If you've been following me for a while, you know I am anything BUT cool these days. I sport the mom jeans. I have the mom "don't mess with me" stare and frankly, I am too tired to do anything cool. LOL!
But I am a lover of hip hop and have a crazy fascination with dance crews. Yes, you know Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew show on MTV? Love it! Back to days of Run DMC, JJFad and songs like "Egyptian Lover, Baby", there has always been a special place in my heart for hip hop. (FYI: I love all kinds of music. Did you know I run a music festival too?)
I was dismayed many years ago, when I had Snoop or something along those lines bumpin in my car and had my 4 year old yell out "Mama, turn it down! It hurts my ears!" Since then, I have been on a mission to "enlighten" my child on various genres. He has always been a rock fan, so you can imagine my surprise when he came home excited about someone called "Michael Jackson". "Have you heard of him mom? He sings this song called 'Thriller'?" he said excitedly. Ahhh. Now I have my chance to share some old skool! He loved it and was enamored by the dance moves in the video. His 4th grade class even did their own rendition for the school talent show.
This weekend I took the kids to see Battlefest 360, a show put on by B-Box Productions in San Jose. Dance Crews from all over California came to show off their moves, while 2000 fans rooted them on. I had not been to anything like that in years. I wasn't quite sure how the kids would like it, but they were floored! The kids danced in their seats, cheered for the crews and loved the loud music. (Be still my heart!) The atmosphere was family friendly. There was a rainbow of ethnicities and ages represented - Black, Filpino, White, Latino, teens, kids and grandparents - all there for a good time. Yes, there was a bit of suggestive dancing, but overall the moves were inventive and took the genre to a new level. Dang.
Check out one of our favorite performances by the Main Stack's Dance Crew from Berkeley. Seriously, watch it! You'll never look at the medals ceremony the same way.
The kids were "popping" in the street on the way back to the car and asked if we were going to the next show. My daughter takes ballet classes and wants to switch to hip hop. My 10 year old started trying to do robot moves - ha! They were impressed by all the moves that required spinning on heads. I told my kids that their Uncle Neil (who attended the show with us) used to do that and of course, my brilliant 6YO child commented "No wonder his hair is always flat!" I think this show inspired some new hop hop fans.
This sounds great! We watch lots of ABDC on YouTube - wish we'd been there for the show.
Posted by: Lady M | February 28, 2010 at 11:58 PM
LOL-great post! SHEILA!!! How fun! Maybe Mike, Chris and John could bust out their traveling linoleum, roll it out and show the kiddos their old skool moves...we could have our own Battlefest next time we are up north:) Miss you guys!
Posted by: Jenny | March 01, 2010 at 07:01 AM
We appreciate the feedback! We're glad you enjoyed our set! Hope the kids had fun!
Posted by: Main Stacks | March 01, 2010 at 01:10 PM