He was inducted into the Hip Hop Hall Of Fame in 2002, was presented with the Source Youth Foundation 2003 Image Award, the 2003 AARTS Award from the Bay Shore Schools Arts Education Fund, and was also honored as the National ImageGodfather of the 2003 Jersey City Puerto Rican Day Parade. Other career highlights include his role in the Off-Broadway play Jam On the Groove, working with Savion Glover, and teaching John Leguizamo to b-boy for his Tony Award-nominated play Freak. He has choreographed music videos for Wyclef Jean (which was nominated for an MTV Award for Best Choreography) and multi-platinum artist Moby.

He and some of the other members of Rock Steady Crew were the first B-boys to perform at Carnegie Hall on Jan 19, 2001. Along with the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Japan, Australia, South America and Europe.

Crazy Legs hosts and organizes the annual Rock Steady Anniversary, a monumental community event that honors deceased members of the crew and celebrates Hip Hop culture both past and present. The Rock Steady Anniversary attracts deejays, B-boys/B-girls, emcees, writers and thousands of Hip Hop supporters from all around the world. The group also holds an annual Celebrity Basketball Tournament during the Anniversary Celebration that raises money for the Greenwich Village Youth Council in New York. In 2003, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg proclaimed July 26th to be “Rock Steady Crew Day” in New York City during their 26th Anniversary Celebration at Pier 54.

When his schedule allows, he volunteers by teaching the art of B-boying and participating in several community outreach programs and workshops. It was his dance program at the Point C.D.C. for young people in the South Bronx that garnered him the “New Yorker of the Week” Award from New York 1 News.

Image2004 was a monumental year for Crazy Legs. He recently signed endorsement deal with Red Bull Energy Drink, which was picked up again for 2005. In 2004 Crazy Legs signed a deal with Fila Sportswear and was the first B-boy to get a sneaker company to honor a group like Rock Steady Crew whit it’s own sneaker. Additionally, the City of Las Vegas awarded the Rock Steady Crew the Key to the City on February 21st, and proclaimed that day to be “Rock Steady Crew Day” in Las Vegas. In July Crazy Legs was awarded the Liberty Bell In The City Of Philadelphia and was also honored with a citation for his contributions to the Hip Hop world. In 2004 the Rock Steady Crew was honored at the first annual VH1 Hip Hop Honors show. Crazy Legs main goal at the moment is to continue to develop new members of Rock Steady Crew so that one of the pillars of Hip Hop will continue to last for generations to come.

Crazy Legs is the president of Backspin Productions, an entertainment company with the mission is to continue to produce Hip Hop events and eventually become a major entertainment company. Crazy Legs’ success is a testament to the longevity of Hip Hop culture.

One Cypher: What’s up everyone, I’m here with Crazy Legs from the world-famous Rock Steady Crew. Thank you for meeting with us.

Crazy Legs: Sure.

One Cypher: Where are you from?

Crazy Legs: I’m from the Bronx.

One Cypher: How do you feel about how b-boying has evolved throughout the years?

Crazy Legs: On certain levels, it’s evolving–when you’re talking about the dynamics of movement. There are some people who choose to do the more spectacular visual stuff. In terms of style and what the dance is supposed to be about, people have compromised in these areas. They’ve compromised the dance element for the visual dynamics. So on some levels the dance has evolved and on other levels the evolution has declined.

One Cypher: Declined in other areas such as…?

Crazy Legs: Sometimes it’s as basic as listening to music. Music dictates through your ears and goes to your heart, for your soul express how you feel. Some people are so caught up in getting the immediate applause that they instead, do just a move that impresses everyone-they compromise the art form as a dance in itself.

One Cypher: When did you first start b-boying?

Crazy Legs: 1977. I went to a jam in the Bronx, my cousin Lenny Len brought me there.

One Cypher: How has hip-hop influenced your life?

Crazy Legs: In every way possible. I’ve developed a self-awareness, had the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures, built confidence in myself, and developed the ability to adapt an art form and be creative within that art form. It has done more for me than anything else could have ever done for me.

One Cypher: Do you feel that hip-hop can be used as a positive tool for the youth or has been used as a positive tool for the youth?

Crazy Legs: Oh yes, that’s why I’ve chosen to stay involved with the culture. Number one, because I love it. Number two, because I’ve lost many friends because of decisions that they have made. Those decisions caught up to them. I eventually came to a cross road and had to make a decision. I could either go the same path of my friends or I could choose a path that would allow me to give back to the community, and that would inspire kids to go in a positive direction.

One Cypher: What is your one main criticism about the b-boy scene?

Crazy Legs: My one main criticism is that some of them do not know how to dance. I will go to club I am not going to break to every record. I want to go to a club and dance. I want to go to a club and have fun, I want to dance with the girls, and chill out with my friends. I’m not going to go to a club and start stretching and shit. Too many of the events are just that. The essence of the jam in the party is missing from a lot of these events. That’s my main complaint.

One Cypher: What do you feel makes the complete b-boy?

Crazy Legs: It involves everything…what they wear in the circle to how they dance to music–how they allow that music to take them on a ride.

One Cypher: Tell me the history of Rock Steady?

Crazy Legs: Rock steady Crew started in 1977. It was formed by Jimmy D, Joe Joe, Jimmy Lee, Easy Mike, Elemack, E body and several other heads. It was originally the Fantastic Four, but too many people wanted to get down with the Fantastic Four. The name of the dance was called Rock, so you know they said, “Let’s keep it rocky, let’s keep it steady.” Let’s call it Rock Steady Crew. I got in the Crew in 1979 with my cousin Lenny Len. We battled Jimmy D and Jimmy Lee to get in to get into Rock Steady. We lost the battle, but we proved that we were able to maintain our heads in the battle, we did well and we came with our own style. Rock Steady was handed down to me in 1981.

One Cypher: What is currently the initiation process to get into Rock Steady?

Crazy Legs: First getting to know the person. Second if the person is already part of a crew, you can’t be in another crew and want to join Rock Steady. It’s either our crew or someone else’s crew, but not both at the same time. Usually in about six months to one year we will decide if we want that person to be down with Rock Steady. They must step to several members of Rock Steady. Especially the main members, and tell them that “they want to get down with you guys.” They have to communicate where their heart is and then go from there. They will have to undergo the initiation battle to keep the tradition alive. There is only one person who has battled to get in and has not made it.

One Cypher: Out of all the crews that you have seen which ones do you give love to?

Crazy Legs: Havikoro, Style Elements…you know there’s a lot crews out there that are really dope. Sometimes I don’t even know who is in which crew. I went to the Furious Styles anniversary last week and they embody the essence of what a real crew is– in terms of family such as brotherhood and sisterhood.

One Cypher: Individually who impresses you?

Crazy Legs: Moi, I love everyone in my Crew, Aristan, Flav is dope. There are a lot of dope people. I like watching the Electric Boogaloos. They are some of my favorite dancers. I don’t pop or anything like that, but they are still some of my favorites dancers. They are like Rock Steady family as well.

One Cypher: After attending almost every b-boy event around the globe, which event stands out in your mind and why?

Crazy Legs: I know it sounds conceited of me, but the Rock Steady Anniversary. Because of the simple fact that we throw a jam that is New York, which happens to be the Mecca of hip-hop. Our events are not just b-boy events it’s everything. Every city has a different feel. If you go to Los Angeles, it’s going to feel one-way. If you go to Miami, it’s going to feel another way. If you go to New York, you’re probably going to bump into some major hip-hop celebrities and pioneers, so it’s like a pilgrimage every year that people go to and it’s a lot of fun. It’s becoming less of an event and more of a party atmosphere. Last year we threw seven events and five of them were free. That was only because we just wanted everybody to have fun, we wanted people to dance, chill, bug out-we wanted to make people see and feel like they went somewhere. They partied, had fun, and saw some dope acts. We get a huge lineup every year by people who want to support Rock Steady Crew. It’s an experience. You know, you go to a free outdoor jam with 15,000 people and somebody pops up on stage that nobody expected and everybody gets so excited and says, oh shit! The whole element of surprise is great. We have a format, but we allow for situations to change halfway through the show, just in case people like KRS-1 comes through and jumps on stage. We say just go do your thang.

One Cypher: What has been your most memorable experience of all time?

Crazy Legs: I would have to say after we did Beat Street, we had battled New York City Breakers at this club in the Bronx called First Class. We roasted the shit out them. It was one of those things that was legendary. It was fun.

One Cypher: How do you feel about breaking in the industry right now?

Crazy Legs: You know, people have to get their hustle on and pay their bills. But just know that whatever you do in a video doesn’t necessarily apply in the circle.

One Cypher: What do you feel the b-boy community can do to help keep this element alive?

Crazy Legs: Right now we are the ones that are growing up having kids. We have to pass it on to the future generations–as opposed to looking for protégés out in the street. Our generation are starting have kids. It’s really up to us to pass this art form down to them. We need to be the ones who take them to go see hip-hop theater. Our parents didn’t take me to see hip-hop theater because it did not exist. But we grew up on hip-hop, so we can take our kids to go support other hip-hop events. I think it’s going to be up to us.

One Cypher: What projects are you working on, and what should we be expecting from you in the near future?

Crazy Legs: First there’s always the Rock Steady Crew Anniversary, which is going down this July 26-30 in NYC. I’ve also been working on a b-boy game with Sony Play Station over the past several months and it should be out in fall of 2006. I’m also doing the Red Bull B-boy Master Classes, which people can get more information about on www.bboymasterclass.com. And then there’s the Red Bull Beat Battle in the UK which is a breaking / popping & locking choreography competition which went over really well in 2005. That’s going to be in effect in November of 2006 as well. More information can be gotten at www.redbullbeatbattle.co.uk. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is honoring me, for my contributions to Hip Hop. They’ve asked me to donate things from my history to be permanently part of their soon to be exhibit honoring Hip Hop Culture. This is very significant, because it’s something that will be on display for many generations of my family to see. It can serve as an inspiration for all Latinos and hip hop heads in general. I’m a very proud Puerto Rican and this means a lot to me, and my family. But my most important project is my continuing efforts to keep Rock Steady Crew going. The new members have done a great job at holding down the name.

One Cypher: Who inspires you?

Crazy Legs: I’m inspired on different levels. When I watch the continuing drive of people such as George Foreman and Holifield-fight at the age they are, I feel like if they can go in a ring and give/take abuse, then I can do it too still. The new members of Rock Steady inspire me with the energy they bring to practice, and sometimes it’s really nice to be reassured by them about myself, because at a certain age you start to doubt yourself. Their energy is good and they vibe off each other. That’s where I get my inspiration from these days.

One Cypher: Who are the new up-and-coming talent in the bboy/bgirl scene?

Crazy Legs: Jeskills she is a member of Rock Steady and she is a female. She is one of the most gifted females in the scene right now. She has what we call, Ab-girl fever. That’s what we called it back in the days–Where all she wants to do is practice, go battle, and she has that mentality where she doesn’t just want to battle girls, but she is looking for dudes to battle as well. She’s straight raw and she’s got mad flava. She’s a natural and she is extra hard on herself. She comes to practice and she does her thing. The amount of progress that she’s made in one year is unbelievable.

One Cypher: What do you feel is your largest accomplishment?

Crazy Legs: My continued dedication. So many people have jumped in and out of scene, and staying dedicated to something that is grass-roots is a great accomplishment in itself. It could of been very easy for me to sell out if I chose to.

One Cypher: Do you want to give any shout outs?

Crazy Legs: I want to give a shout out to Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Nation that’s it.

One Cypher: If people want to get a hold of you how would they go about doing that?

Crazy Legs: Go to www.rocksteadycrew.com. All my information is on there.

Interview by Shelley Oto

Bio Credit: www.rocksteadycrew.com

Pictures: Ervin Arana

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“Rhythm is 1st and foremost the foundation
for every street dance.”

One Cypher: Being involved in the game as long as you have, describe the evolution of Hip-Hop dance as seen through your eyes. How was it then? How is it now? Both in terms of the streets as well as in the entertainment industry?
Buddha Stretch: I think HipHop as a dance hasn’t evolved much. I think the biggest difference was that back then, there was no Jazz dance influence in Hip Hop dance. It was strictly street, untrained, untamed, and RAW!

One Cypher: How did you get into dance? Was it something you were always passionate about as a child?
Buddha Stretch: My entry into hiphop was as a dancer in the UNION SQUARE nightclub. My crew and I opened up for artists such as Eric B. & Rakim, Salt & Peppa, BDP, etc. I was into dance as a child, watching “SoulTrain” on TV, trying to imitate the dancers and different dances I saw.

One Cypher: What other things are you into besides dance?
Buddha Stretch: Before dance, I was heavy into art, particularly cartooning. I also wanted to be an astronaut. I’m heavy into comics and learned to read through them.

One Cypher: Who were your influences? Was there anyone you looked up to?
Buddha Stretch: I would have to say my biggest influences were the SOUL TRAIN dancers. I saw dancers such as The Lockers, The Electric Boogaloos, as well as several other dancers. My boy Louski was a Soul Train dancer. It was my dream to dance going down the Soul Train line and I got to do it with him.

One Cypher: With all the controversy about what Hip Hop dance is defined as nowadays, what is Hip Hop dance to you?
Buddha Stretch: HIPHOP as a dance isn’t controversial, it’s just that many bboys want what they do to be called “hiphop”. But actually, bboying pre-dates the word “hiphop”. So they call what we did “freestyle”. Hiphop dance is just ORGANIZED URBAN SOCIAL DANCING….anyone who says any different, doesn’t get it!

“The music dictates what the dancer does,
not the other way around.”

One Cypher: The Freestyle Hip Hop dance style you innovated is very unique. How did the style develop during it’s early stages? Who were some key dancers that made it what it is today?
Buddha Stretch: My style developed overtime, combining every style of dance I came in contact with. I started as a popper and gradually learned all the latest “party” dances. Around the time I got the gig @ Union Square, I started adding everything together, doing my 1st choreography. I think the other people I came up with like PETER PAUL, CALEAF, and LINK all contributed to the style I do now.

One Cypher: What is your most memorable experience in your entire dance career so far?
Buddha Stretch: My most memorable moment in my career was working with Michael Jackson, on the “REMEMBER THE TIME” music video. Just making up the choreography, and actually having to TEACH MICHEAL JACKSON! Nothin so far compares….

One Cypher: Who were some of your favorite dancers back then? Favorite dancers now?
Buddha Stretch: My favorite dancers from back then were Scoob & Scrap (we used to battle all the time), a guy named DANILO, Marquest and Fendi, etc. My favorites now are a Japanese group called Electric Trouble, and also a crew called the AMOUNT BOYS, and a dancer named ERIC NEGRON, (he did the Rah Digga video with me)

One Cypher: Sticking to Foundation Vs.. being Avant Garde, what is your opinion on this topic in terms of dance?
Buddha Stretch: I’m not one for the “do whatever you want, it’s still dance” school. HIPHOP as a dance is founded in RHYTHM, STYLE, & TECHNIQUE. Rhythm is 1st and foremost the foundation FOR EVERY STREET DANCE! Style determines what the dance is about, and technique shows how it’s done.

“Hip Hop culture in general was always about expression…Giving voice to a culture and people who had no voice. Now the world hears us!”

One Cypher: What is your dance philosophy?
Buddha Stretch: My philosophy on hip-hop is, the music comes 1st! The music dictates what the dancer does, not the other way around.

One Cypher: For dancers who are trying to develop their own style right now, what are some words of wisdom for them to go by?
Buddha Stretch: For dancers coming up, learn as much as you can, listen to as much music as possible. Be as versatile as you can be

One Cypher: What was the biggest obstacle you’ve faced ever since you got into dancing?
Buddha Stretch: My biggest obstacle in this business was being young, BLACK, and talented in HIP-HOP. All those things were considerd a threat back then and they still are now!

One Cypher: How do you feel music and dance is a positive outlet of expression for the youth?
Buddha Stretch: HIP-HOP culture in general was always about expression. Hiphop was the ghetto’s way of expressing themselves, through music and through dance. The ghettto’s way of creating something from nothing. Giving voice to a culture and people, who had no voice. Now the world hears us!

One Cypher: What current projects are Mop Tops working on? When can we see you all wreck shop in California?
Buddha Stretch: My crew and I are currently working on performances coming up in London, Paris, China, & possibly Brazil. We’re also in the development of putting out our own series of videos. Hopefully we’ll get to perform in Cali soon.

One Cypher: There must be a million bootlegs of the Alive TV documentary floating around everywhere. Any chance that it we will see it in the near future as a buyable dvd or tape?
Buddha Stretch: I’ll be including the “WRECKIN SHOP” documentary, on my upcoming video, as well as an earlier documentary, called “HOUSE OF TRE’”

One Cypher: What is a normal day for Buddha Stretch like?
Buddha Stretch: My normal days consist of teaching, practicing, and being the best father I can be to my two daughters.

One Cypher: Where can people take your classes, or find out more information, website, etc?
Buddha Stretch: My classes and schedule can be found on STEPSNYC.com.

One Cypher: So that’s it folks. Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. Peace!
Buddha Stretch: Peace!

(update: 10.26.09)

Here is the trailer for Buddha Stretch’s Street Styles DVD which is now for sale.

Stretch breaks down some knowledge on this Clip from New School Dictionary DVD

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One Cypher: How did each of you get into dancing:
Fayzo: Wow, that’s a long story..Really I got into dancing, watching Sci-fi movies. You know like Attack of the Robots, Lost in Space, shows like that from the late 60s early 70s. I would see the robots in the movies, turning and looking crazy. I used to mimic that as a little kid. But then after awhile I started listening to music while doing what they were doing on tv. The first person that got me into the actual dance scene was a guy named Charles Marshall. When I saw him dance it was incredible, the way he hit, the way he moved, his animation and everything else was what really made me get into it as a hobby. I also used to dance at my church, I’ve always wanted to be in his group called Black Velvet around 1971-74, but I was too small. They always used to have talent shows at the church seperated by age groups. I remember it like it was yesterday. The other group of kids in the younger category all flaked out backstage. And I ended up going out on stage by myself, I realized that this is what I wanted to do. This was around 1972, and I’ve been dancing ever since.

“I can’t explain it. There’s just something in you… you can be walking down the street, if you hear a certain song, for some reason you just stop and start hittin… I can’t explain it, but the Boogalooers know exactly what I’m talking about, it’s just a feeling inside you, you just can’t help it. I love it, I’ll be doing it when I’m an old man with a cane”

Charlie Rock: I’ve been dancing since I was..hmmmm..almost in diapers, you know? We always had those family functions with your mother and father making you perform in front of the party. But as far as booogalooin, I’ve been doing it for awhile, but it was always behind closed doors. I would only do it here and there, in front of maybe three friends, and they would always tell me, “you need to go out there” so people could watch you, but I would never do it. Only in Jr. High School was when I first start letting everyone else se me dance. Then I started seeing different dance groups in Oakland like The Resurgents, Black Mechanics, Black Messengers, also individuals like Jessie, Newberry, and John Murphy. Just watching different groups inspired me to want to start my own group. There was this guy named Walter Franklin. During Jr. High School, we hooked up and made a little 2 man crew, called Tom & Jerry, then his brother joined along with some other dancers and that’s when we became Children of Production, who later on changed the name to Gentlemen of Production. It was just…man..I can’t explain it. There’s just something in you. For some reason you can be walking down the street, if you hear a certain song, for some reason you just stop and start hittin like bam..bam.(dances). I can’t explain it, but the Boogalooers know exactly what I’m talking about, it’s just a feeling inside you, you just can’t help it. I love it, I’ll be doing it when I’m an old man with a cane (laughs).

Fluid Girl: I grew up in a different era as well as a different area. I was born in California, but was raised in Atlanta. I was dancing since I was in diapers pretty much like these guys. My mom would make me dance at family functions. When I was younger, I actually used to host dance classes at my house. I’d get the neighborhood kids together and we’d teach each other choreography, I remember having little dance performances out on these porches. Mainly my influence growing up was watching music videos and seeing the dancers in the back. I remember watching Madonna videos and trying to learn every single move she would do, and keep practicing it. I think that prepared me for when I got older, because as I got older I got into the club scene, and I saw a lot of people doing a lot of waving.

On the East coast they did a lot of waving and liquid style dancing. I really got intrigued by that, because it was very illusional and had that performance aspect which was always in my blood since I was a little kid. So I studied it more and really got into it. I got noticed by a clothing company called Wish that did fashion shows. They called me to do fashion shows for them where I would wear their clothing and I would dance at their shows. I was later discovered by Shapeshifter in Georgia who threw different club events. They would have me dance at the clubs when the DJs spun.

After awhile I got bored dancing out there, I didn’t feel like I was going anywhere. I knew that dance was what I wanted to do, but I felt nothing was really happening for me over there. So my husband and I decided to move to the West Coast, and we eventually ended up in San Francisco. I entered my 2nd competition here in San Francisco and started getting into the competing aspect of things. I wanted to get myself out there and get noticed, and I knew that competing was definitely a good way to do that. So I started getting into more of the bboy competitions, seeing and feeling the culture and aspect of it. I really enjoyed it and felt that’s where I was at. In 2002, I entered another competition, after the competition, this man came up to me (points to Fayzo), and then here I am. So it took me awhile, but it’s been really great.

One Cypher: How was the dance scene back then compared to now.
Fayzo: First of all I was born and raised in the San Francisco Fillmore District. Back then, we were too young to get around to concerts. So our concerts back then, were the talent shows. The celebrities were the dance groups and the solo individuals. In San Francisco, there was Black Velvet, Granny and the Robotroids, Live Incorporated, Close Encounters of the Funkiest Kind, The Electroits, Monny and the Mechanical Midgets, the Diabolical Soldiers, you had all these other groups and whenever you knew they were performing, you did whatever you had to do to see them perform. There also wasn’t so much media behind it, newspaper hype, television, etc. The scene back then was more community based. All the groups that I just named, were all within a 20 block radius of the SF Fillmore disctrict. You had all this talent right there. That’s where it stayed, so to speak. You didn’t have New York coming out here looking for talent, or LA coming out here looking for talent. So San Francisco and Oakland were kind of lost in the sauce I guess.

A lot of things were innovated out here, a lot of the best dancers and dance groups were out here. Now it’s more commercial. More about making money from the event as opposed to taking care of the performers. So you have promoters that put on these shows but don’t want to pay the artist. They charge $25 at the door, but they want to pay you $200 to perform. That doesn’t add up. They’re also selling videos and making money from that as well. Back then we would have shows with a $1000 prize, you auditioned for it, and the winner takes all, boom…that’s how it was. It seems more money driven now than talent driven. It also seemed more competitive back then compared to now. Everybody had their own unique style. Nowadays everyone looks the same, whether it’s popping, boogalooing, or whatever.

Everyone member in the group had their own individual style back then. So when they would do their solo, you would get a wide range of entertainment from all the different styles combined. It was also forbidden to bite moves off of somebody else. It was an unwritten rule that you already knew. Nowadays crews will tend to bite and reproduce. For example, let’s say Peeblo is dancin lookin just like Bobby, and Bobby got it from someone else, and so forth. Now everybody is looking like Bobby who got it from the other person. So that’s the difference back then, everyone had their own style. You couldn’t bite and get away with it. You better go hide (laughs). To me, it seems that there isn’t as much innovation or individuality today. They don’t take something, flip it, and make it into their own. They take what they see and do it exactly how they saw it. To me, that’s not being creative.

One Cypher: How did the group come together?
Fayzo: We started off dancing individually. I personally started dancing in 1972. It wasn’t till 1978, I got into a group called Demons of the Mind. It was founded by Larry Mcdonald, who used to dance with Live Incorporated, one of the #1 strutting groups in San Francisco. He decided to break off and start his own group with 2 brothers. Aaron and Melvin Benjamin. They started Demons of the Mind. I knew Larry, and would see Aaron (A-1) and Melvin at Big Bob Boogie Basement parties and they would encourage me to try out for their group. I had a couple of groups of my own before Demons of the Mind, but they weren’t that big. There were other people who tried out for the group before me but didn’t make it into the final cut and eventually they talked me into going to rehearsal. That was the start of the original Demons of the Mind from 1978-83.

At the end of 1982 going into 1983, Larry left the group, then we got Lonnie Green in the group. That was the beginning of the 2nd generation of Demons of the Mind from 1983-84. In 1984, Melvin left, then we got Boogaloo Dana in the group and that was the final generation of Demons of the Mind. Demons of the Mind went their seperate ways in 1985. Around 1992-93, Dana and I would see people touch on this artform in the videos or whatever. MC Hammer and other artists would do it a little bit, but no one would really show the full spectrum of the dance artform. Initially we thought that getting into music videos would be the thing to do. But then we decided to be our own. Do our own music, our own costumes, and our own theatrical shows. So that’s what we started doing. So I hooked up with Boogaloo Dana, and a childhood friend of mine, Justice Supreme aka Cleo. We hooked up and started Medea Sirkas. We had a few names before that, but they didn’t stick. Justice came up with the name Medea Sirkas and the rest is history

The reason we changed was because we came back into the 90s doing this dance artform, and no one was really feelin it. Everyone was into the rap and the video dancing scene. No one really understood it except the OGs. There was one point in the 80s where you wouldn’t get caught doing these dances. By the time the mid-80s came, after Breakin, Beatstreat, and movies like those, the media just flooded the market with it, and no one wanted to see it anymore. So we had to figure out a way to ease it back into the game, where no one would really know what was going on till they saw us on stage. So we had to come up with another name that was neutral and universal. When we changed the name, and would do shows, people would see the style and approach us and say how we reminded them of Demons of the Mind. Then they realized that we were Demons of the Mind. So then people started recognizing us as Medea Sirkas aka Demons of the Mind.

As far as this guy (points at Charlie Rock). When we were Demons of the Mind. He was in an Oakland boogaloo group called Gentlemen of Productions which was one of the last active boogaloo groups of Oakland, CA. We were rival groups, going neck and neck at every show. Both groups had respect for each other, we would always say wussup to each other. But when it was time to go on stage, they would be on one side, and we would be on the other. Ready to go at it all the time. They broke up in 1985, and so did we. As Medea Sirkas progressed, we had different members throughout the group so when the last member left, it was down to just 2 of us. Other people tried out for the group but didn’t make the cut. So the first person I thought of after that was Charlie Rock. The moves that the other guy was trying to learn in 5 rehearsals, Charlie Rock learned in 30 minutes, and he’s been in the group ever since.

The story with Fluid Girl is that Boogaloo Dana and I were judging this dance competition and she was eating all the guys up. She had her own flavorful style. It was her own unique style, and it was feminine. She wasn’t out there trying to dance like a guy, and that’s what caught my attention. Boogaloo Dana said to me, “Hey Faze, you need to..” and I cut him off immediately and said “I’m already there”. So I talked to Fluid Girl, and we exchanged numbers and we hooked up.

Now with Zulu Gremlin, that’s another story. Zulu Gremlin was there judging too and he wanted us to do his Pro-Am event. I called him, we hooked up through meetings, etc, and for some reason we were just hangin out one day, and he told me that he always wanted to get into Demons of the Mind. I guess at Bboy summit one year, he was trying to get to us, but we were already gone. Back in the day, he used to watch us get down. He showed me video tapes of his own group when he was just a little kid. I had no idea that he looked up to us in that way. We needed a 4th member, and I told him to come to rehearsal and to try out for the group. He never did the style we do, but he was so determined and eager to learn, that we brought him in the group.

“It’s a huge part of my life, and I feel really blessed that I have the talent to be able to use this to the point where I can start to make money from something that
I really enjoy doing.”

I saw a lot of potential in Fluid Girl, but didn’t know what to do with her, I just knew we had to have her in the group. So for awhile she was in the group, but we didn’t have anything for her to do. So I tried her out as the mascot in the first pro-am, and had her do her solos. I just kept having her go to rehearsals just to see how everything flowed, and now she’s in the routines. As far as our mascot, Darryl Newberry, he’s an OG boogalooer from the early 1970s. He was in a group called The Black Mechanics. Dana brought him into the group, and I really liked his style. He had a nice Oakland boogaloo style with a nice robot style, so we made Newberry our mascot. We wanted the group to be balanced without having to recruit too many dancers. So we just kept Newberry as the mascot, and kept Fluid Girl in the routines, and that’s Medea Sirkas today.

One Cypher: What does dance mean to you guys and how has it affected your life?
Fluid Girl: It is who I am. It’s a form of expression, a form of release, you can’t just narrow it down to just one meaning. It’s so many different things, especially to me. I wouldn’t be who I am today. If it wasn’t for dance. I would go insane. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I go to a club and let loose, and I wake up the next day feeling rejuvinated. Dance has a broad spectrum of different things. For me whenever I dance, it’s a feeling that I lose myself in. It’s a huge part of my life, and I feel really blessed that I have the talent to be able to use this to the point where I can start to make money from something that I really enjoy doing.

Charlie Rock: Dancin is something that you can do anything with. If you’re angry, you can put on music and start dancing and you’ll feel better. If you’re sad, same thing. Even when you’re happy, you’re even happier. It’s everything. It’s changed my life.

Fayzo: To me, it means a lot of different things. Being creative in every aspect. Music and dance go hand in hand. It’s a stress reliever, it’s a way to release my creativity. I have a lot of creativity inside of me that has to do with dance and the costumes and everything else that we do. It’s a way for me to express myself creatively. It changed my life as well. It kept me out of trouble. As a youngster, it was probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. I feel this is what God put me here to do. Because after 30 years I’m still doin it. It was really meant for me to do what I’m doing. It changed my life drastically. I could’ve been way into something else. It’s still changing my life. Dance means everything to me. Aside from God and my family, dance is right there with them. I’m not going to stop doing it until God says I can’t do it anymore, no matter how old I am.

“The style that we developed was a San Francisco strutting style mixed with a little bit of Richmond style that involved a lot of fast hand movements. We combined those two which gives us our unique style.”

One Cypher: Who were some of your favorite dancers back then?
Fayzo: Back then, San Francisco strutting groups. Granny & the Robotroids, Live Incorporated, Close Encounters of the Funkiest Kind, The Diabolical Soldiers, Black Velvet, those were some the San Francisco groups that inspired me a lot. The reason why I’m breakin it down is because in San Franciso we were strutting, in Oakland they were Boogalooing. As far as San Franciso individuals goes, the ones who inspired me were Charles Marshall from Black Velvet, Ben James from Live Incorporated. Legrandy Newman of Granny and the Robotroids, just to name a few. They all had their own different style that was off the hook. It inspired me to get more into developing my own style. I have different styles and sometimes when I do my solo I don’t know which style to do. As far as Oakland boogaloo groups I liked The Black Messengers and Derrick & Company. With individuals, John Murphy, Derrick from Derrick & Company, Newberry who is in our group and Chucky from the Black Messengers. All of these people inspired me to do what I do.

Charlie Rock: Black Messengers, Resurgents, Derrick & Company. Black Mechanics. I even liked Close Encounters of the Funkiest Kind. As far as Individuals that I’ve seen, Derrick, Newberry, Rio, Hensley, Alfred Jones, Walter Friedman. As far as ones that I haven’t seen. John Murphy, Kearny from the Black Messengers, Chamber Bros. Donald Jones, there are so many people.

Fayzo: You had so many groups and individuals that were tight. It was hard to choose. It wasn’t even about any of the groups sometimes. It was about the band that played behind you. The band can break it down whenever you wanted them to. Coming out of the late 60s early 70s, the music back then was all played by bands. It wasn’t through drum machines. The bands were playing the baselines, the bands were playing the keyboards, playing the drums, so why not have that visual on stage as opposed to a record. But what started happening later was that bands would start to break up. Then we would have to try and figure out what music would come closest to what the bands were playing. So we found James Brown, Rare Earth Parliament, Ohio Players, Bootsy, Average White Band, Graham Central Station, Sly & the Family Stone, etc, basically all these funky groups who were bands who played this type music on records. So that’s when we started dancing to the funk records.

Later on we started thinking futuristic. We wanted to go faster. But didn’t have any music to accomodate to this. If you look at Demons of the Mind back then, we had on these shiny top hats and futuristic costumes but danced to funk music. George Clinton was cool, but it was too slow. Close Encounters of the Funkiest Kind…and I’ll never forget this. They wanted to do more moves in a shorter period of time. So they took Ohio Players record, “Fire”, and put it on 45rpm. That was the first time I saw something like that. People started doing it after they did it.

Around 1977, Kraftwerk came out with a song Trans-Europe Express, it was slow on 33rpm, so unless you were doing something amazing dancing to it slow, it would literally put someone to sleep because it was too slow. It was good to listen to, but to see someone perform to it, wasn’t going to work at that speed. So what would you do? So we put it on 45rpm. And now we had a sound to go with the futuristic costumes. That’s all she wrote. Everything that was by Kraftwerk, we would buy. Anything by Kraftwerk, would fly off the shelf. Later in the 1980s Afrika Bambataa came out with Planet Rock which actually sampled Trans-Europe Express. As far as the music goes, it went from the Bands to the funk music, to the electronic music for the strutters in San Francisco. That’s what inspired us today as a group to produce this electronic style music that we dance to. We produce our own music, and we dance to our own music. Ofcourse when we do a funk set, we go back to the old songs to display the style back then.

One Cypher: What seperated you guys from the rest of the groups back then that you guys are still around strong today?
Fayzo: Perseverance, dedication, we feel that the artform that we do needs to be seen by all means necessary. What basically set us apart was that we stuck with it. The style that we developed was a San Francisco strutting style mixed with a little bit of Richmond style that involved a lot of fast hand movements. We combined those two which gives us our unique style. Our professionalism and our discipline too. In order to stay together as a group you would have to have discipline and dedication to do this artform.

If you look around, it’s only a small community that’s doing this artform. You don’t see it commercially too much. You see movies touch on it a little bit. It may have 5% of breakin or 5% of poppin, but then it goes right back into the commercial style dancing. Staying true to the dance form is why we are still here today. Staying true to the dance and true to ourselves. You have to be true to yourself in order to be true to something else. That’s the only reason why we’re really still doing this, because we love the art. We love the dance. We all love to dance, but the dance that we do is in our hearts, it’s embedded in there.

When I got the group back in the 90s, nobody was doin it. So how can you take a dance that no one was doing anymore, stick to it, and bring it to what it is today. You have to love it. People were clowning back then. But now people also tell us they’re glad we kept it going. Now if it wasn’t in our heart, we would’ve taken the criticism, and would have been discouraged, then start trying to be what we weren’t. Like try to rap, or do some booty shakin dancing, when really what was in our heart is this style of dance.

One Cypher: How about your routine style? It is very intricate and also one of your trademarks. How long did it take you to perfect that?
Fayzo: To sum it up, we’ve been doing it so long that it’s like 2nd nature to us. I think people got the basic idea for it when Close Encounters did the Fire step when they put the records on 45rpm. The way there were moving was a little slower than now, but was real intricate. If you look at the singing group, Temptations when they used to step together, that was like the early days of the step now. The objective was to make the moves between 4 to 5 different people and make it look like 1 person. So if we lock on and do a wave, it’s suppose to look like one person. As time went on, we started moving faster and now we have more intricate moves. Making it more difficult to the eye and making designs out of our bodies. Anything that you do over time, as long as it’s in your heart, you start to get more innovative down the line. So now it’s like 2nd nature to us.

One Cypher: How about the outfits? How did you guys come up with those?
Fayzo: I’ve been designing the costumes for the last 20 years or so. Everything you’ve seen us perform in, I would designed it and have someone else make it. At first, it was usually just the regular tuxedos. That was cool in the beginning, but it didn’t really fit with the futuristic style that we wanted. I wanted to take the look to the same level as the idea of the moves and the music. So the idea was to make everything fit in together with the music, the routine, and the costumes. We wanted to get creative with the costumes. not too much, but just enough so that it’s a Medea Sirkas trademark. So that if you saw someone wearing something like that, you’d automatically think Medea Sirkas. Each year I try to take the costumes to the next level. Fortunately with the grace of God, I’ve been able to do that. Before I put anything out there, I always get the group’s opinion to see if they like the design first.

One Cypher: Talk about the styles you incorporate into your routines? How do you feel this form of street dance affected the globe?
Fayzo: When you see our futuristic routines. It’s a combination of SF strutting style along with a little bit of Richmond style. We incorporate those styles along with other moves to make the Medea Sirkas style today.

Fluid Girl: As you know the movie You Got Served and all that stuff. I think more competitions that are catching on all over the US have really made the market more broad. The bigger the events get, the more the promoters go to watch and see the excitement and think, “hmmmm..maybe I can make some money off of this”. I think competitions are a really big part of how things came to be. The West Coast Dance Style is so different from East Coast style. I’ve lived on both coasts, and I’ve seen both styles. The East did a lot of waving, the West does a lot of tutting, and other styles. The b-boys too….man, they’re just nuts out here. They take all the moves out here to that next level. They’re both dope, but they just have very different styles.

I think the competitions have been a great way for dancers to express themselves. I’ve been fortunate because I’ve been able to mesh both East & West Coast styles. When I first came here, my style completely changed. When I came here I started learning from these guys and other dancers in the Bay Area. There is so much influence here that if you’re interested enough, you’re just going to soak it up. There’s been so much excitement here since the 1970s that you can’t help but want to be a part of it. I think it’s important for us as a group to show everybody what the San Francisco strutting style is because it’s a really big part of the Bay Area dance culture and everyone needs to see what we have to offer. For me being from the East Coast and coming and learning from Fayzo and the rest, I felt really blessed. The enthusiasm is there, and you can feel it. We wanted to share it with everyone. Dancing is about learning from each other. Gaining influence from each other and sharing creativity. We’re all apart of it, so we need to share it…as one community.

One Cypher: What were some of your most memorable performances?
Fayzo: We probably all have different ones. One of my favorites was in Austin, Texas. Before we walked out on stage, the crowd just went berzerk. They were screaming so loud that we couldn’t hear our cues. I had to do hand signals so everybody could see when to start. Another show we did where there were about 15,000-20,000 people there, all the people looked like ants. We came out of a space capsule filled with smoke with a black light inside it. So all you saw were 4 people glowing. When we came out, we couldn’t hear nothing, just yelling. It was so crazy that if we were to get lost in the audiences hype, we would’ve just lost it all and messed up. Those are my two favorites as well some of our other shows in the 70s and 80s

Charlie Rock: I’d have to say one of my favorites was from this one high school. Right when the curtains opened, it was like we were in a coliseum. It seemed like there were a million people in there. I also liked the performances at the Oakland coliseum, Scottish Rite Temple, Joaquim Miller…

Fayzo: Yeah that was a good one. There’s a lot more, but those are just some off the top of our heads.

Fluid Girl: I haven’t had that many, but they’ve all been my favorite so far. Every performance is my favorite just because I’m happy to be on stage. Whenever I’m up there, that’s who I am. Even when I get stuck, I’m still happy as I can be, because that’s where God wants me to be. So far, every performance will be my favorite….word! (laughs)

Fayzo: Word to your mother (laughs)

One Cypher: How do your kids feel about their dad being one of the pioneers in dance?
Charlie Rock: They love seeing me dance. Especially on TV. The would be like, “that’s my dad on tv!”.

Fayzo: They love it, they don’t know the depth of it quite yet. But they know that their dads are somewhat celebrity status or legendary status. When they’re with us, they always see people talking to us or talking about us. When their friends see us perform, they love it. They eat it up every time they hear about it.

One Cypher: Are your kids into dancing too?
Fayzo: Yeah, my youngest daughter has her own dance group now. A couple of weeks ago they entered a talent show and won $500. I’m real proud of her.

One Cypher: Is dancing a full time job for you, what is your life like outside of dance?
Fayzo: I consider it full time. Even when we’re not performing, it’s still work. Especially for me, when I’m not dancing I’m always working on something that has to do with the group. Whether it’s meetings, interviews, etc. So it’s always work. Whenever you’re in the entertainment business, modeling, acting, etc, it just doesn’t stop. It doesn’t stop until you say you’re going to retire from it all. Because the phone is always ringing or you always have to do to work on your career. If you stop working on your career, then your career stops. So if you’re not doing something for your career every single day, it’s going to fall through. It’s always work, but it’s fun..we love it.

“With everything going on in the world, all the madness, the chaos, etc. Through out all that… dance is all we’ve got. This is our culture, this is what we love doing. Dance will never die. I don’t care what’s going on in the world. Dance will make you happy, music will keep you going. Don’t stop dancing! Keep on dancing throughout everything, dance will never die. Keep doing your thing…”

One Cypher: How about some of the movies such as You Got Served or Honey? Do you think they represent the real street dance culture out there?
Fayzo: Nope

Fluid Girl: No

Fayzo: Put it like this, for the true dance pioneers in poppin, boogaloo, struttin, etc, I don’t think that it’s a good representation for it. But for people that are into video dancing, it’s great for that. It’s almost like a……

Fluid Girl: A 2 hr long music video..hahah

Fayzo: Hahaha yeah a music video, or an instructional video. A lot of the kids that are into the video dancing, they’ll go get that just to get the moves from it. Don’t get me wrong, it was a pretty good movie. I liked it. It’s just doesn’t have the representation of what we do with the original dance form. I’m not going say it’s a good representation of what we do, it’s not a representation of it at all. You have a couple of people that touch on it a little bit, or a couple of people breakin, but for the most part it’s like aerobic style dancing. It’s dope what they’re doing though, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t have representation of the forms we do at all.

Charlie Rock: I don’t think they meant to represent this type of dance style.

Fayzo: I would say for the commercial aspect, it was great for that. But like Charlie said, I don’t think they were trying to represent this. But they tried to take little elements of everything, and mixed it together.

“You don’t have to be anyone else. Be who you are. Represent yourself. If you feel the music, feel it. You don’t have to dress like a certain dancer to feel it. Dress however you want, dance however you want. If you want to hit, and this is from a girls perspective…just hit… you don’t have to be a guy.”

One Cypher: What is your dance philosophy? Any advice for upcoming dancers?
Fayzo: First of all, love what you do. Be dedicated to what you’re doing. On top of that, don’t let anyone discourage you from what you really want to do. Don’t let anyone take away your goals. Pursue it till you get it done. Don’t let anyone tell you, that you can’t do it. Keep on doing what you love doing. You’ll always have obstacles in life, but the achievement is to overcome all that. If you’re thirsty and the water is over there, and all these things are getting in your way, if you keep on going and overcome all of that, you’re gonna drink that water and feel good. That’s the same as getting to your goal. Just knock everything out of the way. If you see something coming, knock it out of the way. If you see haters, brush em off and keep going. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing what you want to do in life. If you want to be a doctor, lawyer, dancer, whatever, keep on pursuing it.

Charlie Rock: Most of all, be yourself. Don’t let anybody change you. Be you.

Fayzo: The bottom line is stay true to yourself.

Fluid Girl: I want to add something from a female perspective. The dance scene is very male dominated. When I see a lot of female poppers, which are very few, I see that they feel like they have to match the male popper’s energy. Like they have to hit super hard or do masculine moves. Sometimes I feel like, “come on… you’re a woman.” You can still be a female popper and put like a little sauciness in it. That’s what I try and do even though I put a little male energy to get my hits out and stuff. But what I see a lot of women doing, is they’ll dress like a man. And that’s cool, but always remember you’re a woman. You can still represent as a female, and dance and represent just like one of the guys. You just have to get out there. You have to put yourself out there. You don’t have to be anyone else. Be who you are. Represent yourself. If you feel the music, feel it. You don’t have to dress like a certain dancer to feel it. Dress however you want, dance however you want. If you want to hit, and this is from a girls perspective…just hit… you don’t have to be a guy.

One Cypher: Any obstacles that almost led to Medea Sirkas breaking up?
Fayzo: With any group of more than 2 people. There’s always going to be someone who is slacking off a little bit or whatever. This particular group as Medea Sirkas, there was a time where we had to find new members. Put it this way, if everyone isn’t on the same page, it’s not going to work. Whoever is on another page with hidden agendas or whatever, they need to pursue whatever they need to do on their own. What we tried to do, is make sure everyone is on the same page. Right now everyone is on the same page and has their part in the group. As long as everyone knows what they need to do individually, we’ll be together as a tight knit group. It’s not even about us individually, but us as a group together. As long as everyone is on the same page, you will keep moving to the next level together. We never got to the point of almost breaking up, but we did get to a point when it was just down to me and Dana. It was because people were slacking off a little bit. You can’t run a dance company if there aren’t any dancers. If people show up late and you have this dance studio for only 2 hrs, it just doesn’t work. It was just a matter of getting the right members with the right attitude and right goals.

Charlie Rock: You gotta think, there’ll always be some kind of regulating on each other. For instance, if I’m slacking off, and someone doesn’t tell me, then I’ll keep slacking off. The regulating is what fuels everything and keeps it going. There’ll be times when me and Fayzo will be at rehearsal and be on each other’s nerves, but it’ll be okay right after rehearsal.

Fayzo: Basically we’re like a family, we watch out for each other. It’s a family thing, and ofcourse we’re going to have some disagreements. The objective is to state our opinion, work it out, and move forward. So when I leave rehearsal I won’t be mad at Charlie because we got mad at each other at rehearsal. Once we’re past that, we move on. Fluid girl is new in the group, so she’s always like, “will you guys just come on!” (laughs). Me and Charlie go at it, but me and Dana go at it all the time. We’ve been in the same group for 20 years so we always get into it. Bottom line is, when we leave rehearsal we don’t hold it against each other the next day.

Fluid Girl: I’m always mad at all of them, because they’re always fighting and I’m ready to practice (laughs).

Fayzo: She’s mad at us all the time. She’ll get to rehearsal, and we’ll be talking about something back and forth and she’ll sit there all impatiently. hahaha

Fluid Girl: My time is valuable! hahah

Fayzo: And then once there is a little bit of silence between us talking, she’ll be like “okay can we work now”. (laughs)

Charlie Rock: The thing is to leave it behind at rehearsal.

Fayzo: Once we leave the show, or rehearsal, we’re all kickin it. It’s all cool. It’s like a family. Business is business, but we’re all friends, and that’s a good thing. We all have each other’s back. If someone’s in the group with a hidden agenda, it’s not going to work.

One Cypher: Tell us about your DVD coming up
Fayzo: It’s basically about the history of Medea Sirkas. In order to talk about our history, we have to talk about the groups before us such as Granny & the Robotroids, Close Encounters of the Funkiest Kind, Live Incorporated, etc. It also the history of San Francisco, Oakland, and Richmond dance forms and how it all came about.

One Cypher: Where/when can we buy it?
Fayzo: We don’t have a date yet, but we’ll have a new website up real soon. You can go log onto www.medeasirkas.com to find out more information. It’ll be for sale on the website as well as out there in the stores. We’ll keep you posted on the release date.

One Cypher: Do you currently teach any classes?
Fayzo: We do teach, but not as much we would like to. We’re finishing up current projects that are keeping us busy. We’ll teach more classes soon and we will keep u posted

One Cypher: Any last words:
Fayzo: With everything going on in the world, all the madness, the chaos, etc. Through out all that… dance is all we’ve got. This is our culture, this is what we love doing. Dance will never die. I don’t care what’s going on in the world. Dance will make you happy, music will keep you going. Don’t stop dancing! Keep on dancing throughout everything, dance will never die. Keep doing your thing…

One Cypher: How about a quick shoutout?
Medea Sirkas: We’d like to give a shoutout to One Cypher! Dennis and the whole One Cypher staff. One love to yall. We appreciate you guys comin out to interview us. One love, keep on doing what you’re doing. You’re website is off the hizzle for shizzle!! haha!

One Cypher: That’s a wrap!
Medea Sirkas: Peace!

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*Photography by Cliff Cabute / Shelley Oto

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“It goes back to studying your craft. If your going to practice that style, know that style, know the originator, where it came from, all that stuff. Cause that’s real talk.”- Super Dave

SuperDave Freestyle

OC: What is your name?
Super Dave: Super Dave

OC: When did you begin dancing?
Super Dave: I started dancing, technically when the cabbage patch and all that stuff first came out. Just one of those things, that I just so happened to be good at.

OC: Where did you begin dancing?
Super Dave: Originally? Richmond, California! The Bay Area Representin!

OC: What kind of training have you had?
Super Dave: Back in the days, I was more influenced by some of the kids who lived around the way. I owe a lot of props to my crew, Housing Authority, Wassup BABY! It was a bunch of other guys, Kanobi, Solo and a bunch of other guys, If I don’t remember you, it’s all up here, (points at his heart) I still love you, right on.

OC: Everyone knows that you used to dance with Housing Authority? Are they still dancing with them?
Super Dave: Still do, representin’ hard core.

OC: When did Housing Authority start?
Super Dave: That was eleven years ago. You know I’ve heard people say “I’m in the longest running dance group” and I’m thinking “no you ain’t.”

OC: Who most inspired you to start dancing in the first place? Brothers, friends?
Super Dave: It’s going to sound weird, but truthfully…myself, because of insecurity. I’m not trying to sound deep, but that is the god honest truth. That was the one thing that actually made me happy. People were like, “Wow he’s good” and you know, that’s what you look for, and the more and more I did it, the more I got compliments. It didn’t take me a long time to realize the skill that I had, and understand what I’m working with. Now to this day I think I’m a lot better person. Very secure..thank you. (haha)

OC: What made you move from Bay Area to Los Angeles?
Super Dave: Ohhh…that’s a good one! Actually it was a matter of convenience. Well, my ex-girlfriend used to go to UCLA and I already hooked up once with a choreographer named Travis Payne, and he flew us out here, and I got a taste of the business, and it took me about two years to get enough guts to come out here. And it wasn’t for my ex girlfriend going to school out here, and all that stuff, I probably wouldn’t be out here.

OC: What obstacles did you face when you first moved out here?
Super Dave: Yeah the thing about living in La is that it’s the melting pot of the dance industry; it’s the cream of the crop. You may be the best in your city, or your little area, but when you come out here, and see people who got it… you may be good in your one style, but these people got your style, plus another style, plus another style. And to top it all off, they’re very humble which AAAAHHHHH…..haha.

OC: Right…Haha…you can’t say anything about them because they’re talented and nice! HAHA.
Super Dave: They’re SO DAMN NICE!!!! Haha. It’s cool.

OC: Who are your favorite dancers, and who most inspired you to dance?
Super Dave: Ohhhh, I’ve got a couple! It breaks down into different categories. Some people are very funky like my boy Affion, Steve Stanton and the Groovaloos, right on to them, they’re funky! And you got some house flavor, Marris from Paris, right on… and a couple of underground kats that I’ve seen.

OC: Out of all your professional gigs, what has been your favorite professional gig to work on?

“I’m going to very clear, for those who are trying to come out to LA do not be discouraged, there are major politics that happen in this business. For real, it’s not personal; treat every audition like a free class.”

Super Dave: Your going to laugh at me, because you’ll be like, “they’re a pop group!” Yeah yeah… N Sync

OC: Why is that…
Super Dave: Number one, as far as overall business; they know how to treat you. Nsync and Justin are two different projects. Number one is that they know how to treat you, they’re not like “I’m the star!” They are cool, collected cool peeps. Right on… I don’t have your album but right on…but I was in your grammy’s.

OC: When was your first professional gig? For who? Or what?
Super Dave: My very first professional gig, was back in the day in 96 or 97 with Chico De Barge choreographed by Rosero and Jamal. Rosero what’s happening, I don’t know if your watching, but you from Richmond and don’t get it twisted…Right on. I KNOW YOUR BROTHER JOHN MCKOY!

OC: Haha…That’s proof people. Be honest, when watching people dance, groups or whatever, what irritates you the most.
(Snaps his fingers) Yes..that right there. Dance on beat…I don’t care if your b-boying, popping or locking but there’s no such thing as pop locking… Yeah I said it. Whatever it is you do, make sure you please pay attention to the music, that’s the key. That’s why we dance. If you have a rhythm in your head, just make sure the rhythm makes sense and is on beat. Haha.

OC: What is your view on choreographing? Do you feel it’s more important to teach to the beats or counts?
Super Dave: That’s a funny question, and I’ll tell you why, because when I first came out to Los Angeles, I didn’t teach anything. I was like “I’m an underground Kat and that’s what I do!” That’s what I am. If anyone wants challenge me in a circle, I don’t care. I’ll kill you in a circle. People might say “you dance for N’Sync,” it don’t matter because I’ll kill you in a circle. But my thing is that Rhythms…Rhythms…Rhythms…all day long. Because there are certain parts of the music you can’t count. Unless your really good at counting, and your like “one and uh, two and uh.” When you teaching that, some people can get it and some people can’t. What I’ve learned to do it to break it down to the best of my abilities. I think my dance style is very unique.

OC: Your known for your smooth, groovin’ style, can you tell us who inspired your craft?
Super Dave: Well. Back in the days, there were those “moptop” tapes that were out, that documentary. I don’t know if you remember. It is but it aint…I don’t really consider my stuff looking like theirs, but it was slightly influenced by them. If that makes any sense. Mop tops. Right on. Brian Green what’s up BOY!!! Ahhh… Brian why’d you move back to New York Brian!!! Hey next time return my phone call! Haha.

OC: What tips can you give to dancers who come to auditions? What do you look for? What advice can you give?
Super Dave: A lot of casting agencies, choreographers, whatever they are, it all depends on what they’re looking for the look of the video/commercial, you may be the best dancer there but your not what they’re looking for. I’m going to very clear, for those who are trying to come out to La do not be discouraged, there are major politics that happen in this business. For real, it’s not personal; treat every audition like a free class.

OC: Have you ever struggled as a dancer? If so..what kind of sacrifices have you made in order to dance or pursue your dreams?
Super Dave: Well nothing hard-core, but my ex-girlfriend, she wasn’t a dancer and couldn’t understand that dancing was my passion…you know, I was dancing before her and I’m doing it after her.

OC: What kinds of changes would you like to see in the dance scene?
Super Dave: Real dance, not corny-ography. You’re about to open up a can of worms. I would love for people to acknowledge and appreciate certain styles, I know when some b-boys see me they’re like “what the hell is that.” At the same time, that same b-boy isn’t dancing to the music and all they have are tricks. I’m thinking what the hell is that… you have no foundation. I’m not going to go to deep into that can of worms.

OC: What are your thoughts on “the moves” vs. :”the groove”. “Power” vs. “Style.” There are people who have groove and no tricks, while others have tricks but no style.
Super Dave: Finesse…that is my thing. A lot guys have nice moves and tricks, and may even have a nice groove, but without finesse, it looks like shit to me. Make sure you get in a lab and prefect your craft. And don’t do a move unless you got it. Cause I’ll talk about ya. Haha.

OC: And we’ll put it on the web-site. Haha. Do you have a certain role model? If so…who? Why?
Super Dave: That’s funny because most people say… Michael Jackson. Haha. Most people do have one, but I don’t. There’s no one in specific I want to be like, I want to be my own person.

OC: How do you choose the music you choreograph to?
Super Dave: I let it pick me. I like music, I’m very conceptual, if there’s a song I’m playing and the idea will just hit me with that music. It’s music…I love it.

OC: What is your favorite choreographed piece?
Super Dave: I liked the Carnival piece. I like the music…I had produced it–That one and my Missy piece.

OC: When comparing Los Angeles to the Bay Area…
Super Dave: The Bay Area, I love it, I want to go home! Haha. I’m sorry did you finish the question?

OC: What do you feel the differences are? As far as dance.
Super Dave: I will have to say, I went out to the bay recently, and I wasn’t that impressed, for the simple fact that they don’t know. I hope nobody takes any offense to this. If anyone takes any offense to this call me and I will show you real dance. For the simple fact that (impersonates locking) this is not locking, and when I see people cheering I for it, I’m like “what the hell is that.” So if anything, get tapes, whether it be Poppin Pete, Skeeter Rabbit, or the Groovaloos tape. And really pay attention, if you come out here thinking you’re tight, you will get served so quickly. It goes back to studying your craft. If your going to practice that style, know that style, know the originator, where it came from, all that stuff. Cause that’s real talk. The bay is cool…but when you come out here, you get polished. You meet cool folks, and practice. It’s a wake up call. People get frustrated because people think “he’s so good, and she’s so good, and they go home.” And you can’t do that, because you have to work hard to get to where they’re at. Just because you see people who are good, you don’t know what they’ve been through to get there. I’ve been out here for along time and it took me technically eleven years to get here. I’ve been out here for four years and I make a living off dancing. What can I say…I love it. You get paid to do what you love.

OC: What do you feel are the largest rewards for dancing?
Super Dave: When someone who is good also, comes up to you and says, “that was good, that was tight, you killed that.” And when they speak to you, they look you right in the face and show they’re sincere. And you know it’s coming from the heart and you know it’s no Hollywood talk. You come home and think, “that made me feel really good,” it makes you want to practice.

OC: What are your Ultimate goals ?
Super Dave: To choreograph for an artist, who gets my style exactly. But I would like it to be my artist, where I’m the director, I’m the person in charge, and I’m control of everything. I’m the director/choreographer, and the artist really respects my opinion and what I say.

OC: Do you have any Shoutouts?
Super Dave: Housing authority, The Bay area, Vallejo, San Jose, Richmond, Berkeley, Sacramento, that’s not really the Bay Area, but that’s okay. Haha. It’s all love. And everyone else whose been dancing with me since the beginning.

OC: It’s been an absolute pleasure doing this interview with you! Everyone this is Super Dave, he teaches at Debbie Reynolds at 8:00pm on Mondays and Millennium Fridays at 3:30pm, check his classes out! They are not to be missed. This is One Cypher, we’re out!

*Interview by Shelley Oto

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One Cypher’s Bay Area celebration took place at Club Glo in downtown San Jose, and for those who saw the club for the first time, I hope you fell in love with it as much as I did when I first saw it. I felt the venue was definitely SWEEEEET. Thanks again to Club Glo & Mass21 for helpin us out with everything to make our celebration event possible, you both played major roles definitely and we really appreciate all you’ve done. The whole place was packed. The downstairs room was crackin! The upstairs room was dope! Must’ve been like a thousand++ people up in that place! Props to DJ Ed Scissorhandz and live funk/soul band, Philtered Soul for rippin it up out there. Everyone was really feelin everything that you played, and we got a lot of good feedback on your performance, good shit fellas.

Following the band’s performance, music was provided by Fuse One & Jayvi Velasco, two DJs who always rock it! Fuse One started off our Bboy battle with lots of heavy, funky, breaks & beats. The battle was judged by PowerSerge of Beatz & Pieces, Moshen of Skill Methodz, and EJ of Rhythm Bugz, who set the tone by showcasing a quick round as they were introduced. The battles were full of nothing but explosive energy from all the competitors. Props to Inglewood, Owen, Ryan, RJ, Deja Vu, , Rich, Fayeboogie, Slimjim, and Jivan Ivan, who all represented like crazy. Congrats to Naytron of Headhunters for taking the title in the finals! You never cease to amaze us bro.

Throughout the rest of the night, dancers tore up the ciphers of course. I was able to see some of the action here and there and witness some ill style in there from Machine Gone Funk, Rockforce, Headhunters and many many other dancers who went out. The night ended with Jayvi Velasco of Groove Industry, who closed it with his soulful house sound! Keep them mixtapes comin Jayvi! hahah I love em all! Always a pleasure to hear this guy spin as well as see the dancers from Flo-ology & Soul Sector rip the house circles.

All in all, it was a really successful event. For those of you who were able to receive a copy of our Anniversary Edition Mixtape, done by yours truly! haha. We hope you enjoyed it! We apologize for all the chaos beyond our control outside for all the people who were caught in the gridlock of the line. It was bananas! There was so much going on out there and we tried to get everyone in as fast as possible, I apologize to everyone if my stress level was on the high tip. It was hard trying to handle 20 different things at the same time, so thanks for being patient. But more importantly, THANK YOU! for all your support and love for One Cypher’s 1 year Anniversary!

Soo..I should begin my thank you’s here then huh? Hahahah, here we go! Love, Respect & Thanks go out to, Mass21, (Remy, Gerard, Mass21 DJs & staff, we appreciate Everything & EVERYTHING forreals! Thanks for helpin us out the way you have). Club Glo and it’s staff (Mike, Jennifer, it was good to finally meet you guys. Melissa for handling the booth, thank you so much for being so cooperative, you’re beautiful!). Erik Otto of New Leaf Clothing for the giveaways (the shirts are off the hook!). Philtered Soul, DJs Fuse One, Jayvi Velasco, and Ed Scissorhandz. Jon Lorenzo for supplying the cordless Mic for us. DMR Management. Chain Reaction Dance Crew (to my brothers, thank you for all your help and support, homies for life!). Joey & Francis, thanks for pickin up the CDs! DJ Detect thanks for the 48, Jay-R thanks for the 2 hahah. Every one counts! haha. Stan Tuyor, glad you came bro! My family for their endless love and support in everything (Mom & Li, thanks for making those copies! For the Frito scoops & coke on our way out. haha. Ate & Ryan for your support. Dad for making me that bomb salad during my crunch time of mixing down the CD. I LOVE YOU GUYS! )

The bboys/bgirls who came out to compete, (Jivan Ivan, Ryan, Inglewood, Deja Vu, Slim, Rich, Owen, RJ, Naytron, Fayeboogie, keep rockin it!). Our Judges, Serg, Moshen, and EJ, (Thanks fellas! Another round? hahah). All of the Friendsters and Myspacers who always plug our bulletin posts! (Dandiggity, you’re the bombdigitty! hahah thanks bro). All the dancers and crews who came out! (Chain Reaction, Mind Over Matter, FunkanometrySF, Versatyle Styles, Flo-Ology, Bsyde, Sicks, Fusion, Jabbawockees, Mindtricks, Soul Sector/Headhunters, Machine Gone Funk, Beats & Pieces, Skillz Method, Rhythm Bugz, Trademark, Rewind Status, Boogiemonsterz, Calistyles, Rockforce, MPM, Culture Shock Oakland, Khaotic Groovemintz, NewStyleMotherlode, Soulforce). And ofcourse the rest of our friends who were there, you know who you are. Sorry if I missed anybody else that night, damn I thank you too!! shiiieet. hahah.
Circa79, Tone & Jaep. Kim Hill. Joshua Silverstein. Medea Sirkas. Clandestine Crew, Victor Harris. Jayson Wright. Cameron Moore. Mookiedesign. Ratha Nou. Rictor. Stablished Clothing. Randy Wishboogie. Gary Kendell & Ronnie Reddick. Micaya. The Oto Family for all their support (Ryan I hope you like the CD! Mr. & Mrs. Oto, sorry I wasn’t able to come out Thanksgiving. I was craving some of the famous stuffing too!). Catherine from ITF at Club Q, thanks for lettin us in!). VCGrafx. Patrick from Wet Ink Printing. Huntford Printing. Empress Sounds. Jenn Mendoza. Louella De Los Angeles. Breakvision. MicahMonkey. AJ & Rob from Ultrasounz. My computer for staying up with me these late nights. My Turntables & music for keeping me sane. My CD recorder for saving my life. Cool Edit for being so damn useful. My Bed. The person who stole my DVD player from the DJ booth. (shame on you! I wish you syphillis, herpes, and bad karma! HA). My cell phone for taking all that abuse. The alcoholic drinks that gave me the courage to get on that mic and host the battle. (shit, I hate the mic hahaha, but I guess we gotta do it someday right?) My car, hang in there chubby.

Last but not least, the One Cypher staff!!! You guys are the shiiiiit! Jay-R, you always come through for us. Thanks for takin the video. You’re the man homie. To Pink, for being in the frontline, thank you for helping out in the middle of that chaos. Atija, thanks for spreadin the word, the writing, and comin out all the way from Sac! I appreciate your overall enthusiasm with One Cypher! Mappy, for helpin out with the flyers and the adventure to Remedy. (I’m glad we went, it was dope that night!). Cliff for being our Peter Parker at ALL the events! (Snap, Snap Snap, hahah. Good job!) Aileen for coming to dancefest, ITF, and especially the Sushi hahah. Faye, you rocked it girl! (I love watching you break, and reading your music reviews) Rictor and Cameron (Man we can’t thank you enough for the site design! For all your help and patience. You guys are the shit! Thank you so much! We MUST get that DVD! hahah) My partner Shelley, damn dawg you’re the bomb. You truly hold it down! I appreciate you. Thank you so much. The errands, stickers, flyers, the thank you’s, the list, my slow printer, stressing about the reel, starving with me on the way to the club, being frustrated at my mac. All the stress and hard work was worth it at the end of it all. Great great great gr-great! hahah. Love you homies!

THANK YOU ALL FOR SUPPORTING ONE CYPHER AND CELEBRATING WITH US DURING OUR 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! L.A. ANNIVERSARY HERE WE COME WOOHOO!!! ONE LOVE!!!!!!

Peace & God Bless
Dennis Infante

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