PHILADELPHIA HIP-HOP DANCE SCENE ON CENTER
STAGE
Ask a random person on the street what they know about hip-hop dance forms, and you?ll likely get an array of interesting
answers. On the wrong block, you might find someone amped over a Snapple or a Levi?s commercial they saw. On another corner, maybe you?ll run into some folks who will reminisce with you about their days spinning on a cardboard box, with a twinkle in their eye as if they were speaking of a long lost friend. And, if you?re in Philadelphia on the right corner, you
may run into the crew of Raw Talent who will school you on the origins of hip-hop dance, and the vital role and major contributions the City of Brotherly Love has made to the culture.
Keturah Caesar is a Philadelphia native, breakdancer, and the founder and producer of the film, Raw Talent: A Philadelphia Hip-Hop Dance Documentary. ?The reason why I?ve decided to do this documentary is because I personally feel that Philly is underrated when it comes to the hip-hop dance scene,? shares Caesar, ?I feel that we have a style- raw talent. We?re not superficial, we?re talented and we have our own style, and that?s something that I want to expose to the world.?
The Raw Talent crew is composed of cameramen Bryan Green and David Parvey, photographer Adachi Pimental, and producers Keturah Caesar and Jaime Merwin. The film, slated for release fall of 2008 or early 2009, will document the passion, dedication and unique prowess that is Philadelphia?s dance scene stemming from the early 70?s through today, and will focus on breaking, pop-locking, house and old school hip-hop dancing.
BBoy Fonzrelli freezes for the camera (photo courtesy of Marly Pierre-Louis)
Breakdancing has evolved from a form of peer mediation for rival gangs in the Bronx into an integral part of a powerful, youth-driven street culture. 23-year-old, Alfonzo Relli a.k.a BBoy Fonzrelli started dancing at 18 after watching the movie Breakin?. ?It?s coming from within our soul and [we] portray it outwardly onto the dance floor, ? says Alfonzo. The only thing a dancer demands is control of the crowd and the circle they?re dancing in, and a few moments of invincibility. For those who truly know and understand its roots, hip-hop is not a genre- it?s a way of life. ?It?s not just music. You live it, you breath it?, adds Caesar, ?Hip-hop dance is a lifestyle. It?s a discipline. It?s how you live, it?s what we do. It?s the language, it?s the style, the movements, the music. It?s just who we are.?
Green and Parvey have been diligently filming at BBoy jams and events, like The Gathering, throughout the city. ?As far as shooting breakers, you?re really tempted to move the camera around to get all the movements but the best thing is to get the entire body into the shot and hold it as steady as possible, and make slow movements because you?re capturing something that?s moving so wildly that you have to counter that by keeping the shot steady and getting everything in the frame,? explains Green. ?I almost got kicked in the face quite a number of times.? The film will feature interviews and footage of Philadelphia dancers including Joeson, Jamal, Hannibal, Macca, Repstyles Crew, Rafael Xavier, Rennie Harris, Cricket, and YNot among many others.
Raw Talent will not only feature dancers but also interviews with Philadelphia DJs and MCs who play important roles in the dancing community. Holding their own as contributors to the hip-hop vernacular and database of talent, Philadelphia is home to many of the culture?s most renowned DJs including DJ Jazzy Jeff, ?uestlove, Cash Money, Skeme Richards, Rich Medina, King Britt and Illvibe Collective. In terms of the graffiti element of hip-hop, few know that the first person to define the role of modern day graffiti artists was Darryl McCray a.k.a. Cornbread, from North Philadelphia.
BBoy freeze (photo courtesy of Adachi)Even before Rocky Balboa ran up the Art Museum steps, Philly has always been considered an underdog city bursting at the seams with raw and unapologetic talent, grinding from the bottom to make it. Philly is often called ?Little New York? and while there are similarities between the two cities, Philadelphia has its own flavor and style. ?I think a lot of what this documentary can do is explore what is [the Philadelphia dance style], ?cause I?m not sure that we have the answers,? explains Merwin. ?We know it, we see it, we feel it, we are it. Philly is very clear, it has a very clear accent when you see it performed. And yet, it?s really slept on. Philly?s an underdog kind of place anyway so sometimes we?re like, f*** it, we don?t care if people know it. F*** it, you ain?t got toknow it. We do this thing- we do it for us. We?re not necessarily out for fame.? And yet, the nature of this culture demands attention. It?s not necessarily for fame but more of a demand of those who look down on movements created by youth, minorities and urban communities to wake up and take notice.
Philadelphia?s hip-hop community is tight and close knit, but not insular and definitely not dead. Talent and inspiration are easily accessible. Merwin confirms, ?In the hip-hop community we?re out touching and interacting with a whole lot of other communities. From professional affiliations we have or things that we do in that way, or you know, Rich Medina, Ursula Rucker, The Roots click, I can call those folks up on the phone. The in reach that we have to so many other things in Philadelphia is dope and so that?s not insular. I feel like if I really called all those people and got them in a room, the sky is the limit.?
Stand up and recognize, Philly holds its own.
Photo Credit: Rashid Zakat
