More Than A Stance » Videos

“2 Hard 2 Bite” Isn’t 2 Hard 2 Parody

Calvin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:28:36 +0000

Nothing like a good parody to kick off the new year.

Check out the original viral hit below.

What Does It Feel Like To Be at IBE?

Calvin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:17:34 +0000

Anyone who’s filmed or photographed an event knows that it’s easy to lose a lot in the distance between the dancing and the camera.

In a viewfinder, intimate cypher battles suddenly become sterile. Dynamics of a hyped battle become a jumble of blurs and static. Subtle flourishes get drowned out by acrobatics and roars. Expensive as a camera might be, there has yet to be a feature that can automatically capture an event’s atmosphere. A quick scroll through the comments of any battle clip reveals dancers lamenting that the footage doesn’t really capture what really happened.

Continuing on our mini-theme of unconventional event trailers, Botanik comes through with a powerful summary of the IBE experience.

As much as it’s been said before, it’s the little things that count.

LINK: IBE 2011 by Botanik

Style Wars: The Outtakes

Calvin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:34:10 +0000

While Style Wars is already considered a documentary classic in the hip-hop community, there’s still plenty of footage from the project that has yet to see the light of day.

Hip-hop author and film producer Henry Chalfant has begun a Kickstarter account to raise $28,000 to restore close to 30 hours of film originally shot in the early ’80s.

Outtakes are said to include scenes like the clip above, showing a young Crazy Legs dicussing Rock Steady Crew, as well as extended footage of the immortalized battle between Rock Steady and Dynamic Rockers.

Hit the links below to find more information and to contribute.

LINK: Kickstarter — STYLE WARS … the Outtakes

SOURCE: Hypebeast

Navator Takes Event Trailers to the Next Level

Calvin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:45:44 +0000

There’s nothing wrong with filming battles and splicing together some exciting clips over some hard beats to make a highlight reel. On the opposite side of the event coverage spectrum, however, Navator takes jam footage and makes it an artform all its own.

With smooth textures and clicking soundscapes from the likes of Flying Lotus and TOKiMONSTA, these clips capture (or create?) the emotions and atmospheres of the events beyond the stage. Purists might scoff, but it’s hard to deny the beauty of these pieces covering IBE, Freestyle Session, and Evolution.

LINKS:

- Navator.com
- Navator YouTube Channel

Jalen and Lil Demon vs. American Apparel?

Calvin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:45:17 +0000

Most people will probably either love or hate this spot by Tony Kelly, but all I know is I can’t stop watching it.

Jalen and Lil Demon have been killing it for a while — and slow motion and bow ties and Debussy? C’mon!

Thesis: B-Boys Are Artists, Not Athletes

Calvin — Tue, 31 May 2011 08:29:26 +0000

Not everyone’s a Strife.tv, so it’s always an interesting to see how non-b-boy media outlets fare with b-boy interviews. Luckily for you, Detooz Films does an impressively slick job with the infamous b-boy Thesis (click here to read our previous Thesis feature).

Among other things, Thesis discusses some interesting points about the pitfalls of watching too much YouTube, his reasons for prefering cyphers over big shows, and the beauty of taking moves from a three-legged dog.

Yeah, you’ll probably just need to watch it.

Dance Assassin: Taking B-Boying to the Streets, Kind Of

Calvin — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:32:00 +0000

Now that the hype on this has died down a bit, it’s worth showcasing this bit of b-boy comedy gold to those of you who might have missed it the first time around.

While it’s certainly entertaining in its own right, what’s really weird about this video to me is how it illustrates a lesson that has been popping up a lot for me lately: the b-boy community is really small.

Even with how widespread b-boying has become, it’s always a pleasant surprise to realize that b-boys and b-girls almost always have a handful of close mutual friends even with people across the globe.

In the case of this video, my first “break-dance” lessons came from an amiable blond guy who taught out of a ballet studio in Birmingham, Alabama. He was an accomplished dancer, but all I knew of his b-boy background was that he occasionally practiced with Birmingham’s BMW Crew. He tried to teach me how to swipe, but he abruptly disappeared one day, leaving nothing behind but the studio’s vague explanation that he “moved to California.”

Well, here he is now, scaring the crap out of babies when he’s not Tasering girls or creating viral dances.

Had I known Rob was this weird when I was I middle school, I would have either avoided him entirely or worshiped the ground he waacked on.

The Best of B-Boy Bowling

Calvin — Tue, 17 May 2011 18:39:06 +0000

I mean, what else are those slick floors really good for?

For the sake of variation, you can try a backspin instead of a headspin:

Or you can rock the beat of the pins:

Apparently, this whole bowling alley bowling phenomenon is ubiquitous to the point where battles can spontaneously break out in front of the snack bar:

Or you can blend the activities by instating a “one roll, one run” rule:

Have you done this before? Is b-boy bowling the new b-boying at Walmart?

Ducky’s Fiery Feat

Calvin — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:15:49 +0000

(Insert your favorite fire-related pun here.)

It should come as no surprise that we’re big fans of Ducky, but the Korean dancer’s latest video really is, uh, fire (sorry).

What’s great about this teaser is that you could take out the flames, and the dancing would still be just as fascinating.

On the other hand, if you replaced Ducky with any other dancer, this would look like the ugly offspring of a car commercial and a bad Mafia movie.

And, for those of you who care about stuff like this, it seems that Ducky isn’t the first to have done this. Congratulations, “Phil.” Your presumably drunken New Year’s 2007 stunt wasn’t in vain.

Flo Master Calls for Respect to Krumpers

Calvin — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:08:47 +0000

Well, he is a legend.

But the real surprise here is how how obscure BlackBerry has gotten in its campaign.

“Among B-Boys” Showcases Hmong B-Boy Community

Calvin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 23:05:44 +0000

“Among B-Boys” has been on my radar since I first saw its short film version a few years back when I lived in Oklahoma. My interest in the topic itself was complemented by the fact that at jams, I’d often run into the Tulsa-based Hmong crew Soul Rivals, of which one member was featured prominently in the film.

Several years later, I’m now in Minnesota, another hub for the Hmong community, and the film has blossomed into a full-length documentary. In that time, the pun-tastically named project has inspired not only a synonymous jam but also collaborative Hmong crew with members across the country.

Shot in a number of of those locations in the West Coast and Midwest, “Among B-Boys” takes a peek into the impact of b-boying on the Hmong community. It’s always pretty fascinating to see how hip-hop can almost universally empower a struggling minority groups, and coupled with the already-fascinating history of the Hmong people, it should be a interesting watch.

“Among B-Boys” premieres May 4 at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. For more information, click here.

Check out the original short below.

What if People Treated All Athletes the Way They Treat B-Boys?

Calvin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:58:14 +0000

Alright, these Nike Skateboarding commercials are a) kind of old and b) not about b-boying.

But they are hilarious, and their relevance toward b-boying is readily obvious.

It doesn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to see the word “skaterboarders” replaced by “b-boys” — especially when you consider that many b-boys are hoping to see professional b-boying emulate the model set by professional skateboarding.

Amazing B-Boy Light Painting from Around the World

Calvin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:33:59 +0000

First, a brief history: light painting — otherwise known as light graffiti or “that stuff that your photographer friends do that made you ask, ‘How did you do that?’” — has actually been around since the 1930s. Typically, a light is moved during a long exposure shot, creating a streak of color.

While Man Ray is credited for being a pioneer of light painting, Picasso (!) popularized the technique after being introduced to it by Gjon Mili, a photographer who shot pictures of ice skaters with lights attached to their legs.

Fast forward several decades, and now you have videos like the one above featuring Japanese b-boys Snack and Suke doing sets with lights attached all over their bodies.

Having the lights on the actual dancers themselves can yield interesting results (click here for more from Oregon-based Ben Canales), but there are also more conventional methods for marrying light painting and b-boying.

Below are examples of a French director and photographer using the stop motion technique of light writing to complement b-boys’ shapes and moves.

Houlk from Jerry Miller on Vimeo.

And hey, look. B-boys drawn in light painting form by Julien Avignon.

Yeah, France is killing it.

B-Boys who MC: Alien Ness, Ken Swift and More

Calvin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:16:43 +0000

Can you multitask like Ken Swift and Zulu Gremlin?

It’s been long said that the original hip-hoppers rarely restricted themselves to one “element” of hip-hop. It wasn’t uncommon for a b-boy to also dig records and catch a quick tag on the way home.

The funny thing about b-boys MCing or rapping, however, is that b-boys aren’t always the most articulate guys. And oftentimes, fans are surprised by their favorite dancers having voices that don’t seem to match up with their dance styles.

Add on to that the dichotomy that is often placed between stereotypical “rappers” (blinged and thugged out) and “b-boys” (poor and grimy), and watching your favorite b-boy rhyme can sometimes be like watching your favorite MC break.

As these videos show, the results may vary, but they’re always pretty fascinating.

Would it really be a true Alien Ness music video if it didn’t start with smoke being blown in the camera?

Bboy City’s Romeo fills his video with all the hip-hop staples: dancing, graffiti, and, uh, ancient pyramids.

And, of course, you have to reserve a special place in your heart for people who can do both at the same time.

Who are your favorite MCing b-boys?

Adidas Megalizer: Make Music with Your Moves

Calvin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:40:34 +0000

adidas Originals – MEGALIZER featuring les Twins from Twins on Vimeo.

Above is every lazy dancers’ dream: what if the music matched itself to you, instead of you dancing to the music?

It’s the premise of the latest spot for Adidas Originals, for which France’s Vagabonds crew’s Lamine and Mounir teamed up with Les Twins, YAK Films, Sid Lee, coder Didier Brun, and a number of famous French rappers.

As many commenters have pointed out, the concept is nothing new — Nike even ran a similar spot using shoes to make music. The difference is, in this case, dancers are wearing the shoes and creating the music through their steps.

Unfortunately, though the advertisements imply that the shoes will be made available to the public, it seems that only three pairs were made for the films, while a limited number of installations were built in Paris for people to try. Furthermore, according to Brun’s blog (which is worth checking out if you want to see the science behind it all), the shoes seem to be a challenge to master themselves moreso than a shortcut to beat rocking mastery:

The dancers that operated on the video clip did train a lot to succeed in synchronizing to play the actual song.

In any case, it’s a fun and nicely executed series, and the beats beat the sound of b-boys panting, grunting, and crashing against the floor. Who wouldn’t at least want to try some toprock-tap-dancing-beat-making?

Thanks to Bboy Insiders for the heads up.

Fast and Fly: Ken Swift Discusses the Nike Cortez

Calvin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:58:22 +0000

In celebration of their upgraded line of Cortezes, Nike Sportswear dropped a nice three-part series of videos showing the shoes’ history, evolution, and adoption by various cultures.

Ken Swift holds down the fort for the b-boys and the East Coast, explaining how the shoe’s unique shape and fabrics made it ideal for doing fast footwork and looking fresh.

Other featured artists include Mister Cartoon and Estevan Oriol.

Check out more Nike videos here.

Marcio: If Bruce Lee Were a B-Boy

Calvin — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 01:01:58 +0000

As RoxRite recently blogged, it’s getting more and more difficult to have your b-boy clips stand out when there are so many dancers with cameras and computers constantly uploading new content.

The Portugese-born French b-boy Marcio takes on a different approach, memorably showing us what kung fu flicks might have looked like if Bruce Lee could airflare.

It’s not the first time a b-boy has donned the iconic Bruce Lee costume — check out Profo and the guys of Atlanta’s Lost in the Gym. Crumbs is also said to have repped that black and yellow. To make matters even more confusing, there’s the Korean b-boy who goes by Bruce Lee who, as far as I can tell, does not wear the outfit.

Who’s your favorite b-boy version of Bruce Lee? Do these isolated incidents hint at a bigger trend that warrants a Stuff B-Boys Like post?

Cloud Debuts “The Music Box”; Girls Across the World Faint

Calvin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:13:23 +0000

Just in case you were having one of those rare Mondays where you actually feel pretty good about yourself, Cloud reminds us that some people will inexplicably be better at everything than you will ever be.

Skill Methodz’s Daniel Campos, also known as Cloud, otherwise known as your girlfriend’s favorite b-boy (you know he’s at least in her top three), just released his latest in a string of impressive videos. The guy dances, sings, draws, directs, films, edits — at this rate, expect a line of Cloud food products by 2012.

Really, though, it’s a fun piece, and there’s something immensely satisfying about watching a b-boy unashamedly get down in a pair of comfortably beat up sneakers. Now, if only we could get him to sit down for a More Than A Stance interview…

LINK: “The Music Box” – Daniel Cloud Campos

The Art of Being Fresh(-faced): Braun Features Ronnie and Lean Rock

Calvin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:33:02 +0000

The German consumer products company Braun recently debuted a line of YouTube advertisements featuring the ever-popular b-boy Ronnie and the infamous breaks DJ Lean Rock.

Ronnie, of course, became one of the faces for Red Bull after winning BC One, and Lean Rock is a former Karmaloop model. (The point: it never hurts to look good on camera.) Congratulations, fellas!

The advertisements are said to be running as TV spots in Europe later this year, and the YouTube channel features additional videos of the guys showing how to trim a goatee and how to look “badass.”

Points to discuss:

Does this mean b-boys will start shaving more?
Does this mean shaving enthusiasts will start breaking more?
When will Braun realize that the real money would be in inventing a device that would help young and/or Asian b-boys (like myself) to grow facial hair?

The Most Derogatory B-Boy News Report Ever

Calvin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:46:09 +0000

What makes this especially awesome is that a lot of the mentioned stereotypes are either a) actually true or b) untrue, but a lot of b-boys themselves still think they’re true.

The lesson from this? Never trust a man named Doug Curlee.

PRO-Keds Drops Spring 2011 Lookbook

Calvin — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:02:38 +0000

PRO-Keds have long been a b-boy staple, but it’s certainly up to debate whether what the world needs is another kid stomping around in a pair of Royals.

The latest lookbook features an interesting concept exploring the connection between the sneaker’s history in hip-hop and the present. Inevitably, there are some pictures and clips of some halfhearted b-boy stances and freezes.

What do you think — worthy of copping, is it just another example of what Celebreak called breaksploitation?

SOURCES: Hypebeast, Freshness Mag

Nude B-Boys Go Viral: An Overview of Naked Breakdancing (NSFW) *Updated

Calvin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:46:11 +0000

Tosh.0
Tags: Tosh.0 Videos,Daniel Tosh,Web Redemption

Wow. They’re really taking “cocking” to a whole new level.

The routine above probably isn’t worth trying out at a jam, but it does bring up an interesting topic: naked breakdancing. Let’s count down some notable examples after the jump.

The first thing to come to many b-boys’ minds is probably the trailer for Knuckleheads Cali‘s “Filthy Beast.” Like a Jackass for the b-boy crowd, it juxtaposed next-level dancing with gratuitous shots of screaming, puking, and yes, naked handhops.

The guys would later go on to do actual battles as the Bucho Bros., whose further near-nude escapades you can watch here.

Of course, there has long been a precedent set for nude b-boying, probably since the beginning of b-boying itself. (“Sure, you can do continuous backspins, but can you do them naked?”) Other notable examples include:

Omar (MZK) doing airflares with his pants down, then serving his opponents with his actual penis (through his underwear) at IBE
Boo Rok (GZC) pulling down the pants of a Japanese b-boy at Freestyle Session 7, who then in turn took his pants off and did an entire power set in whitey tighties.
And it seems that there’s an entire series of clips of Japanese b-boys who like to get completely naked during actual battles. Shout out to the guy who did fully nude halos and ended it with a headfreeze, one hand holding the tip of his penis straight out. (Sorry everyone, YouTube removed the video.)

It’s obviously not being lost on future generations either, as is evident from this recent clip from the jam Deuces Wild in Georgia.

Performers The Cuban Brothers incorporate an entire naked breaking bit into their performances, and apparently nude b-boying is high enough an artform to be featured at museums.

So, what essential naked b-boying clips are missing here? Is this phenomenon a product of nature or nurture? Most importantly, are you so disgusted that you’ll never come to this website again?

UPDATE: Thanks to Gusan for sending in the following clip. Keep the comments coming!

UPDATE #2: Thanks to El flo for the heads up and Jota for the following video of an event that takes place in Madrid.

UPDATE #3: Thanks to Robin for sending in the Beat Fanatics‘s trailer for Battle of the East 2008 below. Wow.

Wrestling + Hypnosis + B-Boying

Paul — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:20:32 +0000

I kept expecting to see the Bucho Brothers pop up.

Thanks to Rufus J Squirrel and Caleb Soon for the tip.

Ken Swift Named Second Most Iconic Dancer of 20th Century

Calvin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:40:07 +0000

Yep, he’s still got it.

Viewers of CNN‘s arts and culture show icon (yeah, I’ve never heard of it either) have voted Ken Swift as the second most iconic dancer of the 20th century.

According to the article: Swift is credited with establishing hip hop as a legitimate dance movement and creating many of its classic moves.

Well yeah, there’s that, plus the fact that he has the title “Prince” without sounding silly — oh, and he’s also a total badass. Does this mean b-boys are actually going to start being respected and recognized in the dance and arts community? If it does, it might be time to start overhauling the site as a b-boy gossip column.

Click here for more on Ken Swift.

Thanks to Nika for the tip.

Flipz Learns To Fight In Upcoming Film “Battle”

Paul — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:36:07 +0000

It’s not quite Zoolander style “breakdance fighting,” but that’s not too far off the mark.

Emily and Elizabeth Dell, the sisters who brought you B-Girl last year (see our interview with them here), have just released the teaser for the film “Battle” starring Flipz. There isn’t much mention of the plot aside from this short quote:

BATTLE is an action movie about a b-boy who must become a fighter.

If you’ve ever daydreamed about using some of your b-boy moves in a fight, this is the clip for you.

Protip: using b-boy moves in a fight will never, ever, actually work. Don’t do it.