Beyond the Dance Floor

Complex (DANCE BROOMZ/THE HOODZ)

Today we talk with former Massive Monkee Day Footwork Champion, Bboy Complex from Dance Broomz and The Hoodz.  It was really great to catch up with Ash and chat for two hours about a variety of things from his time with OURO Collective and how it's changed the way he approaches dance now, finding freedom from being boxed into a specific way of moving, laziness in the breaking community, pushing people to think deeper about the dance we do and a whole lot more.  Ash is someone who is passionate about moving the dance beyond just moves and competitions and it was great to connect with someone on that level.  There's a whole lot to explore and hopefully our conversation made you think a bit about the other possibilities within the dance.  If you wanna support Complex and what he does check out his social media accounts which are all pretty much complexbreaks or support him on patreon at www.patreon.com/complexbreaks.  Thanks again to Ash for taking the time to chat and hope you all enjoy the talk.

 

Peace.

JoRawk (MASSIVE MONKEES)

Today we talk with JoRawk of Massive Monkees.  Joe has been one of the people I've always respected within the community for his dedication to quality and community oriented events.  He is one of the people responsible for one of my favourite jams I've ever been to Massive Monkee day, as well as Silverback Open and Pro Breaking Tour and has always been about pushing breaking forward.  We talk about how he got into breaking and hip hop, the Massive Monkees house, the concept of a "real" crew, true in the moment expression and freedom in the dance, involving the communty and the role of a host at a jam, and more.  Absolute pleasure to talk with Joe about these things and I hope you all enjoy it too.

 

Peace.

Elon the Wandering Spirit (TENTACLE TRIBE/FRESH FORMAT/CONCRETE KINGS)

Today we talk with the other half of the original Tentacle Tribe, Elon the Wandering Spirit.  Elon also repping Fresh Format and Concrete Kings is someone who has had a huge impact on how I personally approach the dance these days.  He shares his experiences on a number of topics including his early days breaking in Sweden, moving to Canada for Cirque du Soleil, contemporary influences, efficient movement, returning to our "animal" routes, order and chaos and more.  Really interesting guy and one of the people that completely changed the way I approach movement in general.  He had a lot to share, some of which might need some kind of special decoder but I do know that a lot of these kinds of thoughts can profoundly shape the way you view things but aren’t always the easiest to articulate in a simple and clear manner, but still it was a really interesting talk that overlaps a lot of what I’ve been exploring for the past while.  Hopefully we get to have another chat sometime in the future and dive deeper into some other topics and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Cleopatra (TENTACLE TRIBE/LEGENDARY)

Today we talk with Cleopatra aka Emmanuelle Le Phan from Tentacle Tribe and Legendary Crew out of Montreal, Canada.  The first time I saw the Tentacle Tribe duo of Emmanuelle and Elon, I was blown away and the way I thought about breaking and dance in general was changed forever. Emmanuelle has been a huge influence on my dancing personally and I wanted to share her thoughts and perspectives with you all.  We talk about her history, her time with Cirque du Soleil, the formation of Tentacle Tribe and mixing styles, being interested in general movement over any particular style, having conversations with your partner in dance, and more.  Really great being able to chat with her and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Crazy Smooth (BBOYIZM DANCE COMPANY/BREAKS KRU/FLOWROCK/KOSSASSINS)

Today we’ve got another person who I’ve really wanted to have on the podcast for a long time.  Crazy Smooth of Bboyizm Dance Company, Breaks Kru, Flowrock, and Kossassins out of Ottawa, Canada.  Smooth is one of the people that has been a huge inspiration to me personally and I’m happy to be able to share some of his thoughts with you all.  In the talk we get into a bit of his history, getting $14,000 dollars in government funding and going to New York to learn from the pioneers of breaking, the indescribable “ism” or essence that separates the good from the great, physical and mental longevity and more.  This talk just scratched the surface and each of these topics could have been it’s own episode in my opinion.  Really hope to have him back on some time in the future but in the mean time hope you all enjoy this one.  Peace.

Profo Won (FLOORGANGZ/S0R/KNUCKLENECK TRIBE)

Today we talk with Profo Won of Floorgangz Worldwide, Shadowr0ck and the Knuckleneck Tribe out of the Bay Area.  He's been one of the people I've wanted to talk to for a while not only because of his knowledge, but also his desire to push the community forward into new territory with content such as The Trades and his commentary at events such as Massive Monkees Day and Silverback Open.  We get into some Bay Area history, the generational differences in mentalities in breaking, what breaking fulfills from a human standpoint, social media and the importance of having a presence there, physical longevity and training and more.  Surprisingly as two footwork nerds, we hardly even spoke about it. Overall though, a really interesting talk and I hope you all enjoy it.  Peace

Reflex (O‘MIGHTY/SOUL FELONS/THE HOODZ)

Today we talk with one of my favourites during his active days, Reflex repping O’mighty, Soul Felons, and the Hoods.  Coming out of Calgary Alberta, Reflex had a real great blend of set movements and complete in the moment movement.  We get pretty into talks about the mental side of breaking so if you’re into that kind of thing I think you’ll enjoy it.  Things like being in the moment, the idea of presence vs skill, balancing memorized movement and just moving, the mental battle between you, your opponent and yourself and more.  Really enjoyed talking to him and there’s a lot more I think we wanted to get into but that’ll have to wait for another time.  For now this is all we’ve got so enjoy the talk.

Peace!

Boobjester (DANGEROUS GOODS/MEC/WINTOR/UNITY)

Today we talk with one of the important figures in Canadian breaking history, Boobjester (Dangerous Goods/Maximum Efficiency/Wintor Massiv/Unity Charity) shares information on some of the earlier days of Winnipeg breaking, coming from central Canada and being able to experience the East and Westcoast styles of Canadian breaking, building community, and more. Boobjester is a proud proponent of Canadian Breaking and has been a huge figure in helping bridge the different communities within the very spread out country of Canada and continues to do so to this day.  If you didn’t know him before, now you do. Remember the name enjoy the talk. Peace!

Creeasian (ORIGINAL RUDES/READY TO ROCK)

Today we talk with Creeasian of the Original Rudes, Ready to Rock and DJ duo Twoguys, and what a talk.  It was a real honour to have Creeasian share his thoughts and knowledge on culture and hip hop as a Vietnamese/Cree First Nations.  He talks about his history, the Edmonton scene and connecting with other native dancers there, his experiences in hip hop as a Cree First Nations youth and reconnecting with his native roots, Pow Wow culture and a bit of their history, medicine wheel teachings and more.  Really powerful talk and we didn’t even have time to get into his DJing beat production journey either.

Definitely have to have him back on to share more cause he’s just a really interesting guy with a lot to share.  Also he has one of the smoothest voices in the business.  With that said, enjoy the talk.

Peace.

DJ Renegade (SOUL MAVERICKS)

Today we talk with one of the more outspoken and in my opinion one of the more interesting people in the breaking scene, DJ Renegade.

People might have read some of his now infamous social media posts where he shares his thoughts on what's happening in the breaking community and beyond that.  He's at times a "controversial" guy but I respect that he pushes people to think deeper and more intellectually about the dance and hip hop culture.  We get into a whole bunch of things from UK/European history and the creation of his crew Soul Mavericks, to evolving the judging system, how talks about the Olympics are focusing on the wrong things, toxicity in the hip hop community and more.

Real pleasure to get to talk with him and hope we get to exchange more in the future.

Enjoy the talk.

Peace.