Celebreak

Nike Women’s Dunk High - B-Girl

Posted on March 31, 2009

I just heard about these from nsneakers.com:

“Nike released new dunk high sneakers, the nike dunk high comes for women’s and named nike dunk high B-Girl. You can see the nike wmns dunk high b-girl mainly feature in white color and you can also find baby blue logo on this high dunk and as on images the other side is orange color along with baby blue sneaker lace, those color on sneakers contrast well which is rather clean and nice. Also the B-Girl holding on b-girl/b-boy pose is at the heel of the sneakers.”

The Pilot! A short Breakdancing film from the 80’s

Posted on March 30, 2009

I love the internet, even if just for the buried gems it keeps unearthing. I found this short film, The Pilot, which came out in during breakdancing’s pinnacle in 1984. Here’s the synopsis:

(1984) A young girl struggling with insecurities and being unpopular, develops an alter-ego as ‘The Pilot’, the best breaker in town. She must prove she’s got the talent if she wants respect.

There’s more film info on it’s IMDB page. Here’s the film!

Clip 1:

Clip 2:

Clip 3:

SYTYCD, Star Search, America’s Got Talent and ABDC: Breakdancing on Reality TV

Posted on March 29, 2009

There’s something mesmerizing about seeing the human body do amazing things. It can be singing, contorting or flying through the air; we love experiencing our fellow man honing a craft or creating art.

We’ve been fascinated for years. Even before the modern circus developed in 2nd century BC, societies held competitions–often as a rite of passage–where boys would prove they were men by displaying ability while everyone else watched

Is it any wonder then that talent-based reality TV show has become so popular? While not the first, American Bandstand and Soul Train become hit shows by televising music and dancing. The 80’s leveraged their formula to bring us Star Search and Amateur Night at the Apollo. Things were going well until 1995 when Al Gore’s internet creation started disrupting people’s focus.

But there was a renaissance 2002, when American Idol emerged and reignited public interest in watching other’s display their talents on TV. After its success, some of their executives realized there was a market for a dance version of the show. And with that, So You Think You Can Dance? was born. With an inquiry like that being the show’s title, you knew some breakers were going to respond! Here are some of them answering the question in the different countries it was asked:

• America - B-Boy Ryan Conferido
• Canada - B-Boy Jeremy Tran (also peep locker Katie Lee)
• Malaysia - B-Boys from the 2008 and 2007 seasons battle
  
• Scandavia - This is a top 24 clip with b-boys from Norway, Sweden and Denmark

A remake of Star Search also started around this time with dancing replacing modeling as a category. There were 4 seasons and nearly all of them were won by a b-boy, Do-Knock. Despite mild acclaim, the show only lasted until 2004.

With these programs doing so well, Idol’s Simon Cowell took the cue to create another talent-based reality show, America’s Got Talent. This was more of a variety show and it wasn’t long before breakdancing made it’s way onto it’s stage as well. There are Got Talent spin-offs in over 20 countries and breakdancers have been on a lot of them:

• America - New Orleans Breakers Crew (also check out the episode where B-Boy Ivan, the Urban Action Figure, fakes a crash while flipping over a few chairs)
• Argentina - B-Girl Nathalie Gelos
• Australia - Skill at Will Crew
• Britain - Combat Breakers Crew
  
• Bulgaria - Don’t know his name but this b-boy beatboxes while doing UFO’s and footwork!
• France - B-Boy Salah of Vagabonds Crew
• Holland - Hustle Kidz Crew
• India - UD Kombat Crew (also see my earlier post on them)
• Slovakia - Old School Brothers Crew (they also won their season!)
• Sweden - Funkstyler Baby Bang

Finally, in 2008, MTV got in on the action. Really, they should have been first. SYTYCD is on Fox and America’s Got Talent airs on NBC but MTV has the dance-loving youth market cornered like Mike Tyson. They finally released America’s Best Dance Crew and have been giving access to b-boys and b-girls ever since. Breakdancers have won each of the competitions held so far: Jabbowockeez in the first season, Super Cr3w in the 2nd and Qwest Crew in  3rd.

Though these shows don’t always allow breakdancing to be done in it’s truest form, they have been a platform to jump-start careers. For example, ever since winning ABDC 1, Jabbawockeez have been in Gatorade and Pepsi commercials (I guess there’s no conflict of interest) and even performed with Shaq at the last All-Star Game. And then there’s the financial component: some of these competitions pay up to $100,000! These dancers do it for the love but it’s great that they can extend that love to their wallets and bank accounts.

And this is only the beginning. There will be new shows (anyone want to bet that the Bravo Channel creates one?), twists on existing shows and some will die off. I know some people are concerned that the growing popularity is looking eerily familiar but there is fortunately enough information available to prevent breaking culture from repeating history.

For more information on the shows, you can check out their websites here:

• America’s Best Dance Crew
• America’s Got Talent
• Star Search
• So You Think You Can Dance

More Pregnant Women Breakdancing!

Posted on March 25, 2009

Oxfam is at it again! This time their flash mob hit the streets in Paisley, Scotland:

Oxfam’s goal is to increase awareness on the dangers of giving birth in poor countries (World-wide, 1400 women die every day in pregnancy and childbirth due to a lack of basic health care). They’ve used similar flash mobs to increase awareness in Paris, Berlin, Utrecht and across Canada.

Anthony Anderson Breakdancing at a Knicks Game

Posted on March 25, 2009

Apparently Anthony Anderson, comedian and actor on Law and Order, is a b-boy. These flicks of him breaking at a Knicks game are currently floating around the internets:

He joins the ranks of celebrity b-boys Common, Shaq, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Pauly Shore. They have to start a crew. How cool would it be to have them compete together at a jam?

Throwback “Singing in the Rain” Volkswagen Ad with David Elsewhere

Posted on March 23, 2009

I restumbled upon this Volkswagen Golf GTI ad that came back a few years ago and was quickly reminded of it’s brilliance. I know that one of the dancers is David Elsewhere–you can recognize his signature style–but am not sure who the other one is (I don’t think that’s Elsewhere doing the lamp post freeze, 90 or back flip). Anyone know?

Painting while Breakdancing!

Posted on March 19, 2009

I just heard about a French artist and b-boy, Sami “Twister” Amdounivi, who paints while breaking. Art truely begets art!

“Warring Factions” Breakdancing Documentary

Posted on March 19, 2009

In his film Warring Factions, American born Iranian breakdancer and filmmaker Justin Mashouf travels to Iran to find and battle breakers from his motherland. In addition to breaking, he also documents the growing tension between the US and Iran and even finds himself detained by Homeland Security on his way back into the country. Here’s a synopsis from the website:

“As forces in American government and media have fueled the perception of an unavoidable war with Iran, Warring Factions is a call to (dis)arms. An American-born Iranian breakdancer finds cultural awakening by exploring his multi-ethnic roots. Faced with dual nationality in two conflicting countries, he travels to Iran to examine the political issues first-hand while exploring his cultural identity with a group of Iranian b-boys. By combining documentary and studio reenactments, Warring Factions looks at the blurring of world borders, and the looming threat of another war in the Middle East.”

You can find more info on the film and showings on the film’s website.

Related Posts

• Breakdancing around the World: Iran

Stay Tuned!

Posted on March 14, 2009

Sorry that I’ve been M.I.A. for a couple of weeks. I’ve had some major personal changes go on in my life but will continue posting on Celebreak shortly!