Since i lack the wisdom and the experince of older members in Hip Hop! i am going to show you somebody from Germany who have both and also saved the BBoy Movement in Germany with his Brother and some friends( and also inspired my sorry ass):
BBoy Storm
Straight from
Stormdance so i dont have to type(yeah im a Bitch about that)
"I was interested in dance ever since I learned how to walk, but I seriously got into it when I first saw Electric Boogaloo and Bboying in 1983. Without any knowledge of the different styles or its vocabulary we tried to imitate robots, and creatures out of some animated movies or tried to spin on our backs and heads. Then I saw the prieviews of "Flashdance" on TV, videos like "Buffalo Gals". From that moment on I cought on to it so much, that it changed my life completely.
By 1984 came the big media hype and our group gained a reputation. So we got signed by some agency, which toured us in northern germany in association with the biggest german Popmagazine called "Bravo"
Soon the "Breakdancefashion" died out. Only a few persistant enthusiasts who wanted to develope Bboying further continued and started searching for other dancers that remained.
From the year 1985 on there was no new information coming from the USA anymore and we developed many concepts and styles along with dancers from France, Italy, England and Scandinavia. Luckily my younger brother, known as "Speedy" started practicing secretely in 1985 and soon became my Trainingspartner. One day I did the worldrecord in ?windmills? for the guinness book of records. On that day I met "Swiftrock"for the first time. Soon after he started doing shows with my popping partner "Nick" and me as "Unique Rockers". Then came a time when I almost focussed on Bboying only. From 1987 on, a couple of Bboys including myself, bought monthly railwaytickets which were called "Trampertickets", and travelled across the country to make more contact with other HipHoppers. With this kind of ticket we were able to take any train you liked at any time, as long as it was within Germany. We lived in trains. HipHop jams started appearing all over the country because it was affordable for the organizers to invite artists from all states and cities.
Of course we did not just stay in Germany, but explored further step by step. A strong "Bboycommunity" existed in Europe by 1991.
Our Crew "Battle Squad" was a multinational group. With "Emilio" and "Maurizio" the undisputed most known Bboys of Italy at that time, and my partner "Swiftrock" we won the first "Battle of the year" in Hannover/ Germany, which is todays biggest Bboycompetition worldwide.
(The other main crews and names at that time were "Second to none" and "Awayz rocin tuf" from Brittain for Bboying and "Danny Francis" and "Bebop" for Popping. The best Lockers in Europe were without a doubt "Anthony", "Mark and Pat" and "Warren" from London, who tought "Out of Control" from Denmark. From there they spread the style across Europe."Damon Frost", better known as the "Rubberbandman" moved from California to Stockholm and had the biggest impact on europes Popping and waving!
The most known Bboycrew in Scandinavia was "Throwdown Breakers" from Sweden. In Switzerland, you had the crew "Jazzy Rockers". Belgium had the "Dynamic Rockers". The most known crew in France was "Aktuel Force".
These groups kept bboying alive over a period where everybody else said it was out of fashion.
After the opening of the iron curtain, there was only one crew that really represented Bboying for eastern europe at that time: "Enemy Squad" from Hungary.
Other well known groups in Germany were: "TDB", "Rockin Force", or "Fresh Force".
After we won the "Battle of the year" in 1991, we went to New York, to see and find out who was left across the atlantic.
On our first day in NYC we bumped into "Klown" and his "United street artists" along with "Kwikstep", the only active bboy in NYC at that time. "Kwikstep" introduced me to a lot of well known people of todays danceworld, and so I am very happy to say that we probably played a big role in the resurrection of the Bboy culture across the world, because after meeting them, a lot of them started practicing again.
A year later, "Swiftrock" and me, as a two man group won the second "Battle of the year" in 1992 against the "Rock steady family". This crew was an "Allstarteam" made out of "Second to none and Awayz rocin tuf" from England and "Maurizio" from Italy.
In September "Swiftrock" and me went to NYC again and "Mr. Wiggles" asked me to stay in NYC for a couple of months to built on a show with "Ghettoriginal Productions" which was later on known as "Jam on the groove". That's when I really got interested in Popping and locking again. So I trained up in the Bronx with "Wiggles" or worked on routines with "Adesola". I toured with the show from 1993 until 1995.
During the months of Rehearsals in the big apple, I mainly made my money by dancing in the streets with "Klown", "R.O.B". or the "Breeze Team". My money situation changed by 1994, because I started working as a TV Host as well. The music channel "Viva" was born, and they needed a "HipHop Show". We created the magazine "Freestyle" which was on air for 2 years. I sometimes gave "Bboy" and "Popping" lessons and demos or I invited dancecrews, that performed in the studio. For the first time in my life I didn't have to worry about money and I could focus completely on what I really wanted to do: Develope my style and establish it.
Ever since we went on a theatrestage with "Ghettoriginal" I realised, that theatre would be the best way to express myself fully and truly. The only people that are interested in seeing what performing arts are really about, would go to a theatre. All the other shows are more about demonstrating the flashy moves and the most spectacular stunts. That was not what I was training so hard for in all those years.
I stopped touring with "Ghettoriginal" when I realised I herniated a disc in my upper spine. Fortunately I didn't need surgery. I kind of healed it myself through popping and dancing isolation exercises. In any case, it was mainly through all the injuries I had, that I learned a lot about anatomy and how the human body should not move! Since I love dancing so much, I want to be able to move until a high age, so I decided to cut down on acrobatics and go more into the esthetical and rhythmical aspects of the dances.
By 1996 I formed the "Storm and Jazzy Project" with my former wife "Jazzy" and "Vartan" and "Amigo" from the group "Flying steps". One of my biggest concerns has always been the support of the upcoming generations and also to secure the future of our artforms by finding some "multiplyers" that are willing to spread our dances and its true philosophy. So I started coaching the most talented people in Berlin. I am proud to say that the group"Flying steps" and its members were one of the successful products of that time.
In 1997 HipHop Theatre started really to set off in France and we performed both of our Creations "Funky town" and "Dynomite" plenty of times within the next couple of years. On a festival in Lyon in january 1997 I met Dirk Korell and Yacine Damblard from the association "Moov N Aktion". At first they were just helping us out by correcting our french contracts, but we collaborated more and more until they almost did all the administration and applied for Projects we did together. The first Creation we cooperated on was "Men at work" in 1999. A Duo of Karl "Kane" Libanus and me that is still touring until this day.
The year 2000 was a very significant year for me. In January I released a book called "from Swipe to Storm" which reads through the History of Bboying in Germany and which took me 4 years to write. One Highlight of the year was the Expo 2000 which took place in Hannover/ Germany. I choreographed the Openingdanceshow called "Xpose yoself".
I also created my first Solo called "Solo for two" after we stopped the "Storm and Jazzy Project" by the end of the year. With this dancepiece, which is a little hommage to my hometown Berlin I travelled the world. Funny enough I never played it once in Berlin until this day! It´s also my first Creation with a Videobackdrop. A big part of the whole concept is to dance and act interactively with everything that is happening on the screen, where every single picture is filmed in "Berlin".
The video was edited by "Leshstyle" productions. The head of that company was "Hermann Haag", also ex member of Flying steps. "Hermann" is also responsable for the videoart in the two following Creations. 1. "Slippin and Sliding" which was created in 2003 and 2.the "art of urban dance" which is touring since January 2004. It is a very didactic dancepiece, which explains the most established urban dance styles of todays danceworld :"Locking, Popping, Bboying and Housedance" in a very entertaining way.
The realisation of this creation also shows that I got involved a lot more internationally in teaching these urban danceforms and representing them at Congresses and theatremeetings to talk about the art and their philosophy. Now these artforms are around isince the early 80s and there are only a few people that could say that they´ve been involved actively ever since. As in being creative and also in studying the styles I never stopped and represented on dancefloors, in juryseats, commitees, and congresses.
In 2007 now, I still love my work! Probably more than ever! So I realized another 4 "creations" a: my new solo called "Virtuelevation" b: "Geometronomics" with the company "discipulos do ritmo" from brasil, c: "once upon a time" a fairy tale with dancers from Berlin and Paris and d: "eins eins null" which is a popping show about the internet and which is still in progression.
I am getting more and more behind the scenes, and love to direct and organize. Pave the way for our artforms to get them more accepted. So I am judging a lot of competitions and help out where there`s help needed, I also choreograph for big events like the FIFA soccer worldchampionships, and am happy as long as I can pay rent, I have a full fridge can give a good education to my son "Shan" and don`t have any injuries...........Storm"
Hope you liked it and stop
bitchin about the lenght !
Peace out
