Crazy Legs

Richard Colón (born January, 1966) better known by his stage name Crazy Legs is a b-boy from the Bronx, New York City, USA. He featured in the earliest stories on hip hopdancing to appear in mainstream press, and as president of the Rock Steady Crew brought the form to London and Paris in 1983. Today he is also involved in community outreach, dance instruction and dance theater productions. His pioneering status is reflected in his appearances in fiction films and documentaries, old and new. Crazy Legs is the only original member remaining of the Rock Steady Crew, and is its current president.

Career

Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón grew up in Inwood section of Manhattan, New York City, where he was introduced to "breaking" by his older brother when he was nine.^[1] He was an original member of the Rock Steady Crew after its foundation in 1979.^[1] Dance critic Sally Banes in an April 1981 piece on the form in the Village Voice quotes Crazy Legs listing the best dancers extant and documents his accidental invention of the "W" move, in which the dancer sits with his legs double-backed behind him.^[2] He is also known for the "continuous back" move, in which the dancer spins on his upper back with the assistance of his elbow like a turtle move, but spins once then again and so on each time repeating a spin 3 to 4 times calling it continuous back spins. The next month saw the New York Timescover a three day conference on "Bronx folk culture". "There is a system of apprentices: a 'Lil' Crazy Legs with Crazy Legs," the Timesreported, "Dance steps are performed solo to an accompaniment called rapping - chanting voice and percussion."^[3]

His first film appearance was as himself in Charlie Ahearn's independent release Wild Style (1982), followed by his featuring in the early documentary on hip hop culture Style Wars (PBS, 1983). As a craze for all things hip hop took hold, the 16-year-old Crazy Legs, now President of the Rock Steady Crew, took hip hop dance to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour, with recording artists Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmixer D.ST, graffiti artists Fab 5 Freddie and Futura 2000, and the World Champion Fantastic FourDouble Dutch Girls.^[4] Appearances in Hollywood films were another consequence: he was a street dancer (and also a heavily disguised body double for Jennifer Beals' final dance scenes) in the movie Flashdance (Paramount, 1983) and, as with Wild Style, played himself in the fiction film Beat Street (Orion, 1984).

In 1991 he danced in So! What Happens Now?, "probably the first hip-hop production on a mainstream dance stage in New York City," according to the New York Times, which reflected that the production proved "street dance is an art as demanding and inventive as mainstream dance forms like ballet and jazz."^[5] The following year came Concrete Jungle as part of a program at the Lincoln Centerwhich the Times called "a turning point in the evolution of urban street dance," the piece itself being "extraordinarily affecting".^[6] The "jubilantly hyperactive" and "astonishing" Jam on the Groove debuted in 1995, and in 1999 Crazy Legs instructed dancers of the Urban Youth Theater for their show Minotaur.^[7][8]

His connection to hip hop culture outside of theater remains strong, with hosting of b-boy contests, appearances at live events, and staging of Rock Steady Crew Anniversaries. Documentaries continue to feature Crazy Legs: a look at contemporary hip hop called The Voice of a Nation (Goldcrest, 1993), Here Come the Drums (8mm, 1993), Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (Bowery, 2000) and The Freshest Kids (QD3, 2003). He joined a host of hip hop personalities in providing voice-overs for the television comedy series Kung Faux(Dubtitled/Tommy Boy, 2003). He is also a character in the video game Def Jam Fight For NY (EA, 2004). In 2006 he was invited by theSmithsonian Institution to contribute to a collection for the National Museum of American History.^[9] In 2001 Crazy Legs retired from competitive dancing due to chronic neck injuries.^[10]

Rock Steady Anniversary parties

As president of Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs and his Backspin Productions hosts and organizes the annual Rock Steady Anniversary, a community event that honors deceased members of the crew and celebrates hip hop culture both past and present. These anniversary parties unite DJs, b-boys and b-girls, MCs, graffiti artists, and thousands of hip hop supporters from around the world. Under his leadership the group also holds the annual Celebrity Basketball Tournament during the yearly anniversary celebrations to raise money for the Greenwich Village Youth Council in New York. In 2003, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed July 26 to be "Rock Steady Crew Day" in New York City during their 26th Anniversary Celebration at Pier 54. Sportswear company Fila debuted the "Rock Steady Crew 77" sneaker in April 2004.

Awards

As part of the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs won a 1992 Bessie Award for choreography.^[11] In 1994 he received the Hip Hop Pioneer Award from The Source. He was presented with the Source Youth Foundation Image Award in 2003. He has also earned the 2003 AARTS Award from the Bay Shore Schools Arts Education Fund and was honored as the National Godfather of the 2003 Jersey City Puerto Rican Day Parade. He was nominated for an MTV Award for Best Choreography for his work with Wyclef Jean. His dance program at the Point C.D.C. for young people in South Bronx garnered him the “New Yorker of the Week” Award from New York 1 News.

Dance techniques

Four elements

There are four primary elements that form breaking. These include toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes/suicides.

Toprock generally refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position. It is usually the first and foremost opening display of style, though dancers often transition from other aspects of breaking to toprock and back. Toprock has a variety of steps which can each be varied according to the dancer's expression (ie. aggressive, calm, excited). A great deal of freedom is allowed in the definition of toprock: as long as the dancer maintains cleanness, form and the b-boy attitude, theoretically anything can be toprock. Toprock can draw upon many other dance styles such as popping, locking, or house dance. Transitions from toprock to downrock and power moves are called drops.^[25]

Downrock (also known as "footwork" or "floorwork") is used to describe any movement on the floor with the hands supporting the dancer as much as the feet. Downrock includes moves such as the foundational 6-step, and its variants such as the 3-step or other small steps that add style. The most basic of downrock is done entirely on feet and hands but more complex variations can involve the knees when threading limbs through each other.

Power moves are acrobatic moves that require momentum, speed, endurance, strength, and control to execute. The breaker is generally supported by his upper body, while the rest of his body creates circular momentum. Notable examples are the windmill, swipe, and head spin. Some power moves are borrowed from gymnastics and martial arts. An example of a power move taken from gymnastics is the Thomas Flair which is shortened and spelled flare in b-boying.

Freezes are stylish poses, and the more difficult require the breaker to suspend himself or herself off the ground using upper body strength in poses such as the pike. They are used to emphasize strong beats in the music and often signal the end of a b-boy set.Freezes can be linked into chains or "stacks" where breakers go from freeze to freeze to the music to display musicality and physical strength.

Suicides like freezes are used to emphasize a strong beat in the music and signal the end to a routine. In contrast to freezes, suicides draw attention to the motion of falling or losing control, while freezes draw attention to a controlled final position. Breakers will make it appear that they have lost control and fall onto their backs, stomachs, etc. The more painful the suicide appears, the more impressive it is, but breakers execute them in a way to minimize pain.

Break Dancing

History

Origin

Elements of breaking may be seen in other antecedent cultures prior to the 1980s,^[16] but it was not until the 1980s that breaking developed as a street dance style. Street corner DJswould take the rhythmic breakdown sections (or "breaks") of dance records and loop them one after the other. This provided a rhythmic base for improvising and mixing and it allowed dancers to display their skills during the break. In a turn-based showcase of dance routines the winning side was determined by the dancer(s) who could outperform the other by displaying a set of more complicated and innovative moves while maintaining to hit specific beats of the break.

Korea

B-boying was first introduced to South Korea by American soldiers shortly after its surge of popularity in the US during the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the late 1990s that the culture and dance really took hold.^[17] 1997 is known as the "Year Zero of Korean breaking".^[18] AKorean-American hip hop promoter named John Jay Chon was visiting his family in Seoul and while he was there, he met a crew named Expression Crew in a club. He gave them a VHS of a Los Angeles b-boying competition called Radiotron. A year later when he returned, Chon found that his video and others like his had been copied and dubbed numerous times, and were feeding an ever-growing b-boy community.

In 2002, Korea's Expression Crew won the prestigious international b-boying competition Battle of the Year, exposing the skill of the country's b-boys to the rest of the world. Since then, the Korean government has capitalized on the popularity of the dance and has promoted it as part of Korean culture. R-16 Korea is the most well-known government-sponsored event, and is hosted by the Korean Tourism Organization and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Japan

Shortly after the Rock Steady Crew came to Japan, b-boying within Japan began to thrive. Each Sunday b-boys would perform breaking in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park.^[19] One of the first and most influential Japanese breakers was Crazy-A, who is now the leader of the Tokyo chapter of Rock Steady Crew.^[19] He also organizes the yearly B-Boy Park which draws upwards of 10,000 fans a year and attempts to expose a wider audience to the culture.^[20]

Uprock

A separate but related dance form which influenced breaking is Uprock also called Rocking or Brooklyn Rock. Uprock is an aggressive dance that involves two dancers who mimic ways of fighting each other using mimed weaponry in rhythm with the music.^[10] Uprock as a dance style of its own never gained the same widespread popularity as breaking, except for some very specific moves adopted by breakers who use it as a variation for their toprock.^[21]:138 When used in a b-boy battle, opponents often respond by performing similar uprock moves, supposedly creating a short uprock battle. Some dancers argue that because uprock was originally a separate dance style it should never be mixed with breaking and that the uprock moves performed by breakers today are not the original moves but poor imitations that only show a small part of the original uprock style ^[22]

It has been stated that breaking replaced fighting between street gangs.^[8] On the contrary, some believe it a misconception that b-boying ever played a part in mediating gang rivalry. Both viewpoints have some truth. Uprock has its roots in gangs.^{[21]:116, 138}Whenever there was an issue over turf, the two warlords of the feuding gangs would uprock. Whoever won this preliminary battle would decide where the real fight would be.^[23] This is where the battle mentality in breaking and hip-hop dance in general comes from.^[24]"Sometimes a dance was enough to settle the beef, sometimes the dance set off more beef.

B-Boy

B-boying is a form of hip hop dancing which is popularly known as breaking. It consists of top or up rock, footwork, spinning moves (power moves), and freeze. B-boying came from Bronx, NY. The term "B-boy" or "B-boying" was created by Kool Herc who was a DJ spinning at block parties in Bronx back in the days. B-Boys means break boys and they were called so because they dance to the break part of music. Later, by repeating this break part done by DJ, "breakbeats" was born.
Although people tend to pick up only power moves, real b-boys should master the all elements of b-boying. There are controversy between people who emphasize on style and power moves. One puts his emphasis on power moves and their combination and the other shows their style and individuality by footwork and freeze. Rock Steady Crew has been the one who emphasizes styles to show dancer's individual flavor. Even though power moves have a great impact and very energetic, it is hard to put individual flavor into the moves. Also power moves really don't go with beat since it is spinning. It is closer to gymnastic moves rather than dancing. Because of these reasons, Rock Steady Crew suggests that footworks-emphasiezed style should be the direction of breaking of 90s. Breaking is the most popular style of hip hop dancing and it has been spreading all over the world while new school dancing such as hip hop and house limited to big cities in the US and Japan.

history

It was late 60s , early 70s when people started a sort of b-boying. Their dancing was called "Good Foot" from James Brown's record of the same name. The Good Foot was the first freestyle dance that incorporated moves involving drops and spins, and resembled the beginning s of breaking. The best way to describe the Good Foot is, according to Michael Holman, to imagine a majorette marching in a parade taking steps raised high at the knww but keeping the leg raised at the knee in the air for a beat before dropping it down and simultaneously raising the other leg. Like a stop action drum majorette on beat. As the D.J.s invented new ways to elongate the break beats in the records, dancers had more time to invent and experiment. Soon moves like dropping down to the ground and poppin up again on beat became standard and gave these first generation of b-boys the nickname of "boie-oie-oings." Footwork came in when the boie-oie-oings started using their arms and hands to support their bodies in order to free the feet and legs to do gymnastic steps, shuffles and sweeps. In Brooklyn a new step inspired by these drops was being developed and called "Brooklyn Rock" also known as "Uprocking". Once the first early break moves had been established, a definite style began to develop. The famous first generation of b-boys were "Nigger Twins", "Clark Kent", and "Zulu Kings". Around 1977 breaking was losing its popularirty with black kids and it was about to die.

However, breaking came back with a new generation of b-boys. It was Puerto Rican b-boys who put new life to breaking and took it into next level. They started to put many higner levels of acrobatics and gymnastics into breaking and invented many new moves. B-boys such as Crazy Legs from Rock Steady Crew who were influenced by Jimmy Lee and Joe Joe, members of original Rock Steady Crew developed and invented the new moves such as backspins and windmills. I want to mention that there are also other b-boys such as Lil Lep from New York City Breakers who should get props by developed b-boying. Also, media stars like Bruce Lee and other Kung Fu film stars and martial artisits had a major influence on b-boying culture. The popularity of Kung Fu films during the mid and late 70s aroudn the world and especially in New York City, has had a great impact on b-boying style. A large number of martial arts moves were incorporated into b-boying. For example, windmills came from a kung fu which is used to get up from the floor. By repeating getting-up move, windmills was born.

B-boying became even more popular in 80s. It was first introduced to out side of New York CIty and the rest of world by a movie "Flashdance" in 1983. (Before the "Flashdance", there were already movies like "wildstyle" and "stylewars". But the "Flashdance" was the first major movie which featured b-boying.) Even though it was not b-boying movie, the short scene which featured b-boying and popping on a street had a great impact enough to inspire people to start b-boying all over the world. After the "Flashdance", many breaking movies were made such as "Breakin'", "breaking'2", and "Beat street." "Beat Street" also had a great impact because it had a scene of battle between Rock Steady Crew and New York City Breakers. B-boying became very popular as "BREAKDANCE" by many media coverages. Because of this too much media coverage, when media stop showing b-boying on TV, people had a sense that b-boying was only a fad. Many people thought b-boying was dead. Some b-boys stopped b-boying influenced by media, also. Media mistreated b-boying. After 1985 or 86, the winter period of b-boying came.

Then Resurgence of b-boying happened around 1990. I don't know how exactly it happened. I am sure that it was done by the support of real b-boys who never quit b-boying even during the winter period of b-boying. As far as I know, it was Calfornia where b-boying gained its popularity again early. Nowadays, B-boy events such as B-BOY SUMMIT and ROCK STEADY ANNIVERSARY are organized every year and many b-boys from all over the world get together and keep the culture alive and even try to take it into next level.

B-Boying

B-boying, often called "breakdancing", is a popular style of street dance that was created and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans and Latino youths in New York City.^{[2]:125, 141, 153} The dance consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes. It is danced to both hip-hop and other genres of music that are often remixed to prolong the musical breaks. The musical selection for b-boying is not restricted to hip-hop music as long as the tempo and beat pattern conditions are met. A practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy, b-girl, or breaker. These dancers often participate in battles, formal or informal dance competitions between two individuals or two crews. Although the term "breakdance" is frequently used, "b-boying" and "breaking" are the original terms used to refer to the dance. These terms are preferred by the majority of the art form’s pioneers and most notable practitioners