Friday, October 9, 2009

ROCK STEADY CREW

The legendary, most successful, most respected and dopest breaking crew. Rock Steady Crew was founded by Jo-Jo. The second generation of Rock Steady which were worldwidely famous, consisted of Crazy Legs, Prince Ken Swift, Baby Love, Buck 4, Kuriaki, and Doze. Crazy Legs and Prince Ken Swift are still b-boying as members of Rock Steady Crew. Buck 4 and Kuriaki passed away couple years ago for unfortunate incidents. Doze are still doing graffiti. The original crew was established 1970s in South Bronx, New York. They have been a part of Zulu Nation. Rock Steady Crew has always try to keep the original foundation of breaking which is footwork. Nowadays, RSC has many chapters all over the places such as West Coast, Japan, UK, and Italy. To be a official member of Rock Steady Crew, it is necessary to battle with members of Rock Steady Crew in NY and to get props from them. Currently, the main members are Crazy Legs, Prince Ken Swift, Mr. Wiggles, Masami, and Orko. There are many young generation of Rock Steady Crew who will take over the crew in the future.

GHETTORIGINAL PRODUCTION DANCE COMPANY

Ghettoriginal Production Dance Company was formed by member of the hip-hop crew Magnificent Force, Rhythm Techniques and Rock Steady Crew. Many members of the company are founders of the hip-hop movement. While most of the hip-hop crews stay in street or club level, GhettOriginal is established for the purpose of putting hip-hop dance performances into a professional theatrical level. GhettOriginal has performed at the Kennedy Center, MiamiÍs Gusman Theater, Central Park's Summer Stage, the Vienna Dance Festival, Theater Jean Vilar in Paris, and the American-Japan Festival in Tokyo, which is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Other recent GhettOriginal highlights include a commission for a new work and performances at Lincoln Center's serious Fun! series, a collaboration with Savion Glover and Stomp for Boston's Dance Umbrella, and a tour of the western United States. In 1992 the company had an extended sold-out run at P.S. 122 of its hip-hop ghetto story musical "So What Happens Now?" Television credits include "The Kennedy Center Honors"; "Hip Hop You Don't Stop" for Great Performances' 20th Anniversary special (directed by Ernest Dickerson); and the based on Kurt Weill music, that will be released by Sony Home Video. Some members of GhettOriginal received two choreographic grants from National Endowment for the Arts and a 1991 ulary of daring individual signatures and collective invention that continues to defy the conventions of contemporary dance, blurring the geographies of street stage, life and art."

Crazy Legs

an 18-year veteran of hip-hop culture, is one of the original members of the legendary Rock Steady Crew. Credits include many of the first hip-hop tours, which set the foundation for what the culture has become. He has been featured such films as Flashdance, Beat Street, Wild Style and Style Wars. He participated in the Peabody Award winning documentary "Dance in America:Everybody Dance Now" and in the Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, danced in a tribute to the Nicholas Brothers at the Kennedy Center Honors and the Boston Ballet Gala. As a member of Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs performed at Lincoln CenterÍs Serious Fen! He won the 1991 Bessie Award for choreography and the 1994 hip-hop Pioneer Award from The Source magazine. Crazy Legs' success is a testament of the longevity of hip-hop.

Prince Ken Swift

His real name is Kenny Gabbert. He was called "the epitome of a B-Boy" for 16 years and has helped to preserve and promote hip-hop culture. As a member of Rock Steady Crew, Swift participated in the first hip-hop international tour, New York City Rap. His documentary and film credits include Wild Style, Style Wars, Beat Street, and Flashdance. For television, Swift has appeared on CBS's "The Kennedy Center Honors," Great Performances' 20th Anniversary, Kurt Weill's "September Songs." With GhettOriginal Productions Swift has performed at P.S. 122, Central Park Summer Stage, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Boston Ballet and in Toronto, Paris, Vienna and tours throughout the United States. He won the 1991 Bessie Award for choreography. He continues to create and name new moves -1990's Kaboom, air babies and flowing downstream -adding to the vocabulary of b-boying worldwide.

MR. Wiggles

His real name is Steve Clemente. He began dancing in the clubs of New York. His unique dance ability has taken him and the dance group Rock Steady Crew and Magnificent Force on tour throughout the United States, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Africa. He has appeared on Broadway in "Chess", "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "Largely New York". With members of GhettOriginal he performed a commissioned work at Lincoln Center's Serious Fun! His film appearances include Beat Street and Wild Style. For television he has appeared on "The Kennedy Center Honors" for CBS, performed in Bette Midler's "Mundo from Beyondo" for HBO, created many segments for "Sesame Street," performed in PBS's Peabody Award-winning "Everybody Dance Now," the Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, and Kurt Weill's "September Songs," which was nominated for an Emmy Award. He has performed with the Monterey and Joffrey Ballet in Paradise, choreographed by Ann-Marie D'Angelo. One of the core members of GhettOriginal, he produces music for the company. He received artists grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, inc. He won the 1991 Bessie Award for choreography and is currently distributing a compilation of his work on home video.

Orko

His real name is Roger Romero. Raised in Los Angels, he has been popping and breaking since the age of 12. He has performed with the dance group Air Force Crew in Japan, California, Las Vegas, and New York City. His television and film credits include "Soul Train" Fox-TV's hip hop documentary special, music videos for ElMaestro, an Adidas commercial, and the feature films "Thrashing" and "Electric Boogaloo". Orko participated in the 1995 L.A Funk Festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Big Five sporting expo in Long Beach and as part of the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angels Olympic Games. His 1990 (8 times spins in row) is known as one of the best in the world.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tips. It gives me more information about dance styles, this post is really helpful. Thanks a lot!
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  2. Great to know about Rock steady crew. I like your post very much and specially the information given on hip hop dance.
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