Beyond the Dance Floor

Today we talk with one of the founders of the world famous event IBE, Tyrone Van Der Meer.  Tyrone has been involved in the European scene for many years, and has been instrumental in providing a space for some of the greatest moments in not only breaking history but dance in general. In this episode we get into how his love of hip hop came about, the importance of seeing people of colour in mainstream media, how he got into producing events, how IBE became the event that it is today, what it means to really be a part of the culture, connecting the culture to other aspects of your life, and so much more. Huge thank you to Tyrone for taking the time to share his history and thoughts with us all and thank you to all of you who have continued to tune in and I hope you enjoy the episode. Peace.

Today we talk with Hijack of 808 Breakers out of Hawaii, USA.  Hijack is known on the dance floor for his incredible connection with the music and innovative style but also contributes a lot to the local scene and training the next generation of dancers in Hawaii. In the talk we get into his and Hawaii's breaking history, his love of music, honest expression in breaking, building a positive and welcoming community in Hawaii, and more. Thanks to Hijack for taking the time to share his thoughts and opinions with everyone.  He's been someone I've wanted to have on the podcast for a while and I hope you all enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today we talk with one of my personal favourite dancers to come from Vancouver, Canada, Sevrin repping Now or Never, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Think Twice.  Sevrin is part of an earlier surge of younger dancers that now makes up what I would say is the current middle generation of dancers in Vancouver. In this episode we get into his history and how he got into dance, his views on what Vancouver’s style is, thoughts on styles and how they develop, and connections between philosophy and breaking. Sevrin is a deep thinking about dance and art and it’s one of the main reasons I wanted to have him on the show to share his thoughts and opinions with everyone. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so keep that in mind while listening.  With all that being said, hope you enjoy the talk and thanks for listening. Peace.

Today we talk with Chris Wright aka Cros 1, the mastermind behind one of the most legendary bboy/bgirl dance events in the breaking world, Freestyle Session. In this episode we get into how he got into the hip hop culture in San Diego, the humble beginnings of Freestyle Session and how it grew to one of the biggest events in the world, what goes into creating such a large, international event, his freestyle mindset when organizing these events and more. Thanks so much to Cros One for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences.  We definitely need more people sharing information as openly and freely as Cros does.   That’s how we can help the next generation grow faster and further than we could ever imagine. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so some stuff might be out dated but I hope you all enjoy the talk anyway. Peace.

Today we talk with Arthur Tiojanco aka bboy artattacks representing Floorstorm crew out of Surrey, Canada.  Arthur, for many years now has been, in my opinion, one of the pillars of the Vancouver breaking and dance community as a whole, throwing countless events for the community and has been instrumental in keeping the scene alive.  We talk about how he got into dance, his crew Floorstorm as well as Surrey, the thankless job that is organizing and promoting breaking events, as well as some words about fellow crew member and one of the great Vancouver DJs, DJ Wunderkut (RIP). Thank you to Arthur for taking the time to share his perspectives and story.  The job of event organizers often goes unnoticed and unrecognized but are a crucial part of the community. This episode was recorded back in August 2022 so some of context is a bit out of date but anyway, hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace.

Today we talk with the one and only bboy Focus from Flow Mo crew out of Helsinki, Finland.  Focus is one of the most internationally recognized dancers in the breaking world and is one of the first to really push online breaking education through his website and youtube channel.  In the talk we get into his breaking history and coming from a small town, building the online learning platform the Bboy/Bgirl Dojo, the importance of mentorship, what footwork means to him and more. Huge thank you to Focus for taking the time to share his thoughts and many years of experience with everyone. Hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace

Today we talk with one of the original members of my crew Filthee Feet, Dylan Thomas aka Dylioskee.  In the interview, Dylan provides great insight into the early days of the Victoria scene as well as how our crew got started, creating in isolation on Vancouver Island, his own Coast Salish first nations art, as well as a great look into how goofy and stupid our crew can get. A lot of great information in here and maybe a different look into our crew for some people.  Thanks a lot to Dylan for taking the time to share his experiences and just being a delight to chat with in general. Hope you all enjoy the chat. Peace

Today we talk with one of the best bgirls in my opinion, AT from Finland. In this episode we get into her history coming up in the Helsinki breaking scene, who her early breaking inspirations were, her perspective as a woman in a very male dominated dance, rediscovering herself and her style as a woman, mother, and human being, mentorship from Ata from Ghost Crew, being on the Finnish Olympic team and more. Thanks to AT for taking the time to share her history and perspectives and I hope you enjoy the talk. Peace

Today we talk with Montreal veteran, Zig from Flowrock Fresh Format and Stylz Corrupt.  Zig holds a very unique perspective on the dance because his history spans three separate generations of Montreal breaking with the older generation of Flowrock, the middle generation of Fresh Format and the newer generation with Stylz Corrupt.  In the podcast we talk about his history, his crews, how he dabbles in other areas of dance outside of breaking with groups such as C4, passing on his knowledge to a new generation, as well as his involvement with Breaking Canada and helping to build Canada's Olympic team. Huge shoutout to Zig for taking the time to share his history and his thoughts with us and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace

Today we talk with Masanari, a Japanese bboy/artist representing Naked Gunz crew out of Nagoya, Japan.   Masanari is an artist who combines the impermanent nature of the dance we call Breaking, and translate that into permanent pieces of artwork.  We get into his history, what the Mie and Nagoya breaking scenes are like, his Master's degree in Fine Arts and how he connects his art with dance and movement.   Very cool talk about the connection between movement and art and I hope you enjoy the talk.   Peace.