Dancing in the Streets

Believed to have originated in New York City around ’70s,b-boying was already extremely popular in pockets by the time Colon was 10-years-old. It was then that his cousin introduced him to b-boying. “I got acquainted with the scene in the Bronx. My cousin had just moved there and he told me that I must go and see these guys. I was blown away by what I saw,” he remembers. However,it was not his first encounter with the dance. “I had seen my brother break (the term used by purists to describe the dance form) a year before and I thought it was absurd,” Colon laughs at the recollection.

Following his first encounter with the group of b-boys and b-girls in the Bronx,however,Colon became firmly established in the scene. In 1979,he joined the Rock Stead Crew,a hip-hop group formed in 1977. A few years later,he took over the crew and continues to be their president today even as he remains their only original member.

The dance form has been represented in numerous films and television shows over the years. However,Colon says that the essence of b-boying is lost in most mainstream media. “We started b-boying because we truly loved the dance form. It wasn’t about a career,it was about life; it was our form of expression,” he says. The films,on the other hand,he says,are not “pure”,but that is more a consequence of the industry than any individual filmmaker.

Yet,he’s generous enough to say that it’s acceptable,provided it does not confuse the audience. “It’s good that people find employment by dancing in the movies,but viewers shouldn’t confuse it for the original form,” he explains.

On his first trip to India,audience will,unfortunately,not see him dancing at his gigs at F-Bar in Mumbai and Delhi. His performance will consist of DJ sets. The workshops,however,will be dedicated to b-boying. “It would be a little difficult to do a show with just one person. But I’d love to come back with a couple of Rock Steady Crew members for a show,” he concludes.