Breakdancing Group Fly Goes on Tour

I walked into the Paramount Theater at 7:43 p.m. on October 24,2003. I went to Aurora, IL. to see a breakdancing performance I read about in The Chicago Theater Guide. I was looking forward to seeing some poplocking, head spins, backbends, handstands and windmills. But first, I got a view of the tallest person with the biggest head to sit in front of my 5'3 stature. Why does that always happen to me?

After he moved his head, there was a brief introduction from a lady named Diane Martinez about the world's only live comic book hero, Scary Guy, and the all-male breakdance group, both featured in Fly. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see the group dance and hear some hip-hop.

But, Scary Guy's wife came out playing a harp. I checked my brochure to make sure I was in the right theater. I was. Here comes Scary Guy walking down the aisles with a black leather, silver-studded jacket that read. The Scary Guy. With a horseshoe haircut, black jeans, black shoes, and curious eyes that stared at audience members, he crept to the stage after hugging one girl for no apparent reason.

I thought he was going to introduce the b-boy group and.. .no wait. He starts a speech about eliminating hate, violence and prejudice worldwide. He dedicates tonight's performance to kids who died in school while one guy in the audience laughed hysterically. No one knew the joke. Those were all great points, but they ended up dragging on.

Scary Guy went on to irrelevant conversation about being paid $30,000 for doing one lady's tattoos, having some guy resting his head on Scary Guy's shoulder and here comes his wife with the harp again. Then there was an unnecessary role-playing routine. Here comes the harp a third time.

After fifty-two minutes of this torture, the breakdancing performers came out in full effect, lights out, music on. Isaac Barren, George Casco, Javier Garcia, Rock Williams and Chris Gomez would've loaded up their buckets if they ever decided to be the infamous breakdancing crew at the Taste of Chicago (right next to the Buckingham Fountain). When I think of street dance, I think of these five breakerdancers because they definitely weren't beginners.

Any breakdancing move you could think of they did and their flexibility was outstanding. At one point, one guy did a backbend while another crawled under him to take the backbender offstage by his legs. But the best part was the most common: the two man performance when one person danced to the rhythm of the other person beatboxing.

This twenty-something year old group stood out as well when they started breaking to Earth, Wind and Fire (disco ball included), James Brown and Michael Jackson. Every VI03 listener in Chicago wouldn't have been able to keep his or her bodies still.

I sang out every word to these oldies, snapped my fingers and beamed. I was impressed when they danced to drum beats, some rhythms that sounded like early 1900s jazz/scat music, and a real cool poem about a tiger. I heard a little techno and maybe Spanish rock. But when they started breakdancing to classical music, I knew these men were serious about conquering every culture and music genre to get the audience's attention.

My only complaint was that the show had way more classical music and way less hip-hop. I don't know one

breakdancer who didn't learn his/her moves without hip-hop or rap music in the background. I assume they felt the same way judging from the pamphlet's explanation of how the group started. It says, "They liked the idea of being famous but resisted being corralled by the white, middle-aged drill team coach who wanted to make it happen for them. Kathy Wood made them rehearse regularly, dance together to music they didn't like.. .Their hip-hop friends called them sellouts." With the lack of hip-hop music, I understand where the friends are coming from although I don't agree.

Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to be heard or watched. I didn't get the impression from the predominantly white audience that Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, and even Grandmaster Flash would've been music that the audience would get into.

Lyrically graphic artists were definitely out of the question, considering there were so many young audience members. I do believe in preserving the culture and representing the music, but these young men had hip-hop running through their veins. No matter what song was played, their body language oozed hip-hop. While versatility doesn't necessarily mean skill, this group had both.

They're headed to Alaska, California, North Carolina and New Jersey. I know the "hip-hop headz" will appreciate this group's representation. I hooted and clapped when the performance ended at 10:21 p.m., hoping this group would have the best of success keeping breakdancing, beatboxing, and the soul of hip-hop alive. One oldie that the "Fly" group danced to had the lyrics "We go together like a wink and a smile". If "we" stands for hip-hop and this group, I couldn't have said it better myself.