The ultimate purpose of my Journey To The Centre Of The Earth last week was to take in some of the battles at the Rocksteady Crew 30th Anniversary. This year is my 30th too. 1977 needs to stick together.
If I can just interrupt myself here (self: “Sure. Why not?”), I’d like to use this moment to highlight the fact that the Rocksteady Crew was formed to keep the rock steady, ie: to preserve b-boying (breakdancing) in it’s true form and keep it from dying out. In 1977. The summer of my birth. Claims that b-boying arrived, peaked and was abandoned in the 1980s are therefore miseducated and without foundation, not to mention chronologically wayyyyy out of the ballpark– a fact that is only reinforced by this 30th anniversary dealy right here in 2007. Thanks for listening.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect. On the one hand, these guys have been around forever. For sure, they would know how to throw a decent battle or two. On the other hand, they are b-boys, not exactly renowned for their organizational aptitude. I think I got what I didn’t know I was expecting: a Red Bull sponsored event (all b-boy battles this millenium are powered by ginseng) with elements of brilliance (top-notch b-people from all over America and The World) and chaos (raise your hands, everyone who likes standing/dancing on granite!)
A fleet of cop cars across the street, thankfully having nothing to do with the battle.
The unexpected highlight for me– and for much of the crowd, judging by the wide-mouthed grins that filled the room– was the appearance of the Curfew Breakers, a crew of well-practiced and better-dressed 5-11 year olds who followed RSC’s Bonita all the way from Arizona, with their doting parents in tow, and a littany of moves and combos almost polished enough to put them in league with their grown-up contemporaries. (As grown-up as a movement of people who live their entire lives in oversize track pants can ever be said to be.)
Curfew Breakers review battle footage, make stragegy adorable.
Often at battles, a little kid will show up. She’ll do a couple of moves b-mom or b-dad taught her, and then proceed to stay in the circle too long, holding up the battle until everyone gets frustrated. This was not the case last weekend.
The Curfew Breakers showed up at the B-Girl Fight Club vs. Frenemies battle, where they duked it out hard, mainly against some of Montreal’s finest b-girls. They were creative and focussed, and constantly, constantly practicing. Then at Saturday’s 5 on 5, they actually won their first round battle. I think everyone in the room drew in a sharp breath when Crazy Legs stepped up to the microphone to announce (I’m paraphrasing) It’s hard for the judges to award points for moves only almost completed… but it’s even harder to advance a crew that’s holding back, and proceeded to hand it to the kids to teach the room a lesson. Confidence and the appearance of having earned it make up the trump card in breaking. Message received.
Intense? Adorable? In-your-face? With better shoes than you? Man, you shoulda been there. Luckily, I grabbed some video. (Sorry about the sound quality– it was super-loud and everything was bouncing off the granite in all directions. Too much for my wee digital camera microphone.)
These are almost sequential, so watch ‘em in order:
Comments
Comment from chrisa
Time: August 7, 2007, 7:48 am
this post is great!
Comment from b-mom mec
Time: August 7, 2007, 10:16 am
oh. em. gee.
great clips!
but is one of the curfew kicks a little dude? [in the adidas outfit?] … just clarifying, since it was the b-girl battle.
woot!
Comment from Jill
Time: August 7, 2007, 10:29 am
Yes, he’s a little dude. The battles that day were anarchy. It was called B-Girl Fight Club vs. Frienemies. Meaning there were two events happening in the same room at the same time, with nothing to demark what was what other than Crazy Legs yelling into the mic that “the battles are starting now.” So everyone was ciphering everywhere. There were even OVERGROWN MEN stepping in on the circle that largely amounted to women vs. children. It was nice to see everyone getting taken seriously, but dood, why were these big guys acting so ANGRY? We could not figure it out.
Comment from sarah
Time: August 7, 2007, 11:32 am
great footage! Was the blonde girl (woman?) not so happy being pitted against what looks like an 11 year old girl? Though I guess it doesnt matter, the girl was very good.
(and ps: I did get your rebuttal, and i am withholding raising you on it until I see the actual ms
)
Comment from Jill
Time: August 7, 2007, 11:35 am
She chose to battle a lot of people. She didn’t seem too happy to have to battle anyone though. Even when Rocksteady girls showed up, rather than be glad for the acknowledgement, she got upset with battling them, too. I believe she eventually won in the end.
Comment from lauralyn
Time: August 9, 2007, 12:59 pm
that was great. Eria will love this. she’ll be practicing her moves all weekend.
Comment from brokenengine
Time: August 13, 2007, 2:45 pm
This was so cool, I actually teared up a little when that kid comes in and does the back flip thing. Feel good story of the year!
Comment from Lynx
Time: November 6, 2007, 3:26 am
Maybe you should think twice before you make uninformed comments about me without ever speaking to me and post clips of me without asking me.
I love people who go to battles, make assumptions, take videos and write about it later and never have the guts to battle in those heavy cyphers themselves.
The way Fightclub was supposed to work was that you battle one person until the battle with them is finished, no matter how many rounds it takes. If you would have been paying attention to what was really going on you would know that how Rocksteady girls and those kids battled me was pure strategy. The kids, (who are affiliated with Bonita remember), battled me for 7 rounds or more and then when I was hella tired all 4 of those Rocksteady girls came and battled me one after another which is not supposed to be how it goes down. You’re only supposed to battle one person at a time. Finally, my girl from Montreal came in and backed me up and they let J-skillz take over, to battle me for another several rounds.
If you are a so called b-girl who’s writing a book about it why didn’t you introduce yourself to me and ask me about the battle instead of hating on me and making assumptions about my character on your website.
I dare you to even attempt to battle as many girls/guys as I did. I battled over 20 rounds for 2 hours. Can you even conceive of that. And yes I did win and I’m damn proud of it!
Trac 2 came up to me before the event was over and told me I’d already proven myself, ie. I won, through my endurance and tenacity.
How dare you make negative references about me. You don’t know sh*t about who I am.
I dare you to step to me and introduce yourself.
I hope we meet in the cypher one day and you have the guts to battle me as opposed to talking sh*t without even knowing me.
and yes much props to curfew breakers they are amazing. the girl in pink came and said hello to me at Freestyle session so obviously she doesn’t think I’m a bad person….as it seems you would like to imply.
peace.
Comment from Lynx
Time: November 6, 2007, 3:44 am
ps. I love how you only posted clips of me battling the kids and not J-skillz.
So out of context I look the fool…
also you said I didn’t seem very happy, well battles are not places to be happy & cute, Battles are raw.
Of course I don’t like battling kids, but I’m going to battle them how I would battle anyone else and not patronize them like that crew that got eliminated by them because they were holding back…
Comment from Jill
Time: November 6, 2007, 8:54 am
Hey Lynx,
I did meet you that day! You don’t remember. I think you were understandably preoccupied.
You have incredible stamina, and I do know that because I was there the whole time. If you want me to take the clips down, let me know. (I can see that you’re upset with me but you haven’t made it clear whether you want the clips wiped.)
I don’t think you’re a bad person. There’s a world of difference between observing that you have a frustrated/angry style and thinking you’re a bad person. B-girls and boys find many different ways to express their “rawness”.Yours happens to come across angrier than many. And you did win, and your strategy did pay off. Please don’t take my comments about outside observations as a sign of disrespect for your skill.
I didn’t tape enough of you battling J-skillz to post it because what he was doing wasn’t as interesting in comparison! And I already had so much of you, and my battery was dying.
I never thought you looked the fool, and if I had, I wouldn’t have taped it, and I definitely wouldn’t have posted it. It’s not my mission to make b-girls look bad. So I apologize if it came across that way. I still don’t think you look bad.
But again, if you want me to delete the clips, please let me know. Or, if there are other clips from the battle on YouTube (or some other site) that you like better, I could link to them so things are more balanced on here.
Thank you for commenting.
Comment from Jill
Time: November 6, 2007, 8:56 am
Oh, and I did also think the format of the battle was really odd, nothing like it was described, and not particularly fair. I tried to get that across in my post. My bad if I didn’t make that clear enough.
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