Beyond the Dance Floor

Today we talk with one of my personal favourite dancers to come from Vancouver, Canada, Sevrin repping Now or Never, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Think Twice.  Sevrin is part of an earlier surge of younger dancers that now makes up what I would say is the current middle generation of dancers in Vancouver. In this episode we get into his history and how he got into dance, his views on what Vancouver’s style is, thoughts on styles and how they develop, and connections between philosophy and breaking. Sevrin is a deep thinking about dance and art and it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to have him on the show to share his thoughts and opinions with everyone. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so keep that in mind while listening.  With all that being said, hope you enjoy the talk and thanks for listening. Peace.

Today we talk with Chris Wright aka Cros 1, the mastermind behind one of the most legendary bboy/bgirl dance events in the breaking world, Freestyle Session. In this episode we get into how he got into the hip hop culture in San Diego, the humble beginnings of Freestyle Session and how it grew to one of the biggest events in the world, what goes into creating such a large, international event, his freestyle mindset when organizing these events and more. Thanks so much to Cros One for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences.  We definitely need more people sharing information as openly and freely as Cros does.   That’s how we can help the next generation grow faster and further than we could ever imagine. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so some stuff might be out dated but I hope you all enjoy the talk anyway. Peace.

Today we talk with Arthur Tiojanco aka bboy artattacks representing Floorstorm crew out of Surrey, Canada.  Arthur, for many years now has been, in my opinion, one of the pillars of the Vancouver breaking and dance community as a whole, throwing countless events for the community and has been instrumental in keeping the scene alive.  We talk about how he got into dance, his crew Floorstorm as well as Surrey, the thankless job that is organizing and promoting breaking events, as well as some words about fellow crew member and one of the great Vancouver DJs, DJ Wunderkut (RIP). Thank you to Arthur for taking the time to share his perspectives and story.  The job of event organizers often goes unnoticed and unrecognized but are a crucial part of the community. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so some of context is a bit out of date but anyway, hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace.

Today we talk with the one and only bboy Focus from Flow Mo crew out of Helsinki, Finland.  Focus is one of the most internationally recognized dancers in the breaking world and is one of the first to really push online breaking education through his website and youtube channel.  In the talk we get into his breaking history and coming from a small town, building the online learning platform the Bboy/Bgirl Dojo, the importance of mentorship, what footwork means to him and more. Huge thank you to Focus for taking the time to share his thoughts and many years of experience with everyone. Hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace

Today we talk with one of the original members of my crew Filthee Feet, Dylan Thomas aka Dylioskee.  In the interview, Dylan provides great insight into the early days of the Victoria scene as well as how our crew got started, creating in isolation on Vancouver Island, his own Coast Salish first nations art, as well as a great look into how goofy and stupid our crew can get. A lot of great information in here and maybe a different look into our crew for some people.  Thanks a lot to Dylan for taking the time to share his experiences and just being a delight to chat with in general. Hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace

Today we talk with one of the best bgirls in my opinion, AT from Finland. In this episode we get into her history coming up in the Helsinki breaking scene, who her early breaking inspirations were, her perspective as a woman in a very male dominated dance, rediscovering herself and her style as a woman, mother, and human being, mentorship from Ata from Ghost Crew, being on the Finnish Olympic team and more. Thanks to AT for taking the time to share her history and perspectives and I hope you enjoy the talk. Peace

Today we talk with Montreal veteran, Zig from Flowrock Fresh Format and Stylz Corrupt.  Zig holds a very unique perspective on the dance because his history spans three separate generations of Montreal breaking with the older generation of Flowrock, the middle generation of Fresh Format and the newer generation with Stylz Corrupt.  In the podcast we talk about his history, his crews, how he dabbles in other areas of dance outside of breaking with groups such as C4, passing on his knowledge to a new generation, as well as his involvement with Breaking Canada and helping to build Canada's Olympic team. Huge shoutout to Zig for taking the time to share his history and his thoughts with us and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace

Today we talk with Masanari, a Japanese bboy/artist representing Naked Gunz crew out of Nagoya, Japan.   Masanari is an artist who combines the impermanent nature of the dance we call Breaking, and translate that into permanent pieces of artwork.  We get into his history, what the Mie and Nagoya breaking scenes are like, his Master's degree in Fine Arts and how he connects his art with dance and movement.   Very cool talk about the connection between movement and art and I hope you enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with Juan from Dance Broomz, one of the most creative dancers from the Pacific Northwest in my opinion.  In the talk, we get into his history and how he got into the dance, his creative influences, how his crew approached routines, some of his most memorable battle moments, his work as a chaplain in the US military and more. Juan is a really down to earth guy and it was great hearing his stories and experiences in the dance and beyond.  I really enjoyed the talk and I hope you do too. Peace.

Today we have Geoff Reyes, who some of you might not know but he’s a very important person in the Canadian Breaking scene.  He’s one of the main people behind Breaking Canada which deals with Breaking in the Olympics and You Be ILL which is his unique event series. Geoff is, in my opinion, one of the people responsible for really elevating the scene as well as building necessary bridges for the future of breaking in Canada.  In this episode, we talk about how You Be ILL started out, Canada's breaking programme and connecting with the larger Olympic body of Canada Dancesport, wanting to create "superstars" in breaking, the untapped potential the dance has, his "Inside-out" mentality of building your skills in other domains through breaking, and more. Really great talk with Geoff about his vision and what he's doing for the future of breaking in Canada.  Respect to him and all that he does for the scene I hope you enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with Spooks from Saskatoon, Canada representing Dangerous Goods Crew and Alpha Kids. Spooks is in my opinion one of the most original and interesting dancers to watch in Canada. In today's episode we get into a bit about his history and how he got into dance, the Saskatchewan scene, connecting with the Dangerous Goods crew, traveling and getting outside your bubble, the mental game of breaking and its comparisons with Smash Bros and more. A real pleasure to talk with Spooks about this stuff and even though he's not a "famous" bboy I still think there's a lot of insight to take from this and I hope you enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have the General himself, Roxrite of the Renegade Rockers, Squadron and Redbull All-Stars.  A true honour to have a breaking veteran like Roxrite share his experiences and knowledge with you all.  Unfortunately halfway through I made a recording mistake aka I forgot to hit the record button again so we lost the original second half of the talk.  Luckily Roxrite was nice enough to hop on a second time and we recreated the conversation as best we could, Reality TV style.  We talk about his history, getting into Renegades, the formation of the Squadron, what it means to be a professional bboy, the art of practice, the legacy of Mexone and more.  Huge shoutout to Roxrite again for taking the time to share his experiences with us and I hope you all enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have one of the best bboys when it comes to toprock, footwork and just dancing in general, Ivan Cofield aka Heatrock from Del Fuego Wolfpack and Cypher Sons.  He gives us a look into his dance origins growing up in Georgia, the beginnings of his Breaking journey in Boston, becoming known for toprock and footwork, his rivalry with bboy Samo and more.  Really great talk, with a ton of detail down to the specific jams, people and places.  Big thanks to Heatrock for taking the time to share his experiences and perspectives. Hope you enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have bboy Rudy Rexx from Havikoro and Funky Fanatix.  Rudy's been one of the people I've really wanted to have on because I always respected his style, approach and mentality towards breaking, dance and music in general.  Super down to earth guy and I’m really glad we got to chat.  He shares a lot about his history and how he got started, his personal influences, Austin and Texas breaking history, Bleeding the Block series, Latin music and percussions, and Brazilian jiujitsu and opening his own business.  Thanks again to Rudy for taking the time to share all with history and knowledge and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talking with Jurskee of Turn It Loose out of Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Serving as the moderator for the IBE talk shows among other things, Jurskee is someone who’s done a lot to promote the cultural aspects of breaking as well as get people talking and thinking about this dance that we all love.  We get into his history, the Dutch breaking scene, IBE and his involvement in the talk shows, his experiences using the Trivium judging system, his breaking vocational study that he helps run in the Netherlands and more.  Thanks again to Jurskee for sharing his knowledge and experience and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with one of the pillars of the Japanese breaking scene, DJ Tee.  Tee shares his own personal history of how he got into the DJing, how he got his first turntables which he still has to this day, the early days of the Osaka breaking scene, Machine Harada and the events Dance Delight, Old School Night and Be.Bboy, wanting to keep the party aspect of breaking alive and more.  Thank you so much to Tee for taking the time to share his thoughts and knowledge and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we have the great honour of talking with the legendary Storm from Battle Squad.  A breaking pioneer in Europe and someone who helped revitalize the scene in North America after everyone considered it dead in the 80s.  Storm has done it all, and it's this wealth of experience that he shares with us today.  In this episode, Storm delves into how he got into dancing, his breaking philosophies, judging, cognitive biases, accountability and growth for judging, keeping the culture alive while still advancing competitions and more.  One of the few truly deep thinkers in our scene and someone that makes you wanna listen to them when they speak.  This was by far the easiest listen for me personally while I was going through and editing this episode.  An hour and a half just flew by because of all the areas that we touched on in the talk and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.   Peace.

Today we talk with co-founder of WeFunk Radio, Mike Lai aka DJ Static.  Static has been DJing since the early 90s and helped create the very popular internet radio program WeFunk along with his partner Professor Groove.  We talk about how he got into DJing, the importance and influence of the Krispy Bisket Show, starting WeFunk and its international success, the art of DJing, helping to organize Vancouver Street Dance Festival and more.  Static is a great guy who has always been about the hip hop and street dance community and I'm really glad to be able to help share his story and perspectives with you all..   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we have the return of MC, beat producer, former Skillz-O-Meter champion, and one of the best bboys in Canada Switch B.  This time we have a much more casual chat about breaking, flip flops, pro-wrestling, stories and emotional connection, concept jams, sacrificing now for a better future, judges staying relevant and more.  Switch is one of my favourite people to catch up with and it was really nice to just have a more laid back and free flowing chat with him.  Hopefully as time goes on these kinds of episodes can become more and more common.  Shout out to Switch for coming on and shout out to shout outs.  Always great talking with him.   Hope you all enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today on the podcast we talk with the mind behind Circle Kingz, The Concrete Jam, one of the best hosts in the world and a true man of the culture, Amjad from 7 Dollars Crew.  We get into his and 7$'s origins, Switzerland hip hop and being a hub for European hip hop, how Circle Kingz started, why it ended, and why the Concrete Jam was the future for him, and so much more.  It was a true honour to have him share his knowledge and experience on the podcast.  Amjad is in my opinion one of the important voices in our community to have as he speaks for the culture, the underground, and the rebellious spirit of breaking and hip hop.  From true hip hop jams with no competitions to the biggest competitions in the world, if Amjad is there, you know it's legit.   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace!