I WISH I COULD DANCE

There's a great documentary that's been playing on VH1 Classic lately that I'll be blogging on shortly. One of my favorite parts of it shows the rise of breakdancing in New York City a full six or seven years before it became a national phenomenon.



I'm further inspired to write about it because, after adding 9000 songs to my music collection, I was finally able to track down the definitive breakdance song. That would be the one-hit wonder "Breakin'...There's No Stopping Us" by Ollie & Jerry, which was a top ten hit back in the summer of 1984.

This form of dance actually sprang up from the gang culture on the east coast, and was seen as a way for rivals to "battle" without resorting to violence. It was made up of a variety of different techniques, including toprocking, moonwalking (made most famous by Michael Jackson with his performance on Motown 25), freezing, the worm, and a plethora of power moves.

Breakdancing, folks, kicks ass.

Of course, it also provided Hollywood with some of the worst acting of all time (even though I love this song by Chaka Khan).

And this--from the seminal breakdancing movie "Breakin'"--is just uncomfortable, although it's mildly entertaining to see a very young Ice-T MC'ing.