Grim Reminder

Madcap @ Chinatown in San Francisco

How did you get started with bboying?

I first took notice of bboying during a school dance at the tail end of grade nine. It took my breath away. Immediately when I got home that night I was online finding out as much as I could about the dance. Haha. (I don’t know if anyone else knows who Bboy Neko is..) I remember the first freeze I was trying was a basic stabbed position with both hands, just burning my face against the carpet floor trying desperately to hold it. For a short period of time I managed to get some of my high school friends to get down, but of course like most people, I fell off. Hell, I didn’t bboy back then. I was just an idiot that learnt a crappy six step and baby freeze.

Then when I was around 18, I met Miles Faber while working at a local clothing company. I told him that I was a ‘breakdancer’ and he showed me things he had learnt as a popper. I remember standing there folding clothes and trying to learn how to moonwalk and side glide. After we both left that job we lost touch, and it wasn’t until I was 20 that I started taking classes with Tara Wilson. Tara also happened to be the woman Miles was taking classes with in between the time we had lost touch. After about a year of learning Hip Hop choreography, Popping, Locking, and some Breaking from Tara, I had reconnected with Miles and we started practicing together at Alive Danceworks, a studio he was teaching classes at. From there I had met IRock through Tara Wilson’s classes, and after the three of us started practicing together somewhat regularly, IRock had asked us both to join his crew at the time, Modus Operandi. That’s also how I connected with TKO, he joined a few months after I did.

Who were your inspirations?

My initial inspirations were the Original Rudes, no doubt. I remember watching my first battle, which was at Driven To Perform 2005. It was a battle that took place at a car show, and that’s when I first saw members of the Original Rudes getting down. In my early days as a bboy, Raul Guevara (4everfresh) was my biggest influence. I took workshops with him through Tara Wilson’s “Get Down” Master Classes. He would also get me to come take some of his classes down at The Latin Corner, or take me out to a concrete slab by the Sunnyside station.

Nowadays some of my biggest inspirations come from Rock So Fresh (San Diego, CA), guys like Fresh Finesse Optic, Sumo, King Saso, Godoyski. Those guys are so nasty and raw. Also Skill Methodz, Battle Squad, and Mind 180 (Milky & Keebz from Mind 180/Masterz of Mayhem) are at the top of the list.

What is it like finding places to practice?

I hate not having a regular place to practice. I go to the university to practice, because it’s close and it’s where a lot of other bboys go to practice as well. Ever since the Craigie Hall doors were locked on a regular basis we’ve been like a band of traveling gypsies, just looking for a place to dance without being disturbed. We’ve found a good spot now, so we’ll be should be ok for the next while until someone tells us to move.

What do you find most challenging about bboying?

The toughest thing would be trying to stay well balanced. There are just so many things to work on. I was practicing at Wizzle Rock’s place one night and he put it very well, he said “You guys have it tough, there are so many moves to learn now.” He was comparing it to back in the day where moves came out slowly, and you had more time to focus. These days I’m busy trying to balance practice time between headys, mills, flares, 2000s, munch mills, should spins, swipes, and god knows what I’m forgetting. If you just spend half an hour on each of those power moves, that’s 3.5 hours right there already, that’s not even including trying to get your tops, footwork, and freezes on point. Needless to say it can be very overwhelming.

Madcap cyphering @ the 3 on 3 battle at The Whiskey

What was your favourite battle?

My favourite battle would have to be Hat Trick 2008, we got to battle with H-Bomb (formerly Modus Operandi) and we hadn’t done that for a long time. It was like old war veterans battling together again in a new war. It felt great.

How do you feel about the Calgary scene?

Calgary is very friendly place, all the crews know each other and they get along well. As far I know there’s no rivalries either. I’ve seen scenes like Vancouver, Seattle, Toronto, San Francisco/East Bay, and none of them are like Calgarys’. It’s actually kind of surreal, but I like it here. Most of the dancers here focus a lot on being individual, you don’t have too many people who are only after that ‘bubblegum’ style with a lot of flashy moves. It’s people like the following which really show Calgary’s flavour:

• JBugz (Soul Felons)
• Reflex (O’ Mighty)
• Mezu (O’ Mighty)
• Ilia (O’ Mighty)
• Kid Fresh (Original Rudes)
• Clip (Original Rudes)
• Hesam I Am (Original Rudes)
• Darski (Original Rudes/Albino Zebras)
• Soul-B (Floor Wookies)
• Kokuu (Floor Wookies)