
college-age students share their enthusiasm for hip-hop music and dance with
their parents and grandparents. For many, I would venture to guess, it was a
first.
Hopefully the response will encourage Fine Art Center programmers to look
for similar shows of excellence that attract audiences from across the age
spectrum.
Kathleen Mellen can be reached at kmellen@gazettenet.com.
BACK TO TOP
NEWS NET NEBRASKA
September 30, 2005
BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular pops and locks way to Lincoln
Review
By Ryan Kottich
CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE
CLICK HERE TO WATCH A PRE BREAK SHOW
CLICK HERE TO WATCH SCENES FROM BREAK PERFORMANCE
BACK TO TOP
HERALD TRIBUNE
November 8, 2005
'Break!' provides hip-hop history lesson
Review
By BARBARA LEVERONE CORRESPONDENT
Sarasota's own version of "So You Think You Can Dance" filled the Van Wezel
Performing Arts Hall stage Thursday night with a crew of local hip-hoppers
strutting their stuff as the warm-up act for "Break! The Urban Funk
Spectacular."
Selected during a Van Wezel Education Outreach program, the 20 youths set
the tone for the evening with high-energy break dancing and a sheer joy of
performing.
Attracting an eclectic audience that filled the theater, the performers of
"Break!" followed with two hours of the latest in urban dance and music. DJ
Shake (Chet Samuels) spun records, mixed and scratched his original beat,
and played with the audience by passing out chips and drinks.
Percussionist One Time kept up a steady rhythm behind the music track,
blasted out a vigorous drum solo and entertained with a story and
demonstration of his skills on overturned buckets.
Anointed S (Shaun Roig) defied description with his impressive vocal
percussive rhythms. With his mouth held close to the microphone, he clicked,
hissed, gulped, popped and bammed, creating a veritable symphony of sound.
The three artists combined their talents in "Pass the Beat" or provided
background rhythms for the dancers.
Kumiko Naito, known as Locking Q, took us back to the club dancing of the
'70s dressed in the distinctive striped kneesocks and caps of the L.A.
Lockers while she kicked a knee sideways and sent her elbows flying and
forearms spinning.
Another group, in casual T-shirts and sweatpants, moved in unison or shone
in their solos, showing us the highlights of break dancing with its head
spins, fast footwork and gravity-defying handstands.
Aquaboogy (Otoniel Vasquez) proved a master at slow-motion isolation which
he then sped up, moving as if lit by strobes, while Angel Feliciano slid
into the ever-popular moonwalk and swiveled into a static shape before
popping to the pulse of the beat.
Each performer offered his or her special gymnastic trick, including aerials
with attitude and breathtaking head spins, legs flying and arms held out to
the side. In "Video Jam," one dancer directed the others in robotic moves,
vibrating and popping to an electronic score.
Even though the production integrated visual graffiti as backdrops, smoke
machines and sophisticated lighting, the company retained the essential
rawness of urban street dancing, pushing their physical boundaries and
charming us with their abundant youthful energy.
BACK TO TOP
Hip-hop and
break dancers awe Valley audiences
October 25, 2005
'Break!' Show Needs NO Fixing
Review
BY KATHLEEN MELLEN STAFF WRITER
Shock and awe took on a whole new meaning Friday evening as New York City's
finest (no, not the ones in blue) very nearly blew the roof off the Fine
Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
I'm talking here about the cast of 'Break! Urban Funk Spectacular,' a
display of fast-paced, high-energy hip-hop and break dance that appeared,
sadly, for one night only on the concert hall stage.
In a 90-minute virtuosic display of mind-boggling spins, gravity-defying
headstands, stupefying robotics, wild gyrations and athletic one-handed
freezes, the performers had the audience hooting and hollering and clamoring
for more. There sere two standing ovations Friday, one in a mid-performance
show of appreciation for the evening's astonishing beatboxer, Anointed S.
Beatboxing is a method of creating increasingly elaborate percussion-like
sounds using only the voice and a microphone.
Dance moves were met with equal enthusiasm. With names like Dizzy, Jumpin'
Bean and Aquaboogie, the performers took the audience through a step-by-step
history of 30 years of this distinctly American art form that has its roots
on the streets of the nation's cities.
Much like urban street-corner tap dancers of years gone by, these
energy-charged dances have been created over time largely during impromptu
dance competitions, with the moves growing more daring and breathtaking
through contests of one-upmanship. From break dancing and the Electric
Boogaloo ('locking & popping'), to 'freestyling' and power tumbling, these
dances are as much about improvisation and just plain 'showing off,' as they
are about technique and style.
Pumping up the energy before the show, DJ Shake (Chet Samuels) was already
on stage when the audience began to filter into the auditorium. His onstage
setup included a selection of records (yup, real LPs) stored by his side in
a crate, and two turntables on which he spun his discs. Later in the show,
Samuels used those records to scratch out syncopated rhythms and unusual
sounds, using not only his hands to control the turntables, but his feet,
his head and even his behind.
'Are you ready to have a good time tonight?' he bellowed at the audience
when it was still only half full. 'Yes!' came back the enthusiastic reply.
By the time the show's master of ceremonies, Angel Feliciano, dashed onto
the stage, urging the audience to 'make some noise,' they needed little
encouragement. Primed and ready, the audience first welcomed the two winners
of a dance contest that had been held the night before at the UMass Student
Union Ballroom.
Michael Kim (Onion), winner in the 'popping' category, and John Ying (Tienchii),
winner in the BBoy (break dancing) category, both got to show their stuff.
Then came the pros - each one a tightly wound coil of potential energy. And
when they were sprung - watch out! From the drummer who bounded on stage
with a back flip and a handspring before taking his seat and grabbing his
drumsticks, and 'Locking Q' (Kumiko Naito), a tiny Japanese bundle of pop,
lock and break, to Honey Rockwell (Eureina Valencia), a former champion
gymnast and mother of three, these young performers have to be among the
hardest-working in the business.
Jumpin' Bean , for example can be seen regularly dancing on the streets of
New York City, where many of the performers got their start. This dynamo
came on stage doing a series of back handsprings (eleven to be exact) that
were so fast his body seemed to blur. He ended those with a mile-high layout
that would have had any Olympic gymnast beaming.
Another dancer, Guadalupe Rodriguez, aptly nicknamed 'Dizzy,' spun on his
head (with no hands, mind you) for longer than seemed humanly possible. In
one of his solos, he rotated 23 times - and that was before he sped up,
turning so fast that counting became impossible. His spins, fueled by
momentum, were followed by balancing acts that included shoulder stand
freezes and one-armed handstands.
One of the evening's most awe-inspiring entertainers was Aquaboogy (Otoniel
Vasqez) the show's pop-and-lock star. Pop and lock refers to a 'locking' of
the joints of the arms and body that produces staccato movements and
isolated sharp body angles.
A tiny ripple of energy that begins at the tip of Vasqez's fingers might
'travel' up his arm, across his shoulders and out to the tip of his other
hand. Then, the ripple might reverse, traveling to the top of his head, then
down his trunk and a leg until it seems to shoot out through the end of his
foot. In one sequence, Vasqez repeatedly adjusted the position of his hat,
using tiny, sequential jerky movements that made him look for all the world
like a drawing in a flip book.
'Break! Urban Funk Spectacular,' was presented in collaboration with the
UMass Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, and is part of the Fine
Arts Center's student and family series. Not only did the Friday evening
show sell out, but a performance earlier in the day for area schoolchildren
did the same. The dancers also presented two shows on Thursday at
Northampton High School.
The thunderous standing ovation at the end of the Friday evening show
attested to its popularity among the surprisingly mixed-age audience. (I,
for example, actually remember doing The Twist - you do the math.)
It was delightful to see the crowd of young children and high school- and
college-age students share their enthusiasm for hip-hop music and dance with
their parents and grandparents. For many, I would venture to guess, it was a
first.
Hopefully the response will encourage Fine Art Center programmers to look
for similar shows of excellence that attract audiences from across the
age spectrum.
BACK TO TOP
TIMES UNION
July 23, 2005
'Break!' Show Needs NO Fixing
Review
By TRESCA WEINSTEIN, Special to the Times Union
Read Article Online
ALBANY -- It's hard to believe that the phenomenon known as break dance has
been around for 30 years now. We still think of hip-hop -- a term that
loosely encompasses music, movement, style and even graffiti art -- as the
new thing, a fresh and inventive form that influences the rest of the
culture.
Advertisement
The high-energy, talent-packed, entirely G-rated production that is "Break!
The Urban Funk Spectacular" proved Friday night at The Egg that what's old
(by today's light-speed standards) is still incredibly exciting. It doesn't
matter how many times you've seen dancers spin on their heads, flip in the
air, cartwheel no-handed and isolate each muscle in their bodies as if they
were hinged all over -- it's still pretty darn impressive. Like a chain of
pirouettes or a triple axel on the ice, these are physical feats that never
lose their capacity to amaze.
Formed in 1999 by Steve Love, whose best-known production up till then was
the New York Express Roller Dance Company, "Break!" brings together young
dancers with veterans of the form like DJ Shake (Chet Samuels). "This is
real traditional hip-hop," Samuels told the roaring crowd before proceeding
to scratch records on a turntable (two words unfamiliar to many in the
audience) with both hands simultaneously, then a hand and a foot, his head
and finally his rear end. "Hip-hop now is out of control, infiltrated by
acts of violence, drugs, all sorts of foolishness," he proclaimed.
"Break!" aims to salvage the heart of the hip-hop revolution, and thus to
educate a bit as well as entertain. The term "break dancing," for instance,
is misleading: Breaking is actually only one of four basic moves that also
include locking, popping and freestyle. "Break!" shows off all of these. In
one number, Doc (Antoine Judkins) brings to life three locking and popping
"robots" (Gabriel Jaochico, Kumiko Naito and guest performer Michael Sim).
In another, Honey Rockwell (Eureina Valencia) watches four b-boys compete
for her with increasingly jaw-dropping solos, and then jumps into the center
of the circle to show them all that she's got the moves, too.
A dozen audience members had the chance to show off their moves as well when
the dancers invited volunteers on stage, including several former members of
the troupe who were in the house. Each one got a few seconds in the
spotlight as they passed the wave across the stage. (If you haven't seen the
wave performed, imagine a jolt of electricity moving from one hand through
the arm, into the torso, down the legs and up again and then out the other
arm.) And during intermission, small children could be seen attempting to
spin on their backs on the floor of the lobby, proving that hip-hop still
has the power to captivate new audiences. Tresca Weinstein, a freelance
writer from Canaan, Columbia County, is a frequent contributor to the Times
Union.
"BREAK! THE URBAN FUNK SPECTACULAR"
Where: The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday
Length: 2 hours, 15 minutes, one intermission
The crowd: Wildly enthusiastic, with seemingly all 660 happily obeying the
order to "give it up"
BACK TO TOP
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
October 4, 2004
Breakout performances make 'Break!'
Dancers bring da 'Funk,' turn Jones Hall on its head
Review
By MOLLY GLENTZER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
Move over, Stomp. There's a new show in town, and it's got kids screaming
nonstop as if they were on the downhill side of a killer roller coaster.
You'd have thought Jones Hall was Toyota Center Saturday night even before
Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular kicked into high gear. Presented here by
Society for the Performing Arts, Steve Love's colorful ode to break dancing
is full-throttle entertainment, a cross between the percussion-oriented
Stomp and Savion Glover's tap history, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk
and thanks to it's stellar cast it has every bit as much energy. With DJ GI
Joe and drummer Peter Rabbit behind them, 10 of the world's most virtuosic
break dancers strut their stuff with attitude, humor and loads of
personality.
Break!'s 14 numbers suggest a jumble of break-dancing influences — from
James Brown's knee-pummeling moves of the late 1960s to urban gang battles,
video games, martial arts and MTV. A large projection screen behind the
dancers "places" them in New York streets and alleys, night clubs,
a car wash and graffiti land
Break!'s ensemble pieces are all MTV-style line dances, facing the audience.
The coolest and most compelling is Video Jam, in which one dancer
"manipulates" five other characters whose robotic movements are
perfectly timed to recorded electronic music. The dancers may be
featherweights, but they take those weighted "bam bam" steps with
such conviction, you'd swear they were made of iron.
In an interview, Love said, "This is not the break-dancing
Nutcracker." But in an odd (and positive) way, it is. While Break!
maintains hip-hop's raw nature musically, its vignettes serve the same
purpose as ballet variations: they display the styles of individuals who’ve
mastered a difficult (albeit more improvisational) vocabulary of steps.
Break!'s dancers make every move look effortless: Headspins, windmills,
flares, freezes, crazy legs, backflips and frontflips, spiders, locking and
popping — plus other eye-popping tricks you don't see that often, such as
the devilish 2,000 (a spinning, one-handed handstand). Imagine a figure
skater in an accelerating spin, then turn him upside down and move his legs
and you'll have an idea of what it's like to watch B Boy Ivan in action. He
can also flip, Evel Knievel-style, over a long line of bodies.
Aquaboogy is sensational in his Living Mannequin solo. The pop-locker Bam
Bam is smooth as silk. Doc, the robot leader, commands attention. Jumpin'
Bean lives up to his name with front and back flips. And the good natured
Lockin' Q brings breezy fun to everything she does.
Peter Rabbit (a Bring in 'Da Noise veteran) pounds his bucket drums faster
than machine-gun fire in his solo, Hittin'. In Pass the Beat, he rocks the
house with GI Joe, who scratches amazing "voices" out of his
records. (He can spin on his head, too.)
BACK TO TOP
FUNK GRAD.com
June 2005
Take A Break
"The stellar line-up of cast in BREAK! was enough to take away our breaths away"
Review
By Gracia Chiang, NTU
"Tonight, you guys are going to have a blooooody good time," boomed local rap artist Sheik Haikel, host of BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular. And have a good time we did.
The night kicked off with Sheik Haikel grooving to the beat of his new tune, "Put It In" as his dancers gave us a foretaste of the break-dance action that was to come
By the time New York urban artists BREAK! bounced onto stage an hour into the show, our appetites were already whetted by the four young performers who honed their break-dancing talent in two short segments which they effortlessly aced. For Michael, Benedict, Zaihar and Shahrin, finalists of the preliminary dance competition held in conjunction with the BREAK! showcase, the 27th of May was their night to shine.
The stellar line-up of cast in BREAK! was enough to take away our breaths away. Cast like B-Boys Action Figure, Aquaboogy, Bam Bam and B-Girl Lockin' Q are no strangers to the dance scene, having gone on tours with MTV productions, starred in commercials and performed with artists such as Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, 50 cent. Brought to stage by renowned producer Steve Love, we could expect nothing less after hearing of the multiple standing ovations that BREAK! met with from its performances around the globe.
Break!'s 14 numbers suggest a jumble of break-dancing influences - from James Brown's knee-pummeling moves of the late 1960s to urban gang battles, video games, martial arts and MTV. A large projection screen behind the dancers "places" them in New York streets and alleys, night clubs and graffiti land.
Sci-fi ruled the night with the coolest act being Video Jam, in which one dancer "manipulated" five other characters whose robotic movements were perfectly timed to recorded electronic music. Two of the four dance finalists also matched this with deft movements and purposefully stiff facial expressions as part of their dance routines.
At some points, they looked as if they were extracted from Heineken's "Meet You There" TV ads where infectious dance moves transfer from one person to another with just a sip of Heineken. This force was indeed not to be reckoned with, being a refreshing change from the usual tumbling, head spins, popping and locking.
The real action came when the cast came together to execute somersaults, cartwheels and flips with such mind-blowing synchronicity and finesse. Their display of agility definitely gave professional gymnasts a run for their money.
There were a couple of solo performances peppered through the night but the crowd's favourite had to be the human beat box, a boyish looking lad who goes by the name Anointed S. The one-man show rocked the house with his superb vocal gymnastics that covered a wide range of sounds from the wail of electric guitars, the booming thunder of bass, the swishing of water and even the screechiness of pirated VCDs, punctuated with the occasional "Yea", "Come on now" and accompanied by the reggae beats of DJ
Shake. Clad in a simple tee but adorned with Swarovski crystals, his was the most entertaining act of the night, hands-down.
Master of scratching disc jockey Shake had his moment of glory when he had a whole act to himself which saw him using his forehead, knees, shoes and even his buttcheeks to work the turntables, producing no less than a flawless hiphop beat that you wouldn't even have guessed it wasn't his hands doing the work.
There was also pounding on tribal drums where a fusion of salsa beats and sporting showmanship saw a bloke playing the drum while standing, sitting and bending over, proving that the versatile and multitalented BREAK! crew isn't just all about break-dance.
Of course the performances were not all that abstract. Snatches of popular tunes could be made out as the motley crew of dancers moon-walked to their own dance improvisation based on Christina Aguilera's "Car Wash" and cavorted to up-beat hits from Jennifer Lopez.
However, it was the few minutes-long head spins that garnered the most wolf whistles from the audience. There was even once where three B-Boys were spinning simultaneously with their legs up in the air as well as leaping over several bodies on the stage much to the delight of the trigger-happy audience who were armed with their cameras
Student Ferouz, 15, commented : " It was overall a nice performance. I especially liked the one with the robots." Nodding in agreement, his friend Fahmi said that they are regular supporters of such dance acts, having been to similar ones at the Esplanade and clubs like Cheeky Monkeys.
For 24-year-old Michael Sim, tonight however was his big break. Emerging the winner of the local dance competition, the bubbly chap walked away with $500 in cash, a return air ticket for a 4 days 3 nights stay in the US and a chance to perform alongside with BREAK! and he deserved it. His routine was evidently the most well-thought of, complete with a story line, smooth moves and a costume change midway to go with it.
BACK TO TOP
December 12, 2004
Urban attitude
Breakdancing show comes to the Stranahan
Preview
By RHONDA B. SEWELL
Blade Staffwriter
Whether you're part of the contemporary MTV generation, or are old enough to remember having to put the yellow plastic disc in the middle of the record to play your 45s, you'll move to the high-energy homage to 30 years of hip-hop, Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular, Saturday at the Stranahan Theater. The show is all about celebrating the genre's positives.
The international touring production, which fuses dances such as "locking," "Electric Boogaloo," "breakdancing," and hip-hop and electronic music, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. A large projection screen behind the dancers provides images of street and alleyway scenes from New York City, nightclubs, a car wash, and walls of graffiti.
Steve Love, Break! producer, said the show traces the history of hip-hop, a distinct American art form with many African roots that encompasses music, fashion, slang, graffiti, disc jockeying, dance, and MC (rapper) skills.
"Many of our show's dancers have worked with major stars, from Jay-Z to Madonna, but what makes the show is, we breathe hip-hop and all the positive statements of the movement. We keep it alive, from heavy-duty locking, popping, breaking, and emceeing to bucket drumming and power tumbling," said Love, who also produces The New York Express Roller Dance Company. Love added that hip-hop dancing has been influenced by a number of sources, going back to James Brown's 1969 hit, "Get on the Good Foot" which inspired dancers to mimic some of the singer's dramatic drops, splits, and spins.
An October review in the Houston Chronicle compared the high-energy Break! to "a cross between the percussion-oriented "Stomp" and Savion Glover's tap history "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk!" The show, Love said, has been popular among several generations of audiences, especially those in their 30s and 40s who were in the thick of the genre's birth, to younger pre-teens, teens and adults who are apart of hip-hop's current culture.
"This is a family-oriented, positive show, and has something for everybody. It's back in the streets, without being violent. It's pure funk and shows the best in the world in hip-hop," said Love, who added that at many performances members of the audience get up and dance at their seats and often can be seen cheering at on-stage antics, which include dramatic headspins, spiders, front and back flips, crazy legs, popping, locking, windmills, and flares.
The New York City-based troupe, which ranges in size from about eight to 14 depending on the venue, features dancers who have been in commercials, movies, and performances with celebrities such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, B2K, Ringo Star, P. Diddy, 50 Cent, Luther Vandross, and Whitney Houston.
For example, there's Miami native Alex Polanco, a six-year member and choreographer of the show, who has worked closely with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine and has been featured dancing and roller-skating in commercials for Hershey's and 7-Up.
"Around 17 is when I started loving this type of dance and movement. I would watch the dancers on Soul Train and American Bandstand and try to dance just like them. As time went by I got into roller derby, and then locking and robotic dance," said Polanco, 49.
Show personalities include Aquaboogy, who performs a Living Mannequin solo; Bring in 'Da Noise vet Peter Rabbit, a bucket drummer, along with robot master Doc, Ill Will Sanchez, and Lockin' Q, a female pop locker of the dance troupe.
All tickets for "Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular," scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., are $20 and $25 and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the Stranahan box office at 419-381-8851. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are also available at the door.
The show's local promoter will afford a nonprofessional dance group the opportunity to open for "Break!," win VIP seating for the show, and other prizes. To register - the deadline is tomorrow - call 1-734-242-6600. There is no age restriction, but registrants must represent a school or organization. The judged dance contest, where a winner will be announced, will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ohio Skate, 1370 Conant St., Maumee.
Contact Rhonda B. Sewell at: rsewell@theblade.com
or 419-724-6101.
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