The Retronaut

When I was ten years old, I went to see the movie Breakin’ with some of my friends at our local singleplex. That evening I had what can only be described as a religious experience. It was certainly transcendent. Who knew humans could move in this fashion? I went home that night determined to become a professional breakdancer. I specifically recall rifling through my dresser drawers to see if I had any bandannas that could be tied around tie around my head and/or calf – even at that young age, I understood that projecting the right image would be at least as important as learning the dance moves, maybe more so. Alas, by noon the next day my fascination with breakdancing as a vocation had largely faded, and I was soon back to my G.I. Joes. Some lingering interest manifested itself in an ill-advised purchase of parachute pants later that year, but that was as far as my dabbling in the world of popping and locking ever went.  I still haven’t got around to seeing Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo!

‘Rock it to lock it’ has always been my motto.

Today’s clip comes from the original Breakin’, and features Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers (as L.A. street dancer Turbo) doing some amazing dancing mixed with some terribly ineffective sweeping.

Coming up tomorrow: It’s a bit unusual……