B is for more than just Boogaloo

saturday the copychief and i went to a battle.

ever see 'you got served'? okay, B2K and roger from 'sister sister' have nothing on the real thing.

it went from 4 (ish) to 1 a.m., and consisted of popping and locking battle, individual breaking and city vs. city -- the last of which was pretty damn exciting when you're sitting 2.5 feet away from the action. i mean we're not talking your six-step or your superman. we're talking about somehow taking off your shirt while you're spinning on your head, bouncing up and down with your entire body supported by your elbow and handstands where the bulk of your body is parallel to the floor. throw in a little trash talking and attitude and you've got one hell of a show.

it was 20$ to get in and i didn't really know what to expect, so i parked myself right outside the red rope and didn't move. i thought i was going to have to throw down a couple times when people would sneak in under the rope and park their big heads in front of me, but i managed to talk the organizers into a compromise so we all could see relatively well.

CC was performing in a transitional dance piece, so i was pretty much on my own for a good chunk of the day while she was backstage. i spent from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. sitting on my ass on a linoleum floor. without moving more than to change position or maybe stand up a little. unfortunately, when it came time to get up and support my girl by joining in at the end of her performance, i thought my kneecap would break from standing up after having my legs bent so long. i stayed put.

usually i need a little bit of company when i'm by myself for many hours, but i don't think i thought about it for more than a second during that whole time. CC peeked out at me from backstage and later said i looked like a kid who was at the movies for the first time. i was riveted.

this is why this breaking battle was so damn fascinating:

a) the music is cool -- and your sternum vibrates to the rhythm
b) the moves seem death-defying, you wonder if you really saw what you just saw
c) they somehow don't seem to get injured
d) everyone is R-I-P-P-E-D
e) they work damn hard at what they do and are amazing at it
f) at the end of the day (drama aside) they're in it for the love of good dancing
g) as someone i talked to said, 'you can't wear sneakers into the club, and most of these kids start out too young for the club, so this is what they do. and they get so good at it, they don't even need the club anymore. clubs are just out to get money and get people drunk. this is so much better.'
h) there are a ton of little kids there. concerns about premature hearing loss aside, you see that they grow up doing this stuff and there was even a little kid in one of the competitions
i) the judges get off the thrones and throw down in a showcase. they're often so good there is no choice but to respect their rulings
j) the prizes are good, so these people are NOT playing around
k) it makes you want to learn how to do it so badly, but you come away from your pathetic attempts with even more respect for what they do
l) the people are freaking R-I-P-P-E-D

the final city battle was between boston and long island, with the former coming away with the title, cash and a trip to europe. there were people from tokyo, canada and all over the u.s. it was a fantastic show.

on top of that, everyone was so attractive. that is until you realize they're all 12. then they're just adorable.

even in the parking lot these guys came up to us and tried to take us out for breakfast-okay-tea?-how-about-a-fruit-plate?-okay-be-sure-to-remember-us. talking about being 'with kanye west' and whatnot. we politely declined but did recognize that it was one of the most gentlemanly approaches we've encountered in a very long time. (later we googled the guy and found out he wasn't bs-ing; he had quite a few celebrity connections, etc. in fact, his talent for the spoken word had been noticed by the movie producers for 'love jones' so he had coached larenz tate. granted in the end, 'breakfast' still translates to the same goal, but you gotta give a man props for trying.)

all in all, i think that evening was the best 20$ on entertainment i have ever spent.

if you want to get a glimpse of what i'm talking about go to cityvs.city.com, go to the multimedia section and click on one of the clips. they're a little long, but if you pay attention you can see some really awesome moves. the city vs. city 3 trailer isn't too long and has a pretty good highlight reel, however City Vs City Exclusive Teaser (long) gives a better idea of what it was actually like.

this stuff really is amazing. when i grow up, i wanna be a b-girl.