Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular

ISSUE 105, May 18, 2006:Combining pure physical strength and agility with a pumping soundtrack, beat boxing, a live DJ and bucket drumming; BREAK! is set to take on Australia and New Zealand with its urban funk, street moves and beats during the mid-year school holidays.

Featuring lockers, poppers, B-boys and girls and drummers, Break! has received standing ovations worldwide.

Made up of 11 crew who are either street taught or classically trained, Break!’s medal winning champions and club circuit soloists have worked with some of the most popular musical artists of our time.

Musical Director and DJ, DJ Razor Ramon (Ramon Gilmore) has shared the stage with Boogaloo Sam & The Electric Boogaloos, Don Campbell, Ursula Rucker, Twin Poets and Zakir Hussein. Musical Director and Percussionist Shaun Kelly has performed alongside Avril Lavigne, Alicia Keys, El Dabarj and Simple Plan. Beat Boxer Anointed S (Shaun Roig) has toured with Alicia Keys, Rennie Harris and hip hop star Tony Touch.

Through funk, rap, hip hop and soul music, the Break! crew pay homage to the last 30 years of hip hop dancing, from its Bronx roots to the present day.

Although the exact beginning of break dance is unclear it is believed to have emerged as a style of street dance during the 1970’s that was heavily influenced by a number of sources, from African dance to James Brown.

During June and July this year the spectacular show full of head spins, tumbling and other anatomy-defying gyrations will tour Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth) and New Zealand (Auckland) for the first time.
- National Indigenous Times

- Review by MOLLY GLENTZER

Move over, Stomp. There's a new show in town, and it's got kids screaming nonstop as if they were on the downhill side of a killer roller coaster. You'd have thought Jones Hall was Toyota Center Saturday night even before BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular kicked into high gear. Presented here by Society for the Performing Arts, Steve Love's colorful ode to break dancing is full-throttle entertainment, a cross between the percussion-oriented Stomp and Savion Glover's tap history, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk and thanks to it's stellar cast it has every bit as much energy. With DJ GI Joe and drummer Peter Rabbit behind them, 10 of the world's most virtuosic break dancers strut their stuff with attitude, humor and loads of personality.

BREAK!’’s 14 numbers suggest a jumble of break-dancing influences — from James Brown's knee-pummeling moves of the late 1960s to urban gang battles, video games, martial arts and MTV. A large projection screen behind the dancers "places" them in New York streets and alleys, night clubs, a car wash and graffiti land

BREAK!’’s ensemble pieces are all MTV-style line dances, facing the audience. The coolest and most compelling is Video Jam, in which one dancer "manipulates" five other characters whose robotic movements are perfectly timed to recorded electronic music. The dancers may be featherweights, but they take those weighted "bam bam" steps with such conviction, you'd swear they were made of iron.

In an interview, Love said, "This is not the break-dancing Nutcracker." But in an odd (and positive) way, it is. While Break! maintains hip-hop's raw nature musically, its vignettes serve the same purpose as ballet variations: they display the styles of individuals who’ve mastered a difficult (albeit more improvisational) vocabulary of steps.

BREAK!’’s dancers make every move look effortless: Headspins, windmills, flares, freezes, crazy legs, backflips and frontflips, spiders, locking and popping — plus other eye-popping tricks you don't see that often, such as the devilish 2,000 (a spinning, one-handed handstand). Imagine a figure skater in an accelerating spin, then turn him upside down and move his legs and you'll have an idea of what it's like to watch B Boy Ivan in action. He can also flip, Evel Knievel-style, over a long line of bodies.

Aquaboogy is sensational in his Living Mannequin solo. The pop-locker Bam Bam is smooth as silk. Doc, the robot leader, commands attention. Jumpin' Bean lives up to his name with front and back flips. And the good natured Lockin' Q brings breezy fun to everything she does. Peter Rabbit (a Bring in 'Da Noise veteran) pounds his bucket drums faster than machine-gun fire in his solo, Hittin'. In Pass the Beat, he rocks the house with GI Joe, who scratches amazing "voices" out of his records. (He can spin on his head, too.)
- THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular
Pops and Locks its way to Lincoln
September 30, 2005
Review By Ryan Kottich
DJ Shake laid down the beat as the bass pulsed through the auditorium. On the stage in front of him Ivan Manrique, a.k.a. Urban Action Figure, spun on his head like a top and Ariel Saint Hilaire, a.k.a. Flashback, performed a routine that would give any gymnast a run for their money.
This was only a part of the scene Wednesday night at the Lied Center as BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular brought their world-renown act to Lincoln. BREAK! is produced by Love Productions, and travels to campuses all across the country. It also tours internationally, playing in venues as far away as China.
The show is a celebration and exhibition of hip-hop and its five key elements: break dancing, deejaying, emceeing, graffiti and fashion. It brought an energetic display of the multitude of talents possessed by the musicians and choreographers. The spins, flips, twists, tumbles and sudden stop-and-start movements of the dancers left the crowd yelling for more.
Meanwhile, the scratching and mixing of DJ Shake and human beatboxing of Anointed S left the audience stunned, unsure of when to applaud and risk missing a cut.
When asked to describe the show in one sentence, executive director at the Lied Center Charles Bethea replied: "It is contemporary, energetic urban dance and music. It's such an opportunity to present a very compelling style of music."
Bethea added that BREAK! was a great way to reach people who probably do not think of the Lied as a place to find hip-hop and urban dance. He was extremely pleased with the response of the Lincoln turnout, mentioning the nearly 1,500 who attended the Tuesday show.
"We try to find a way to connect with an audience," Bethea said. "It is good for us and good for the community."
The lively crowd was composed of people varying in age, race, ethnicity, and culture, which is precisely the point said Matt Landis, who gave a speech before the performance about the past of hip-hop and its ability to grab all different types of people.


"Hip-hop is a culture of creativity, it is a culture of humor, it is personal, it is inventive, it is unifying," said Landis. "Hip-hop is about power, unity, community, spontaneity. Hip-hop is catharsis."
Lisa Blakeley, a 28-year-old Chicago native at the show, has been around the art form her whole life.
"I can't say it really influenced me, because it was always there," she said. "It would be like your parents playing rock and roll when you were growing up."
She also recognizes the way hip-hop has been able to reach so many people.
"If it wasn't for white kids buying records and spending money, it wouldn't be as big as it is today," she said.
The show impressed.. "It was sweet," said 14-year-old Marcus McKeekin. "They're the best. They could have gone anywhere. I can't believe they came to Lincoln."
McKeekin and his friend, Mitch Rohrs, 14, said they had attended the workshop held by the cast earlier in the day and received some pointers on how to do some of the moves performed by the members of BREAK!. Both McKeekin and Rohrs are aspiring break dancers, with BREAK! serving as extra inspiration.
"It's definitely motivation to keep practicing," Rohrs said.
Meanwhile, Bethea says hip-hop is a way to express yourself.
"Hip-hop is a celebration in our spirit as human beings," said Bethea. "Hip-hop says 'I'm creative, I'm thoughtful, and I can express these to you in a certain way.'"
Overall, 223 UNL students showed up to the event on Tuesday and 272 students on Wednesday.
Still, McKeekin said he thought it was probably the last time a show like this would come to Lincoln, but Bethea was more optimistic.
"We're so pleased we were able to take advantage of an opportunity like this," Bethea said. "We hope it will open doors in the future."
- NEWS NET NEBRASKA

ALBANY -- It's hard to believe that the phenomenon known as break dance has been around for 30 years now. We still think of hip-hop -- a term that loosely encompasses music, movement, style and even graffiti art -- as the new thing, a fresh and inventive form that influences the rest of the culture.
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The high-energy, talent-packed, entirely G-rated production that is "BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular" proved Friday night at The Egg that what's old (by today's light-speed standards) is still incredibly exciting. It doesn't matter how many times you've seen dancers spin on their heads, flip in the air, cartwheel no-handed and isolate each muscle in their bodies as if they were hinged all over -- it's still pretty darn impressive. Like a chain of pirouettes or a triple axel on the ice, these are physical feats that never lose their capacity to amaze.

Formed in 1999 by Steve Love, whose best-known production up till then was the New York Express Roller Dance Company, "BREAK!" brings together young dancers with veterans of the form like DJ Shake (Chet Samuels). "This is real traditional hip-hop," Samuels told the roaring crowd before proceeding to scratch records on a turntable (two words unfamiliar to many in the audience) with both hands simultaneously, then a hand and a foot, his head and finally his rear end. "Hip-hop now is out of control, infiltrated by acts of violence, drugs, all sorts of foolishness," he proclaimed.

"BREAK!" aims to salvage the heart of the hip-hop revolution, and thus to educate a bit as well as entertain. The term "break dancing," for instance, is misleading: Breaking is actually only one of four basic moves that also include locking, popping and freestyle. "Break!" shows off all of these. In one number, Doc (Antoine Judkins) brings to life three locking and popping "robots" (Gabriel Jaochico, Kumiko Naito and guest performer Michael Sim). In another, Honey Rockwell (Eureina Valencia) watches four b-boys compete for her with increasingly jaw-dropping solos, and then jumps into the center of the circle to show them all that she's got the moves, too. …And during intermission, small children could be seen attempting to spin on their backs on the floor of the lobby, proving that hip-hop still has the power to captivate new audiences
- Times Union

FUNK GRAD.COM
The Singapore Indoor Stadium June 2005

Take A Break
"The stellar line-up of cast in BREAK!
was enough to take away our breaths away"
Review by Gracia Chiang, NTU

"Tonight, you guys are going to have a blooooody good time," boomed local rap artist Sheik Haikel, host of BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular. and have a good time we did.

The night kicked off with Sheik Haikel grooving to the beat of his new tune, "Put It In" as his dancers gave us a foretaste of the break-dance action that was to come

By the time New York urban artists BREAK! bounced onto stage an hour into the show, our appetites were already whetted by the four young performers who honed their break-dancing talent in two short segments which they effortlessly aced. For Michael, Benedict, Zaihar and Shahrin, finalists of the preliminary dance competition held in conjunction with the BREAK! showcase, the 27th of May was their night to shine.

The stellar line-up of cast in BREAK! was enough to take away our breaths away. Cast like B-Boys Action Figure, Aquaboogy, Bam Bam and B-Girl Lockin' Q are no strangers to the dance scene, having gone on tours with MTV productions, starred in commercials and performed with artists such as Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, 50 cent. Brought to stage by renowned producer Steve Love, we could expect nothing less after hearing of the multiple standing ovations that BREAK! met with from its performances around the globe.

Break!'s 14 numbers suggest a jumble of break-dancing influences - from James Brown's knee-pummeling moves of the late 1960s to urban gang battles, video games, martial arts and MTV. A large projection screen behind the dancers "places" them in New York streets and alleys, night clubs and graffiti land.

The real action came when the cast came together to execute somersaults, cartwheels and flips with such mind-blowing synchronicity and finesse. Their display of agility definitely gave professional gymnasts a run for their money.


Master of scratching disc jockey Shake had his moment of glory when he had a whole act to himself which saw him using his forehead, knees, shoes and even his buttcheeks to work the turntables, producing no less than a flawless hiphop beat that you wouldn't even have guessed it wasn't his hands doing the work.

There was also pounding on tribal drums where a fusion of salsa beats and sporting showmanship saw a bloke playing the drum while standing, sitting and bending over, proving that the versatile and multitalented BREAK! crew isn't just all about break-dance.
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The few minutes-long head spins garnered the most wolf whistles from the audience. There was even once where three B-Boys were spinning simultaneously with their legs up in the air as well as leaping over several bodies on the stage much to the delight of the trigger-happy audience who were armed with their cameras

For 24-year-old Michael Sim, tonight however was his big break. Emerging the winner of the local dance competition, the bubbly chap walked away with $500 in cash, a return air ticket for a 4 days 3 nights stay in the US and a chance to perform alongside with BREAK! and he deserved it. His routine was evidently the most well-thought of, complete with a story line, smooth moves and a costume change midway to go with it.
- FUNK GRAD.COM

The Herald Tribune
'BREAK!' Provides
Hip-hop History lesson
By Barbara Leverone

Sarasota's own version of "So You Think You Can Dance" filled the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall stage Thursday night with a crew of local hip-hoppers strutting their stuff as the warm-up act for "BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular."

Selected during a Van Wezel Education Outreach program, the 20 youths set the tone for the evening with high-energy break dancing and a sheer joy of performing.

Attracting an eclectic audience that filled the theater, the performers of "BREAK!" followed with two hours of the latest in urban dance and music. DJ Shake (Chet Samuels) spun records, mixed and scratched his original beat, and played with the audience by passing out chips and drinks.

Percussionist One Time kept up a steady rhythm behind the music track, blasted out a vigorous drum solo and entertained with a story and demonstration of his skills on overturned buckets.

Anointed S (Shaun Roig) defied description with his impressive vocal percussive rhythms. With his mouth held close to the microphone, he clicked, hissed, gulped, popped and bammed, creating a veritable symphony of sound. The three artists combined their talents in "Pass the Beat" or provided background rhythms for the dancers.

Kumiko Naito, known as Locking Q, took us back to the club dancing of the '70s dressed in the distinctive striped kneesocks and caps of the L.A. Lockers while she kicked a knee sideways and sent her elbows flying and forearms spinning.

Another group, in casual T-shirts and sweatpants, moved in unison or shone in their solos, showing us the highlights of break dancing with its head spins, fast footwork and gravity-defying handstands.

Aquaboogy (Otoniel Vasquez) proved a master at slow-motion isolation which he then sped up, moving as if lit by strobes, while Angel Feliciano slid into the ever-popular moonwalk and swiveled into a static shape before popping to the pulse of the beat.

Each performer offered his or her special gymnastic trick, including aerials with attitude and breathtaking head spins, legs flying and arms held out to the side. In "Video Jam," one dancer directed the others in robotic moves, vibrating and popping to an electronic score.

Even though the production integrated visual graffiti as backdrops, smoke machines and sophisticated lighting, the company retained the essential rawness of urban street dancing, pushing their physical boundaries and charming us with their abundant youthful energy.

- The Herald Tribune

Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, April 1, 2006.
By Tim Van Schmidt

Things got down right rowdy at the Lincoln Center on April 1 when “Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular” turned the performance hall into a loud, energetic hip hop club. Between the action on the stage- measuring equal parts of attitude against slick, amazing body movement- and the whoops and hollers coming from the audience, there wasn’t a quiet moment during the show. This added to the delight in experiencing something NEW at the Lincoln Center.

But be certain that “Break!”, a New York City based performance troupe currently on a world tour, is not just about the dancing. While various forms of break dancing were showcased, the rhythmic skills of live musicians DJ Shake and drummer Peter Rabbit were also spotlighted. These long sections of grooves- at times a little tedious compared to bodies flying across the stage- served as spacers between the dancing numbers and underscored that hip hop first and foremost is based on the beat. But then add the dancers and the show becomes a party that many in the usually staid venue were willing to join. Heads were bobbing enthusiastically to the incessant rhythms and cheers were plentiful.

Now, the physical accomplishments of the dancers- including Doc, Aquaboogy, Flashback, Dizzy, Jumping Bean and Locking Q- were significant. Flipping, spinning and diving to the beats, these performers are more like acrobats than dancers. And it was wonderful to watch because there was a real sense that this show is not just artifice, but something these people might be doing together anyway at a party somewhere- or on a city street corner.

But more than just cool body work, “Break!” also is a breath of fresh air thanks to the attitude of the performers. Flashback in particular seemed to be in control of the proceedings and he brought a cool, yet slightly irreverent air to the stage. And this is where the roots of “Break!” seem to be revealed. It was easy to imagine that Flashback’s stage presence- confidence cut with friendliness- was developed on the street. Street performing is different from being in a theater in that on the street there is no barrier between the performers and the audience, who gather just by happenstance. A certain kind of crowd control is necessary in the open air to keep things interesting and involving and Flashback seems to be a master. He talked to the crowd at the Lincoln Center like they were passersby, strong in the knowledge that the dancing will impress, given a little time to create magic. Here, a well-developed personality is as important as physical talent in capturing a crowd’s attention.

“Break!” was perhaps one of the best shows to come to the Lincoln Center in several seasons and it was precisely this mix of personality and movement that made it succeed. This wasn’t just another touring show but a vivid experience with lively characters. The audience, with probably very few break dancers among them, was delighted and if “Break!” came back to town, many would probably go again- even if the show was out on the street or in a parking lot somewhere.



- King Koncert

Every now and then something innovative is brought to the forefront that completely transcends and trumps the ordinary.

Steve Love, of Love Productions, has creatively masterminded a production of artistic creativity that truly exudes the essence of hip-hop, and the culture that is often times overshadowed by the degradation of the use of language and misappropriated funds for bling.

Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular is a fuse of the different elements of urban dance. It combines dance styles such as: locking, (which is the style of Rerun from What's Happenin'), popping, (Michael Jackson), and breaking, (floor work, including flares and power tumbling). It also includes other aspects such as DJing and bucket drumming, which helps to synergize the overall effects, creating one powerful, flowing show.

Steve Love, whose background is in business, is no stranger to transforming the ordinary into a form of art. Do you remember when you used to beg your parents to drop you off at the roller rink so you could meet up with your friends, and ya'll would skate and show off your outfits while mingling with the opposite sex? Well, Love took the effortlessness of a childhood pastime, and recreated it, turning it into an art form, with his %New York Express Roller Dance Company.It was while he was touring with that production, that he witnessed the complexity of b-boying, and truly appreciated its worth. He then, conceptualized the idea for Break!. The show that would catapult urban dance styles into the mainframes of a wider audience, moving them from out of their peripherals.

After securing the venues, I was able to secure the finest lockers, poppers, and b-boys in the world, Love says, they came to me, and we started going into the dance studio and working on choreography, he adds.

The comprised cast of dancers are from all different walks of life, and different levels and fields of expertise; some of them even may have even battled against one another in different dance crews, however they have put aside any rivalries, and assembled to form a bigger unit, representing their passion's uniqueness. For many of these artists, this is the opportunity that they have danced their entire careers to have, for Break! finally provides them an avenue, and an outlet where they can propel themselves out of the shadows of a rapper or singer, and into the limelight to shine as a solo star.

The responses to the show have been staggering. Performance after performance, review after review, Break! has wowed its audiences, who have in-turn showered them with thunderous applause, and crowded various halls to revel in the show's unparallelism.

Break! has danced its way to international acclaim, locking dates for its entire summer tour in countries such as Australia and New Zealand. The Urban Funk Spectacular has a few stops left before they have to show their passports, one of which includes a performance at Jesse H. Jones Hall on April 28th.The Society for Performing Arts has managed to bring the show to Houston on the last leg of its U.S. tour, for a single night's performance. This is a show that is not to be missed! For the love of hip hop, for the love of dance, for the love of art, or just to satiate your curiosity, please check out this unique art form, and support the Love movement.

For more info on Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular, please go to www.breakshow.com.
- Houston Style Magazine

THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
Hip-hop and Break Dancers
Awe Valley Audiences

October 25, 2005
Review BY KATHLEEN MELLEN – staff writer

Shock and awe took on a whole new meaning Friday evening as New York City's finest (no, not the ones in blue) very nearly blew the roof off the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

I'm talking here about the cast of 'BREAK! Urban Funk Spectacular,' a display of fast-paced, high-energy hip-hop and break dance that appeared, sadly, for one night only on the concert hall stage.
In a 90-minute virtuosic display of mind-boggling spins, gravity-defying headstands, stupefying robotics, wild gyrations and athletic one-handed freezes, the performers had the audience hooting and hollering and clamoring for more. There sere two standing ovations Friday, one in a mid-performance show of appreciation for the evening's astonishing beatboxer, Anointed S. Beatboxing is a method of creating increasingly elaborate percussion-like sounds using
only the voice and a microphone.

Dance moves were met with equal enthusiasm. With names like Dizzy, Jumpin' Bean and Aquaboogie, the performers took the audience through a step-by-step history of 30 years of this distinctly American art form that has its roots on the streets of the nation's cities.

Much like urban street-corner tap dancers of years gone by, these energy-charged dances have been created over time largely during impromptu dance competitions, with the moves growing more daring and breathtaking through contests of one-upmanship. From break dancing and the Electric Boogaloo ('locking & popping'), to 'free styling' and power tumbling, these dances are as much about improvisation and just plain 'showing off,' as they are about technique and style.

Pumping up the energy before the show, DJ Shake (Chet Samuels) was already on stage when the audience began to filter into the auditorium. His onstage setup included a selection of records (yup, real LPs) stored by his side in a crate, and two turntables on which he spun his discs. Later in the show, Samuels used those records to scratch out syncopated rhythms and unusual sounds, using not only his hands to control the turntables, but his feet, his head and even his behind.
'Are you ready to have a good time tonight?' he bellowed at the audience when it was still only half full. 'Yes!' came back the enthusiastic reply.

By the time the show's master of ceremonies, Angel Feliciano, dashed onto the stage, urging the audience to 'make some noise,' they needed little encouragement. Primed and ready, the audience first welcomed the two winners of a dance contest that had been held the night before at the UMass Student Union Ballroom.

Michael Kim (Onion), winner in the 'popping' category, and John Ying (Tienchii), winner in the BBoy (break dancing) category, both got to show their stuff.

Then came the pros - each one a tightly wound coil of potential energy. And when they were sprung - watch out! From the drummer who bounded on stage with a back flip and a handspring before taking his seat and grabbing his drumsticks, and 'Locking Q' (Kumiko Naito), a tiny Japanese bundle of pop, lock and break, to Honey Rockwell (Eureina Valencia), a former champion gymnast and mother of three, these young performers have to be among the hardest-working in the business.

Jumpin' Bean , for example can be seen regularly dancing on the streets of New York City, where many of the performers got their start. This dynamo came on stage doing a series of back handsprings (eleven to be exact) that were so fast his body seemed to blur. He ended those with a mile-high layout that would have had any Olympic gymnast beaming.

Another dancer, Guadalupe Rodriguez, aptly nicknamed 'Dizzy,' spun on his head (with no hands, mind you) for longer than seemed humanly possible. In one of his solos, he rotated 23 times - and that was before he sped up, turning so fast that counting became impossible. His spins, fueled by momentum, were followed by balancing acts that included shoulder stand freezes and one-armed handstands.

One of the evening's most awe-inspiring entertainers was Aquaboogy (Otoniel Vasqez) the show's pop-and-lock star. Pop and lock refers to a 'locking' of the joints of the arms and body that produces staccato movements and isolated sharp body angles.

A tiny ripple of energy that begins at the tip of Vasqez's fingers might 'travel' up his arm, across his shoulders and out to the tip of his other hand. Then, the ripple might reverse, traveling to the top of his head, then down his trunk and a leg until it seems to shoot out through the end of his foot. In one sequence, Vasqez repeatedly adjusted the position of his hat, using tiny, sequential jerky movements that made him look for all the world like a drawing in a flip book.

BREAK! Urban Funk Spectacular,' was presented in collaboration with the UMass O - THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE

By Janet Descutner - Saturday, December 3, 2005
"BREAK!" Tuesday night in the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center
The audience burst into a raucous combination of yelping, clapping and whistling in anticipation of the program, subtitled "The Urban Funk Spectacular World Tour."
The members of the company sported names as funky as their styles, with such monikers as Doc, Aquaboogy, Locking Q, Dizzy, Angel, Honey Rockwell, Flashback, Crazy C and B Boy G.
Live accompaniment was provided by a trio: DJ Shake, mixmaster of the turntable; One Time, percussionist; and Anointed S, vocal percus- sionist.
The founder/chief of creation was Steve Love, while Val Brochard provided production direction. Antoine Judkins and Chet Samuels supplied musical direction.
Hip-hop, an American-developed urban dance form, has a conglomerate of styles, which include break dancing, locking, electric boogaloo and popping. Each of these styles has a distinct energy and movement vocabulary that identifies it.
The program listed five elements as the components of hip-hop's differing styles: dance, the master of ceremonies, disc jockey, graffiti and fashion.
James Brown's "Get on the Good Foot," a 1969 hit, with its acrobatic spins and dramatic drops, was cited as one of the genre's starting points.
Three guys, identified as "The Bronx," incorporated moments of slow motion, floor work and "freezing." These movements contrasted with fast feet and flips, floor twirls and cartwheel turns.
The D.J. presence kept spirits in energetic motion, at one point interjecting cuts from the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" in electronic rock 'n' roll.
These electrically resonating sounds had a powerful effect, keeping the energy level really high and the audience's response enthusiastically engaged. They seemed to pounce into your lungs and resonated with ferocity down to your feet.
Next, an acrobatic fight ensued, with players whirling on the floor, legs above the head. Backflips - both two- and one-handed, and some with no hands at all - segued into a hip-hop confrontation, all to enthusiastic audience approval.
The body-based tensions and rhythms, with gestures seemingly exploding out of the prerecorded sound like drums from the tongue, gave way to throat-singing, with the mike pressed against the throat. The performer gyrated his pelvis and legs with a false modesty, while voicing a wide range of pitches and timbres with the mike close up in his face.
A human rhythm machine materialized in the form of a quartet guided by its central member to loud sound effects - breathing, bouncing with robotic quivering and jerking in a hip-hop fashion.
Although the action was very physical, it was more acrobatic than "balletic," moving into fast foot work and more floor work on shoulders and backs.
The audience was very responsive to one performer in particular who dropped to his knees and "wobbled" his way up from the floor to rise. Another performer displayed a total "body wave" control to enthusiastic response.
By the time the last section ended, the audience was completely engaged and applauded the results vigorously.
- Register-Guard