SMOOTH BUT A BIT CRAZY -
SMOOTH BUT A BIT CRAZY - TALKING TO CRAZY SMOOTH
In the old days, the done thing in the downtown Bluma Appel Theatre was to stay quiet until a performance was over and then start clapping. That ain’t going to happen starting this March 17th when Crazy Smooth and Bboyizm roll, jump, hop and dance onto the big hall’s stage for three evenings of Break and Street dances.
“We want to hear and see everyone!” said famed street dancer and b-boy dancer Crazy Smooth. “We’ve all had to live through the new normal, but now I think our desire and need to be around each other is coming through. Stand up. Make some moves and let us hear you!
Below Right - Otawa's Crazy Smooth
The show is called In my Body. Nine of Canada’s best b.boy / b.girl dancers, young and old, are bringing street dance onto the stage for three nights of high energy. It is one of the first shows to go live in Toronto since the relaxation of the Covid rules late last month.
Dancing since 1997, Crazy Smooth is one of Canada’s top street dancers, performers, choreographers, instructors, judges, and community leaders. He is the founder and artistic director of Bboyizm, an award-winning street-dance company that has been instrumental in the preservation and proliferation of street dance in Canada and internationally.
Choreographed by Crazy Smooth In My Body features an intergenerational group of nine dancers and an international creative team including original music by DJ Shash’U.
In My Body explores the multi-generational dynamic and the hardship and heroism of aging in street dancing. In keeping with hip-hop culture, b-boys/b-girls present a façade of confidence and invincibility as they engage in battles to prove their value and establish their dominance.
This is a look into how street dancers persevere their bodies in the battle against time. In My Body links the culture of hip-hop with a multi-generational company of dancers. Writer Alejando Rodriguez provides a powerful backdrop of personal stories of survival, triumph, and defeat drawn from interviews that he did with the dancers.
Crazy Smooth has broken up the dancers into three crews, the young and powerful, the old (DKC Freeze is 57 and Tash is 51 both are Canada’s original Street Dancers). Crazy, in his 40s, is in the middle crew he calls OG. “Old Guys?” I asked him earlier this week “No” he laughs “Original Generation,”
The World Premiere of In My Body takes place in Edmonton, March 4, and then tours to Whitehorse, March 10 -11; Toronto, March 17-19 and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, March 24-25. The three Toronto shows all start at 8pm.
Toronto Caribbean Camera - article by Stephen Weir
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