Fourteen years later,shaking it one more time

The thing is,this worldwide dance contagion is not the Harlem Shake.

The real Harlem Shake,a much more raw,technical,fluid,frenetic dance,was born in New York city about 14 years ago. But while some in Harlem have taken offence at the rebranding,the four-man dance crew many credit as having pioneered the dance see another shot at stardom.

“I’m not a hater,” says Maurice ‘Motion’ Strayhorne,one of the original Harlem Shakers as part of the Crazy Boyz dance crew. “But it’s bitter in the sense of,it’s like they’re disrespecting the whole style of dancing.”

He and his friends honed the dance in the late ’90s at the Skate Key roller skating rink in the Bronx and during basketball games in Harlem. There,they watched a man known as Al B entertain the crowd at half-time with his dance—a sort-of skip-hop followed by a chop down. The Crazy Boyz said they combined their “shake”,their arm and chest movements,with his style to spark the original Harlem Shake. The crew eventually took the dance to the hip-hop world in videos for artists like Eve and Diddy,only to watch its popularity fade. “It’s also sweet,” Strayhorne,30,said of the new buzz,“because the name is bringing the Harlem Shake back up.”

“They make us relevant again,” said another crew member,Joseph ‘No Bones’ Collins,32.

The crew is rounded out by Jesse ‘Smile’ Rutland and Kirkland ‘Dirty Kirt’ Young. Two of the members grew up in Harlem,but they don’t remember how the dance got its name. “I called it the Funky Dance,” Strayhorne said.

In a YouTube video titled Harlem reacts to Harlem Shake Videos,some residents laugh at the controversy. But others see red,especially at videos in which people don costumes and simply parade. That interview footage so far has more than 7 million views.

Elaine Caesar,who grew up in Harlem,shares the heated sentiments. “We take our dance seriously,” says Caesar,49. “Harlemites put their own little twist on it. So their dancing is an art. Don’t offend us with that nonsense you’re calling the Harlem Shake.”

But Michael Minott,a former DJ,sees the Harlem Shake parodies,similar to Gangnam Style and Call Me Maybe videos,as harmless. “It gives people their 30 seconds of fame,” Minott says. “Is it the Harlem Shake? It’s not. The Harlem Shake is a dance that has been around for a long time and will always be around.”

For the Crazy Boyz,now into construction,the media coverage has stoked interest in them. They said their style was a way to express freedom. “It’s just how you are feeling at the moment,” said Rutland. “Whatever move you do,you just do it,but you make sure you stay consistent with the beat.”