I'm in Japan for a vacation now and finally got back to my computer. Luckily, all the battle clips from the ESS 4 is up. Thus, I want to post it here!!!
Most recent showcase by What The Funk?! Crew.
Featuring
Ilya "iLL" Leyzerov
Edmund "E.T" Tan II
Shinjiro Ray Tanaka.
And myself.
It was difficult to complete this piece because
1. I don't lock. I suck at it lol
2. iLL was in Boston finishing up his semester. He came to the rehearsal 3 times in total.
3. We realized that we forgot to bring the bag LMAO.
So over all, we were REALLY nervous.
But as you'll notice watching the clip, the crowd loved it. There are many mistakes made in this piece. But I just love the fact that we were able to make everyone exited and happy.
Thank you sincerely to my brothas, iLL, E.T, and Shin.
I don't know this popper, J.G, but damn he is Funked up lol
Definitely has a flavor influenced by my teacher.....don't know if they have any connection but his feeling and the boogaloo footwork reminds me of Jazzy J.
Kyo was clean as usual, but I would give the win to J.G on this one.
Comments anyone?
By the way, FUNKY MANSION IS BACK ON TONIGHT!!!
Its at a new location at 4 W 43rd Street between 5,6 Avenue.
I want to dedicate this post to two of the sickest popper that has been representing the US popping scene for over a decade.
Jrock and Popula of the Animated Beat Mechanics.
I first saw found out about them from seeing this video.
Gucchon vs Popula 2005 Best of the Best.
When I found this video, I was in the situation where I couldn't get out of the house nor dance (personal, family issues). Thus, I was browsing the web for dance clip to entertain myself.
I was a big fan of OBA, popper that my best friend Tim introduced to me. Through the battle against OBA and Acky, I got to this video.
Later, I found a website for poppers called "Westcoast Popping". As I browsed through the website, I came across this clip. This was how I discovered Jrock and knew that Popula and Jrock was in a crew called Animated Beat Mechanics.
Boy was I hooked to this vid. This is still one of my favorites.
Its clean, its deep, it has great mixture of popping styles, full of funk, and the way his dance creates the atmosphere in that environment using the music is just perfect.
I don't know if you remember Jrock, but Master Flex is my all time favorite move because I took your class on the summer of 2009 at NYU.
It was the first time I learned how to do a Master Flex with full breakdown. I loved it and I still used it all the time.
Speaking of my favorites vids, my all time favorite of Popula's vid would be this
I got hooked on this one with ilya lol
We spoke and discussed about this clip for a while.
How energetic it was, how fluid but animated his movements were, how he rides and executes the music, how he looks like he doesn't give a F, but looks hard and legit.
Couple month later, we accidentally met with Popula at one of the battle in Boston. He didn't battle, but I remember Monsta Pop and him going at each other most of the time. It was like two giants going against each other lol
Those two were my idol.
But when those two came to NYC to do the show iLuminate, they showed us young NY poppers love and guidance.
and I'm honored that I was one of the popper who got their blessings.
From late November 2012 to early January 2013, they did the show and came down to sessions to practice with us.
Even on days when they did three consecutive shows, wearing 30lb suit, they got down harder than anyone in the practice sessions.
They must had been exhausted. I saw the show (hour long non stop dancing show!!!) and I can tell that it was tough. They dance nonstop with the suits AND they carry each other to create an effect that the dancers were flying. Doing that three times a day and coming down to a 2 hour session?
All I can say was that they were full of "Dedication and Passion".
Not only that, they gave us tips on what to improve and showed us examples by getting down with us. There were times when they even invited us to their crib to do a session til midnight.
I don't need to remind you, but Jrock and Popula are internationally known, star status dancers. I assumed that such dancers would separate themselves from the rest.
But not these two. They didn't hesitate to share knowledge and guidance to young dancers at all.
I can surely say that not only myself but many that had the chance to get to know them and danced with them were grateful to get down with them and are now full of respect and gratitude towards the two.
I was lucky to have many occasions where I was able to practice with them.
Thank you Popula and Jrock for all your contribution to the NYC popping community. We miss you guys a lot already.
In addition, I sincerely thank you two for believing in me and spending your time to train me. You guys were an huge inspiration to me for the past couple months. I'm sure that you will keep inspiring more as you keep evolving.
However, I believe that saying thank you and blogging about it isn't enough compare to what you guys did for me. Therefore, I would carry on what you guys taught me. To train hard, share that passion and knowledge to the community and help it grow stronger.
Also, I don't know how long this will take, but I will give the ultimate form of thank you by SMOKING you guys!!! lol
