History of Electric Boogaloo
The history of Boogie and Breakdancing goes back to about 1974. A
very
young Michael Jackson appeared on Television, doing the 'Robot'' to
the
Jackson Five's hit, 'Dancin' Machine'.
In the Summer of 1977, another powerful influence came along -
Shields and
Yarnell, who were two very talented Mimes. They were first seen
performing in
San Francisco's Union Square, and went on to make a number of guest
appearances on television, culminating in their own summer show in
1977. They
did their own version of the Robot, moving only one part of their
body at a
time, and gliding across the floor like they were on wheels. Many
people who
were watching the show saw not only Mime, but Dance. Life was given
to the
new Robot dance style, and more and more people started doing it.
In 1977, four young Mimes saw Shields and Yarnell perform on
television.
They were very impressed with what they saw. They read as many books
about Mime out of the New York library as they could, and videotaped
all of
their shows. They formed the first Electric Boogie dance group,
called the
Harlem Pop Lockers. They were originally discovered on their way home
from
a movie in Greenwich village. They weren't performing at that time,
just messing
around, but they were an immediate success, and went on to perform
for
Television, Dance Clubs, and even did a video for German MTV.
By the time the Harlem Pop Lockers were formed, the Electric Boogie
had
added the 'Float' move. The Back Float or 'Moon Walk' was first made
famous by James Brown, then Jeffrey Daniels of Shalimar in the early
80's, and
most memorably by Michael Jackson.
In truth, it was Jeffrey Daniels dancing on the television show 'Soul
Train' that
was most responsible for its success. He was such a good dancer that
when he
did it, everyone wanted to do it.
Other influences have been prevalent in the growth of the Electric
Boogie. The
late 70's and early 80's saw big advancements in the fields of
Electronics and
Computers, and as a result, the dance style being very futuristic,
lent itself
perfectly to the times.
An Egyptian dance style called the 'King Tut' probably grew from the
Comedian Steve Martin doing a dance on 'Saturday Night Live'. You may
often see dancers stacked one behind the other, each with different
arm
positions to make it look as if the dancer in front has many arms,
moving
mechanically. The original dance style must go way back into the
culture of the
Far East, but since it was an unusual dance, it got added as a move
within the
Electric Boogie.
The Lock came from a comical cartoon character called 'Rerun', who
appeared on a TV show called, 'What's Happening'. He often did a
comic
dance that involved moving his arms and legs very fast, and in
between each
move he would give a brief pause, or Lock.
At the end of 1983 and early 1984, for reasons no one really knows,
Breakdancing suddenly became a dance craze, and spread to every major
city.
Now it is very popular and can be seen in Films, Pop Videos,
Commercials
and Kids Dancing on street corners, and shopping precincts.
