A walk down the Adelaide bboy scene history lane
So this is just for those that maybe starting in the local scene or just wanna reminisce.
This is from my point of view so if you think different or wanna add something in comment up and I’ll edit it in!
The story starts in the year 2000.
It’s the new millenium, I was in high school…lookin for something fresh to do instead of actin a fool. One day I stumbled upon a flyer. Now the OGs in the scene will know THE flyer I’m talkin about. It was for a company called “youcanbreakdance.” For my homie Anil and I this was a sign from the heavens, “let’s rip that first trial lesson” we thought and so we rolled into 97 Currie street. A shaky elevator in a 80’s esque decor and design building led us to the studio on the 3rd floor. We go into meet our to-be teacher Quinn. This dude…to us, was straight up sensei steez…the charisma king of that era. Little did we know what he really was about. But that’s for later. For now he’s the realest haha.
A Maori brother, that said he was all about the dance from the 80’s era – can’t argue with that.
He knew how to talk in a commanding way, seemed to know it all and for a newbie this was just too good.
We were taught a 6 step, basic tops, basic drop, freeze and backspin. Apart from the fact that a large amount of it was taught the wrong way it was sufficient enough to get us excited.
The feeling of finding something you know you’re gonna love from day one is like finding a winning lottery ticket but never losing that buzz.
As the story goes, I met a lot of other homies there – many of which consist of the local Adelaide scene and are pillars to it. Gerald, Dreaded, Mel, Badge, Roger, Tim Swift, Thomas, Francis, Adam, Abe, Edwin to name a few.
His school grew into a small army of ‘breakdancers’ which was fair enough. That is, till the realness of the dance seeped in. Many of us started to realize the limits to Quinn’s joint. The brainwashing of the students that seemed to worship him than enjoy the dance.A sort of suffocation of the soul and wallet was felt by many.
Mind you this is a short version of the Quinn story. If you want to know more hit let me know and I’ll post a detailed account :p
Basically it was a money camp for the dude and by the end the place deteriorated off the scene.
Before it deteriorated, a group of ‘anti-Quinn’ crews and people were brewing. It must’ve been around 2001-2002. I recall meeting dudes dancing at the Renaissance arcade which then shifted to the Adelaide University room behind the uni bar. At that time I was real tight with the infamous Gerald Gibbons, Roger Chan, Jeremiah Soo, Nathan Forbes, Markiyan Andruchowyz and Gregory ‘fantasy’ Eden.This group would later become the OG original members of the now notorious Nokturnal crew (est. 2002). On the other side of town was All-turn-it Lifestyle which was Mel, Thomas, Eddie, Raymond and Adam from what I remember. Cruise Kontrol which was Benny Badge, DJ, Dasher, Sho, Liam, Sam, Brendan ‘bowl him Warnie’ and Ray if I recall correctly. Finally, there was also Adelaide’s oldest crew at the time Floorplay which was Seppi, Simon, Moses, Sasha and Roper.
The X Games really brought the defining moment for many crews at the time…and the real beginning of the anti-Quinn movement of the new crews.
It was raw times in 2000-2002. A LOT OF BEEF. Everyone hated on everyone, any jam any concert we were at each other like pit bulls. Getting into fights, talking about taking dudes out…you couldn’t go to a hip hop gig feelin easy because you knew it’d be time to get down. Go to the wrong jam and you’d be feelin real small as the other crew would dominate the cyphers and not let others in because that’s how it is if you weren’t there with family. Or if you did it was mayhem…all on one and all out disses that were hardly about your dancing. The type that ruins your month – it was all about the BEEF. To be honest that was the Nokturnal element, we loved the beef and never shyed about letting you feel the heat. Perhaps not the best side of the story but every scene has a history and it’d be a shame not to hear about it.
It was the most hate fuelled scene. Like ancient Rome, scheming and plotting in the dark of night for supremacy.
Many a dope battle was had – All turn it battles by Mel which brought Lil John and Moy from Havikoro in 2001 was a defining battle in the Adelaide scene. Won by the now famous Fresh Sox crew.
Step 2 Dis a 2 on 2 which crowned a new era and supremacy of the scene when Gerald Gibbons and DanL won bringing the NOK pineapple shirts to world infamy. From then on Nokturnal continued to drum the hate of the scene with their style of signature aggression in battle and dominance (while some or many may contest this fact the winner of battles in the era were usually Nokturnal familia. As I said feel free to post your version of the story).
Let’s stop here for now. Where All the crews were new families and the post-Quinn was in full effect. We’ll soon hear about:
- Fresh Fools
- Da Klinic (Da Decline of a good cause)
- Richard Seidel the real OG sensei we should’ve had
- Floorplay, CK, Deadly Moves beef
- Nokturnal adventures from the seat of a green Holden hahaha NATE DAWG!!!!
Bonus story. Back in the high school days Badger and I were the illest nemesises at the underage parties also known as Euphoria at the time haha Some mad heated battles happened back in those days…
This post is quite brief but gives air about how the scene was back in the day.
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Filed under bboy |Soul dance and Bgirl classes from the 22nd of Oct with Danlee
Hey guys,
Sorry about the uber delay – thanks to all the *sparks* out there lettin me know whatsup too haha
(i’ll post a more Danleeme -esque post tonight) woot!
So starting from next Wednesday the 22nd I’ll be holding Soul dance and bgirlin classes at Ausdance at 7pm Details are:
Ausdance – Level 3 “The Atrium” Station Arcade 136 North Terrace.
Wednesdays:
7.oo-8.00PM SOUL DANCE and BGIRLING @ Ausdance SA**
*as the name suggests, this class will put soul in everything from your two step to your top rock and also provide girls with a non intimidating environment in which to learn the basics of breakdance. Great for musicality. Class taught by DanL.
$15 (Age: 15+, GIRLS ONLY, casual class – bookings: DanL 0406 584 763)
**starts Oct. 22nd
8.oo-9.ooPM Inter/Advanced NEW-SCHOOL HIP HOP @ Ausdance SA**
*great for experienced dancers to challenge themselves through a variety of choreographies each incorporating a mix of different new and old school hip hop styles and techniques. Perfect for hip hop dancers wanting to concentrate on stylising their dancing.
$15 (Age: 15+, casual class – bookings: Penelope 0408 835 088)
**starts Oct. 22nd
9.oo-1o.ooPM Inter/Advanced LYRICAL [U.S. Style] @ Ausdance SA**
*this is the first dedicated U.S. style Lyrical class in South Australia!!! Great for experienced dancers to challenge themselves through a variety of choreographies each incorporating a mix of ballet, jazz and contemporary technique with more theatrically focused execution.
$15 (Age: 15+, casual class – bookings: Penelope 0408 835 088)
**starts Oct. 29th
Cheers guys and look out for the next post tonight!
Dan
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Filed under bboy |A look into hip hop and bboying
Martha Cooper is a well known character in the preservation of Hip Hop
Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did!
Peace
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Filed under bboy |Essence of BBoying – Inspiration
These 2 bboys right here…mad inspiration to the way I want to dance, feel the music and just have that presence.
I hope you enjoy this battle of titans as much as I do.
Peace and God bless,
Dan
Popularity: 60% [?]
Filed under bboy, motivation |Been away…Dancin
Hey guys, just got back from Melbourne for a dance event.
Got to the finals which was mad crazy, unfortunately lost – but they were just way too crazy – shout outs to zulu kings japan for takin the comp.
youtube search ‘taisuke’ and you’ll see what i was up against.
Will be back this week to write more.
Thanks for your patience guys.
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Filed under bboy |BBoyin the way it should be Part. 2
The realness has arrived.
I’d say more but this clip says it all.
The Prince Ken Swift.
Enjoy.
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Filed under bboy |BBoyin – the way it should be pt.1
OK so the craze has finally hit.
Bboyin aka by the media as breakdance has become more mainstream than ever since SoYouThinkyoucandance has come out in Australia. Due to editing and the vast misconception of the idiot judges…bboyin is now more than ever perceived as an acrobatic/dynamic display more than an actual dance.
Dancin is an expression of the soul…the dance that is bboyin was born on the streets…. a true yearning of the soul that connected one’s life to the music and let all their emotions, their unique story out…the floor is the canvas.
The purest form of bboyin was in the beginning tho…that’s my opinion mind you. There are those that pioneered the dance still rockin fresh look up rocksteady crew, ken swift, crazy legs, mr freeze, mr wiggles..i know missed heaps but its like 2 am so i’m cuttin it short for now.
I think if we all opened our minds to seein bboyin as an art, a dance not a side show compared to ballet, tap, jazz etc… that’d be a start.
To get a basic understandin of bboyin if u can please check out ‘the freshes kids dvd‘
I’ll post more on this soon – feel free to comment up your opinion on the dance.
Peace
DanL
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Filed under bboy |
