Power Moves: Turf and Flex Dancers Build Bicoastal Bonds

Jan. 16, 2009 was a surprisingly hot day at the Oracle Arena in East Oakland, California where people arrived for Lourds of the Rings VII -- the highly anticipated battle between Oakland turf dancers and Brooklyn flex dancers. It wasn't just global warming that raised the temperature on the streets between youth and police authorities: Nine days earlier, downtown Oakland was wrecked by enraged protesters after a rally to protest the death of Oscar Grant turned into a riot. The community was still reeling from a shocking video depicting Grant's murder on New Year's Eve at the Fruitvale BART Station. Back at the Oracle Arena complex, Oakland police set a no-nonsense tone early on, demanding that valid tickets be shown for entry to the event. It seemed that the police were unaware that Lourds of the Rings exemplified the opposite of street hostility. In fact, the dance battle showcased how urban dance unites communities and serves as a positive outlet for youth. Organized by turf innovators The Architeckz, the event consisted of seven individual battles between Bay Area turf dancers and New York flex dancers. Before the battle, YouTube and social networks such as MySpace had been the only means of communication between the two communities, resulting in debates over which style was better and who was biting or copying moves. Both sides vowed to showcase their cutting-edge moves, physical and visual tricks, costumes and overall aggressiveness. We're Gonna Go Back, Waaay Back! Both the East and West Coast regions have rich urban dance histories. New York was the birthplace for both the acrobatic breaking style and early-'70s b-boying moves from the South Bronx. The Bay Area is home to three different styles of dance: Richmond's robottin', Oakland's boogaloo and San Francisco's struttin', which originated in the late 1960s. Those dances were overshadowed in the '70s by pop-locking, a style popularized by L.A. troupe The Lockers, a group that included Fred "Rerun" Berry of the 1970s TV show What's Happening!! Now, a young generation is fusing new dance styles with past influences. And even with access to the internet where information can be shared and centralized, dancers still manage to create styles that are unique to their regions. "It's about pantomiming things [based on the] things you do in your everyday life," says Lourdes co-host Rawnay of the The Architeckz. He explains that turfin' is a relaxed and fluid analog to the robotic style of popping. "[All your moves are] floating and things connect. It's [a] lot smoother." The East Coast flex style has Caribbean dance roots and is also based on a previous Brooklyn-based dance style called bruk-up. "It's based off a reggae style of animation," explains Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente, one of the event's judges. "People compared it to poppin', but it's a reggae style of poppin'." The flex style recently gained nationwide attention via performances by the Ring Masters crew in the third season of MTV's hit show, America's Best Dance Crew. To evaluate the performances, Lourds recruited some of the most respected old-school dancers in the business. That included hip-hop icon and East Oakland native MC Hammer. Now in his mid-40s, the man born Stanley Kirk Burrell spent his early youth dancing for money in front of the Oakland Coliseum during Oakland A's baseball games before starting a lucrative recording and dancing career. Also judging was the aforementioned Rock Steady Crew member, Mr. Wiggles, who has appeared in videos for Limp Bizkit and Missy Elliot. Rounding out the judges was Brooklyn native and dance choreographer Emilio Austin, Jr., a.k.a. Buddha Stretch, who has choreographed videos for Michael Jackson, Will Smith and Mariah Carey. With dance crews ready to hit the floor, it was time to battle. Dancers, Are You Ready? Normally home to the NBA's Golden State Warriors basketball team, the Oracle Arena floor became the site of an all-out war. A quarter of the building filled with dance enthusiasts screaming, hollering, taking photos and videos with digital cameras. Each dancer pushed the envelope with their tricks, physical illusions and amazing energy. Seven individual battles were set up with Brooklyn on one side and Oakland on the other. The first battle was between Rated R (Oakland) and Quiet Storm (NY), two dancers with similar popping styles. Rated R's enthusiasm won the judges over. The second battle between D. Dollaz (NY) and Zeus (Oakland) had fans jumping out of their seats. Dollaz had the crowd in awe, dancing shirtless and showing off fundamental flex moves such as "bone-breaking" and "mutating," which highlighted his double joints. In the end, Zeus was unable to win the crowd over with his finesse in gliding and pantomiming. The next battle was special because it featured the only female in the event, New York's Kit-Kat (NY), representing to the fullest. "I'm an all-around dancer," she explained, stating that specialized moves featuring her hat and shirt were her secret weapons. "I always want to do something different, so that's what kills them." It definitely worked because her opponent, Oscar (Oakland), couldn't compete with her creativity. The Professa (NY) came out looking like Dr. Seuss' Grinch with green face paint and matching thermals. He shocked the crowd with his rubbery footwork and by jumping on top of the judge's table. But Prodigy (Oakland) stayed cool and won the crowd and judges over with more complex dance moves, including the pantomimed shooting of a machine gun. Later, Pharside (Oakland) from Supreme Soul clashed with Ice Cream (NY), who dressed like Morpheus from the movie The Matrix right down to his white contact lenses. Ice Cream showcased impeccable footwork known as "gliding" but could not win the judges over. Pharside's intricate poppin' was too much to contend with. Unity Through Dance In the mid-'90s, the Hip-Hop Generation was rocked by the East Coast/West Coast feud between Notorious B.I.G. of Brooklyn and Tupac Shakur, who was born in New York, but claimed the Bay Area as his home turf. Hip-hop culture was tainted after both rappers were slain as a result of the feud. But today's generation of hip-hop dancers prove that the culture can be a tool to unite rather than divide youth in urban communities. Although Lourds of the Rings was a competition to see which region had the better dancers, on a larger scale, the event showed how Brooklyn and Oakland have a lot in common. Both regions have faced the severe effects of poverty, crime, gentrification and police brutality. Oakland youth felt the injustice of Oscar Grant's murder, while New Yorkers shared similar sentiments over the brutal murder of Sean Bell. But it's the enormous pride and culture that prevails through the hardships and pain, as these youth use dance to overcome inner-city struggles. With all the distractions and negativity urban youth are exposed to, participants from both coasts came to the consensus that dance kept them out of trouble and has served as a positive outlet. Flex dancer Boo Boo explains, "I was real violent when I was young. Dancing kept me out of trouble. [It] kept me out of jail." Likewise, turf innovator Yun Shep says, "In junior high school, it just relaxed me. It kept me off the streets and made me take the negative energy and look at it in a positive way." Instead of going to parties and wanting to fight, Shep channeled his energy into dance floor battles. Event judge MC Hammer emphasized that the goal for the dance battle was to promote the art first and foremost. "Turfing is a beautiful, complex style. Flexing is a beautiful, complex style," he said. "In my opinion, there's never any losers when you have art. The people who get to see the artists perform their art and do what they do -- they're the winners. This is a good look for this generation. Brooklyn represented! The Town represented! It was a beautiful day."


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Who we are: We Are the Architeckz Organization and we are looking for a successful company to partner with that has a heart for mentoring youth and adults about the lacking attention of Physical Activity,Diabetes, and Health Disparities facing our communities. Currently we have producing The Largest event on the WestCoast at the ORACLE ARENA for Our Architeckz /HIP-ATHLETICZ event titled "Lourds Of The Ring " mission is to promote Healthy Lifestyles, Diabetes Awareness in entertaining and athletic ways to demonstrate healthy Sports alternatives for Youth.

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