Planet B-Boy

I got to go see this movie last night. Luckily, I didn't have to go by myself as Bridgette always seems to be in switched onto adventure mode. Jared...I forgot about your appreciation for indy films. Obviously, there are a few that I'm interested in.

I have such a fascination with dance, especially breakdancing and so I was pretty excited about this particular film. I've posted the trailer already, but if you haven't seen it, go check it out. The film chronicles a little bit the breakdance movement, but focuses mainly on the Battle of the Year contest that takes place each year to crown the world's best B-Boy crew for the year.

Guys...seriously, the stuff these dancers do is just sick. I expected to enjoy the movie just because it caters to a particular infatuation I have with this form of dancing, but the story ended up being much more compelling than I had expected it to be. It's amazing the combination of strength, agility, and grace that they exhibit in their art form. I love how seriously they take their craft, and for them it really is an expression of art as much as ballet or contemporary dance may be for anyone else.

The contest takes a representative group from each country who then perform their routines to be selected amongst the final four crews who do a battle for third place, and another for first place. The video above is the whole routine for the Japanese crew. They explain it a little bit in the movie, but the dance itself is a representation of a song being mixed together, and the last part where they're revolving around in a circle I think is especially cool because it's the final mix and seems to be symbolizing the final cut on a record.

I won't go into the movie much more than to say it does such a great job of showing the work and dedication of the dancers, as well as compel the audience to become invested by detailing the personal stories involved with some of the individual dancers and their crews. My favorite was the Japanese crew, and the guy who plays the DJ in the above video. So cool...go and check it out. It comes to you very highly recommended.