Beyond the Dance Floor

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.

Today we talk with Juan from Dance Broomz, one of the most creative dancers from the Pacific Northwest in my opinion.  In the talk, we get into his history and how he got into the dance, his creative influences, how his crew approached routines, some of his most memorable battle moments, his work as a chaplain in the US military and more. Juan is a really down to earth guy and it was great hearing his stories and experiences in the dance and beyond.  I really enjoyed the talk and I hope you do too. Peace.

Today we have Geoff Reyes, who some of you might not know but he's a very important person in the Canadian Breaking scene.  He's one of the main people behind Breaking Canada which deals with Breaking in the Olympics and You Be ILL which is his unique event series. Geoff is, in my opinion, one of the people responsible for really elevating the scene as well as building necessary bridges for the future of breaking in Canada.  In this episode, we talk about how You Be ILL started out, Canada's breaking programme and connecting with the larger Olympic body of Canada Dancesport, wanting to create "superstars" in breaking, the untapped potential the dance has, his "Inside-out" mentality of building your skills in other domains through breaking, and more. Really great talk with Geoff about his vision and what he's doing for the future of breaking in Canada.  Respect to him and all that he does for the scene I hope you enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with Spooks from Saskatoon, Canada representing Dangerous Goods Crew and Alpha Kids. Spooks is in my opinion one of the most original and interesting dancers to watch in Canada. In today's episode we get into a bit about his history and how he got into dance, the Saskatchewan scene, connecting with the Dangerous Goods crew, traveling and getting outside your bubble, the mental game of breaking and its comparisons with Smash Bros and more. A real pleasure to talk with Spooks about this stuff and even though he's not a "famous" bboy I still think there's a lot of insight to take from this and I hope you enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have the General himself, Roxrite of the Renegade Rockers, Squadron and Redbull All-Stars.  A true honour to have a breaking veteran like Roxrite share his experiences and knowledge with you all.  Unfortunately halfway through I made a recording mistake aka I forgot to hit the record button again so we lost the original second half of the talk.  Luckily Roxrite was nice enough to hop on a second time and we recreated the conversation as best we could, Reality TV style.  We talk about his history, getting into Renegades, the formation of the Squadron, what it means to be a professional bboy, the art of practice, the legacy of Mexone and more.  Huge shoutout to Roxrite again for taking the time to share his experiences with us and I hope you all enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have one of the best bboys when it comes to toprock, footwork and just dancing in general, Ivan Cofield aka Heatrock from Del Fuego Wolfpack and Cypher Sons.  He gives us a look into his dance origins growing up in Georgia, the beginnings of his Breaking journey in Boston, becoming known for toprock and footwork, his rivalry with bboy Samo and more.  Really great talk, with a ton of detail down to the specific jams, people and places.  Big thanks to Heatrock for taking the time to share his experiences and perspectives. Hope you enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today on the podcast, we have bboy Rudy Rexx from Havikoro and Funky Fanatix.  Rudy's been one of the people I've really wanted to have on because I always respected his style, approach and mentality towards breaking, dance and music in general.  Super down to earth guy and I'm really glad we got to chat.  He shares a lot about his history and how he got started, his personal influences, Austin and Texas breaking history, Bleeding the Block series, Latin music and percussions, and Brazilian jiujitsu and opening his own business.  Thanks again to Rudy for taking the time to share all with history and knowledge and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talking with Jurskee of Turn It Loose out of Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Serving as the moderator for the IBE talk shows among other things, Jurskee is someone who's done a lot to promote the cultural aspects of breaking as well as get people talking and thinking about this dance that we all love.  We get into his history, the Dutch breaking scene, IBE and his involvement in the talk shows, his experiences using the Trivium judging system, his breaking vocational study that he helps run in the Netherlands and more.  Thanks again to Jurskee for sharing his knowledge and experience and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with one of the pillars of the Japanese breaking scene, DJ Tee.  Tee shares his own personal history of how he got into the DJing, how he got his first turntables which he still has to this day, the early days of the Osaka breaking scene, Machine Harada and the events Dance Delight, Old School Night and Be.Bboy, wanting to keep the party aspect of breaking alive and more.  Thank you so much to Tee for taking the time to share his thoughts and knowledge and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we have the great honour of talking with the legendary Storm from Battle Squad.  A breaking pioneer in Europe and someone who helped revitalize the scene in North America after everyone considered it dead in the 80s.  Storm has done it all, and it's this wealth of experience that he shares with us today.  In this episode, Storm delves into how he got into dancing, his breaking philosophies, judging, cognitive biases, accountability and growth for judging, keeping the culture alive while still advancing competitions and more.  One of the few truly deep thinkers in our scene and someone that makes you wanna listen to them when they speak.  This was by far the easiest listen for me personally while I was going through and editing this episode.  An hour and a half just flew by because of all the areas that we touched on in the talk and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.   Peace.

Today we talk with co-founder of WeFunk Radio, Mike Lai aka DJ Static.  Static has been DJing since the early 90s and helped create the very popular internet radio program WeFunk along with his partner Professor Groove.  We talk about how he got into DJing, the importance and influence of the Krispy Bisket Show, starting WeFunk and its international success, the art of DJing, helping to organize Vancouver Street Dance Festival and more.  Static is a great guy who has always been about the hip hop and street dance community and I'm really glad to be able to help share his story and perspectives with you all..   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we have the return of MC, beat producer, former Skillz-O-Meter champion, and one of the best bboys in Canada Switch B.  This time we have a much more casual chat about breaking, flip flops, pro-wrestling, stories and emotional connection, concept jams, sacrificing now for a better future, judges staying relevant and more.  Switch is one of my favourite people to catch up with and it was really nice to just have a more laid back and free flowing chat with him.  Hopefully as time goes on these kinds of episodes can become more and more common.  Shout out to Switch for coming on and shout out to shout outs.  Always great talking with him.   Hope you all enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today on the podcast we talk with the mind behind Circle Kingz, The Concrete Jam, one of the best hosts in the world and a true man of the culture, Amjad from 7 Dollars Crew.  We get into his and 7$'s origins, Switzerland hip hop and being a hub for European hip hop, how Circle Kingz started, why it ended, and why the Concrete Jam was the future for him, and so much more.  It was a true honour to have him share his knowledge and experience on the podcast.  Amjad is in my opinion one of the important voices in our community to have as he speaks for the culture, the underground, and the rebellious spirit of breaking and hip hop.  From true hip hop jams with no competitions to the biggest competitions in the world, if Amjad is there, you know it's legit.   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace!

Today we have the Lead of Strength and Conditioning for Breaking Canada, Nick Robinson who will be helping Canada's bboys and bgirls get ready for the battles at the up coming 2024 Olympics in Paris.  Nick Robinson, member of Groundwork Sessions is a bboy originally from Whitehorse, Yukon but now resides in Toronto, Ontario as a personal trainer.  Nick gives his insights into what it takes to be an Olympic athlete from his direct work training them, his role in working with the future Canadian breaking olympians, training for breaking specifically and what that entails, and just general fitness and dance talk.  Really great to have Nick share his knowledge on training and conditioning.  It's not every day that you get to talk with a high level trainer who also knows the ins and outs of dancing specifically.   Hope you all enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with co-founder of Sweet Technique and member of the breaking Olympic committee, Victor Sono aka Vicious out of Montreal, Canada now residing in Finland.  We got to get into some Montreal/Sweet Technique history, the importance of travelling to build their name, building with the East coast of the US, getting brought on to Breaking Canada the Olympics and more.  It was really great to hear about the early days of Sweet Technique and how it grew as well as shed some light on some of the lesser known members who had an impact on Vicious specifically.  In particular it was great getting to talk with him about breaking in Canada and where it's headed with the Olympics and everything.  Very glad we were able to shed a bit more light on what the future of breaking can look like.   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with Matt Kang also known as Twelve, a dancer from Ground Illusionz out of Toronto who now works as a videographer/interviewer for Forbes.  We talk about his breaking origins in London, Ontario, how he connected with Toronto and Ground Illusionz, carrying on tradition with the crew, his journey into journalism and working with Forbes and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Matt definitely had some great insight on a lot of things and is another perfect example of what this podcast is all about: taking that drive and lessons learned through breaking and applying them to the other aspects of your life.  He's one of the people that has a deeper mentality toward the dance and his career and has the ability to articulate it well and I'm so thankful to have him on the podcast.   Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace!

Today we talk with Emstro, real name Rei Misiri, a dancer with Maximum Efficiency Crew based out of Toronto.  In recent years Emstro has been making some noise in the art work and has transitioned into a full on art career under the name Medeio.  We talk about his early days as a dancer in the Toronto scene, how his particular art style developed, the connection between his dancing and his art, his art career and making that work, not being afraid to fail and using it as a tool to help guide your future and more.  Really great to connect with Emstro again and I loved the stuff that we got into.  People like him are one of the reasons why I wanted to even start this podcast in the first place.  To show people that there's more to breaking and dance than just the dance.  For a lot of us it permeates much of our lives and it's great to see someone succeeding using their blueprint of breaking to help achieve it.   Hope you all enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with Thaiyo representing Last 4 One and Now or Never and OURO Collective.  Thaiyo is a Battle of the Year champion as well as a multi time champion in Korea and Canada,  a former body builder, recently started dabbling in the contemporary side of dance, and is a multi time Brazillian Jiu Jitsu champion.  We talk about the early days of the Korean breaking scene and how he got started, being a full-time bboy, his work ethic and dedication to breaking, his journey in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and it's relation to breaking and more.  Thaiyo is one of the hardest working people I know.  It seems like whatever he sets his mind to he excels in and his work ethic and dedication to his craft is very contagious. I'm really happy to be able to share his experiences and perspectives with you all. Hope you all enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today we have Zeshen from Havikoro on the podcast. World renown bboy, former Massive Monkee Day footwork champ, and medical doctor, Zeshen shares his history, some history on the Texas scene and regional styles, creativity and originality, the Bleeding the Block series and how it came about, his personal style and how it's evolved, mental health and dance, and more. Zeshen is a really interesting guy with a lot of great perspectives on things. It's so rare that we get to listen to someone who has such knowledge on not only the dance but also a deep understanding of how the mind works and how that can relate to dance. Really great to be able to talk with Zeshen about a lot of these deeper things and I really hope people can get something from this. Hope you enjoy the talk everyone. Peace!

Today we talk with the Nostalgia King aka DJ Skeme Richards out of Philidelphia, USA.  A world renown DJ, music lover, vintage toys collector, burgers and beer connoisseur, Skeme's has his hands into a lot of different areas and that's one of the things that makes him so interesting.  A purveyor of music, art and culture, Skeme was one of the people that really helped promote understanding history and where things come from.  With breaking and hip hop, that meant parties and we get into all of that and more.  We talk about Philly history and its deep roots in hip hop and in particular its roots in graffiti, how he got into collecting, diverse interests and how it can help you creatively, his love of Japan and dedicating yourself completely to something,  understanding and respecting history and where things come from and more.  One of the more interesting people in the hip hop community and someone who I always learn from every time he speaks.  Thanks to Skeme Richards for sharing his knowledge and experience and I hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with Kreate repping Lab Ratz, 7 Dollars and Fresh Sox.  Kreate now resides in Indonesia but he made his name in the Tri-State area in Virginia.  We got into a lot about Virginia's breaking history, bboys that had a major impact on him like Xeno and Megas, the South East Asia scene, being a family man, running his own business and his competitive spirit, physical fitness and more.  Much love to Kreate for sharing his history and his history and knowledge with everyone.  He might not be as known as some of the All Star dancers out there, but he's definitely someone whose story deserves to be heard and is a part of the larger history of breaking.  Hope you enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with former Massive Monkee Day Footwork Champion, Bboy Complex from Dance Broomz and The Hoodz.  It was really great to catch up with Ash and chat for two hours about a variety of things from his time with OURO Collective and how it's changed the way he approaches dance now, finding freedom from being boxed into a specific way of moving, laziness in the breaking community, pushing people to think deeper about the dance we do and a whole lot more.  Ash is someone who is passionate about moving the dance beyond just moves and competitions and it was great to connect with someone on that level.  There's a whole lot to explore and hopefully our conversation made you think a bit about the other possibilities within the dance.  If you wanna support Complex and what he does check out his social media accounts which are all pretty much complexbreaks or support him on patreon at www.patreon.com/complexbreaks.  Thanks again to Ash for taking the time to chat and hope you all enjoy the talk.   Peace.

Today we talk with JoRawk of Massive Monkees.  Joe has been one of the people I've always respected within the community for his dedication to quality and community oriented events.  He is one of the people responsible for one of my favourite jams I've ever been to Massive Monkee day, as well as Silverback Open and Pro Breaking Tour and has always been about pushing breaking forward.  We talk about how he got into breaking and hip hop, the Massive Monkees house, the concept of a "real" crew, true in the moment expression and freedom in the dance, involving the communty and the role of a host at a jam, and more.  Absolute pleasure to talk with Joe about these things and I hope you all enjoy it too.   Peace.

Today we talk with the other half of the original Tentacle Tribe, Elon the Wandering Spirit.  Elon also repping Fresh Format and Concrete Kings is someone who has had a huge impact on how I personally approach the dance these days.  He shares his experiences on a number of topics including his early days breaking in Sweden, moving to Canada for Cirque du Soleil, contemporary influences, efficient movement, returning to our "animal" routes, order and chaos and more.  Really interesting guy and one of the people that completely changed the way I approach movement in general.  He had a lot to share, some of which might need some kind of special decoder but I do know that a lot of these kinds of thoughts can profoundly shape the way you view things but aren't always the easiest to articulate in a simple and clear manner, but still it was a really interesting talk that overlaps a lot of what I've been exploring for the past while.  Hopefully we get to have another chat sometime in the future and dive deeper into some other topics and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with Cleopatra aka Emmanuelle Le Phan from Tentacle Tribe and Legendary Crew out of Montreal, Canada.  The first time I saw the Tentacle Tribe duo of Emmanuelle and Elon, I was blown away and the way I thought about breaking and dance in general was changed forever. Emmanuelle has been a huge influence on my dancing personally and I wanted to share her thoughts and perspectives with you all.  We talk about her history, her time with Cirque du Soleil, the formation of Tentacle Tribe and mixing styles, being interested in general movement over any particular style, having conversations with your partner in dance, and more.  Really great being able to chat with her and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we've got another person who I've really wanted to have on the podcast for a long time.  Crazy Smooth of Bboyizm Dance Company, Breaks Kru, Flowrock, and Kossassins out of Ottawa, Canada.  Smooth is one of the people that has been a huge inspiration to me personally and I'm happy to be able to share some of his thoughts with you all.  In the talk we get into a bit of his history, getting $14,000 dollars in government funding and going to New York to learn from the pioneers of breaking, the indescribable “ism” or essence that separates the good from the great, physical and mental longevity and more.  This talk just scratched the surface and each of these topics could have been it's own episode in my opinion.  Really hope to have him back on some time in the future but in the mean time hope you all enjoy this one.  Peace.

Today we talk with Profo Won of Floorgangz Worldwide, Shadowr0ck and the Knuckleneck Tribe out of the Bay Area.  He's been one of the people I've wanted to talk to for a while not only because of his knowledge, but also his desire to push the community forward into new territory with content such as The Trades and his commentary at events such as Massive Monkees Day and Silverback Open.  We get into some Bay Area history, the generational differences in mentalities in breaking, what breaking fulfills from a human standpoint, social media and the importance of having a presence there, physical longevity and training and more.  Surprisingly as two footwork nerds, we hardly even spoke about it. Overall though, a really interesting talk and I hope you all enjoy it.  Peace

Today we talk with one of my favourites during his active days, Reflex repping O'mighty, Soul Felons, and the Hoods.  Coming out of Calgary Alberta, Reflex had a real great blend of set movements and complete in the moment movement.  We get pretty into talks about the mental side of breaking so if you're into that kind of thing I think you'll enjoy it.  Things like being in the moment, the idea of presence vs skill, balancing memorized movement and just moving, the mental battle between you, your opponent and yourself and more.  Really enjoyed talking to him and there's a lot more I think we wanted to get into but that'll have to wait for another time.  For now this is all we've got so enjoy the talk. Peace!

Today we talk with one of the important figures in Canadian breaking history, Boobjester (Dangerous Goods/Maximum Efficiency/Wintor Massiv/Unity Charity) shares information on some of the earlier days of Winnipeg breaking, coming from central Canada and being able to experience the East and Westcoast styles of Canadian breaking, building community, and more. Boobjester is a proud proponent of Canadian Breaking and has been a huge figure in helping bridge the different communities within the very spread out country of Canada and continues to do so to this day.  If you didn't know him before, now you do. Remember the name enjoy the talk. Peace!

Today we talk with Creeasian of the Original Rudes, Ready to Rock and DJ duo Twoguys, and what a talk.  It was a real honour to have Creeasian share his thoughts and knowledge on culture and hip hop as a Vietnamese/Cree First Nations.  He talks about his history, the Edmonton scene and connecting with other native dancers there, his experiences in hip hop as a Cree First Nations youth and reconnecting with his native roots, Pow Wow culture and a bit of their history, medicine wheel teachings and more.  Really powerful talk and we didn't even have time to get into his DJing beat production journey either. Definitely have to have him back on to share more cause he's just a really interesting guy with a lot to share.  Also he has one of the smoothest voices in the business.  With that said, enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today we talk with one of the more outspoken and in my opinion one of the more interesting people in the breaking scene, DJ Renegade. People might have read some of his now infamous social media posts where he shares his thoughts on what's happening in the breaking community and beyond that.  He's at times a "controversial" guy but I respect that he pushes people to think deeper and more intellectually about the dance and hip hop culture.  We get into a whole bunch of things from UK/European history and the creation of his crew Soul Mavericks, to evolving the judging system, how talks about the Olympics are focusing on the wrong things, toxicity in the hip hop community and more. Real pleasure to get to talk with him and hope we get to exchange more in the future. Enjoy the talk. Peace.

Today we talk with one of the original members of Now or Never crew, G!  Originally from Taiwan but grew up in Vancouver, G shares a lot about his personal history, his crew's history and more.Really interesting guy that I didn't get to know until much later on, he gets into how NON started, how it was literally his only family in Vancouver, moving to Japan and starting a business, getting into filming and editing, talk on the Olympics and more. I had so much fun with this talk.  G is such a likeable and friendly guy it's hard not to laugh at his stories, and he provides an often overlooked perspective in the breaking community with regards to business and money in dance.  Thanks so much to G for sharing his story and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with my old friend Ayumi from the Kyoto crew Body Carnival, who also happens to be one of the best bgirls in the world.  It was a real honour to be able to talk with her about some of her history and share her thoughts.  Even though Ayumi's English is pretty good she wanted to do the interview in Japanese to be able to express herself as naturally as possible so I once again brought in the help of Makoon, the translator extraordinaire who also happens to be one of Ayumi's best friends.  We got to talk about her history, Kyoto's breaking history, why her crew has become internationally known even though Kyoto is a relatively small scene, judging Red Bull BC One, the Olympics and more.  Real pleasure to talk with these two since we all go back around a decade when we all lived in Vancouver.  Hope you enjoy the chat.  Peace!

Today we talk with a huge inspiration of mine and many other's when it comes to creativity and creating on the spot: Leftelep from Albino Zebras and Conscious Soles out of Toronto, Canada.  Real pleasure to have him share his thoughts with everyone and to be able to exchange with him on a variety of topics.  We get into Albino Zebras history, coming from a small town and how that influenced his style, outside influences like architecture on his style, flow states, what is biting and more.  Huge shoutout to Lance and all the Albino Zebras for being a constant inspiration and just generally cool guys.  Hope you all enjoy the talk!  Peace!

Today we talk with head of The Flava Factory in Ottawa and event director of House of Paint, Sami Slynks.  Sami and I connected several years ago in Whitehorse, Yukon of all places and since then I've seen him take incredible steps to building up the community in Ottawa.  He's a quick talker and in an hour we covered and dove deep into a number of topics.  We talk about starting up a studio, blending the studio and dance industry with hip hop culture, dance, flow, and in the moment creation, throwing events with the larger general public in mind, details into the creation process of House of Paint, one of the best events in Canada that showcases all elements of hip hop culture, and more.  Really appreciate the talk with Sami and I hope you do too.  Peace.

Today we talk with the first bboy I ever saw in person, Yutaka from the crews Ground 2 Air and The Ruckus.  Yutaka comes from the Vancouver breaking generation just after crews like Contents Under Pressure and Straight No Chaser, and before my generation, which is crews like Filthee Feet and Now or Never and is still quite active to this day.  We get into a bit about the Vancouver history of that time including the one battle that he feels changed the Vancouver scene, but also dive into the spiritual, artistic, and mental side of breaking, dance, and art.  We also get into his history and recent dabblings in music production.  Really great talk and one of my favourites so far.  Hope you enjoy it.  Peace.

Today we talk with one of the few active dancers from the 90's Vancouver dance scene, Jheric Hizon aka Twist.  I was really lucky to have him on and share some of the history from Vancouver's young scene.  There were people before him but it's a start to tracking down and documenting some of the people and the stories that existed.  We got into some really interesting stuff like the main crews that existed back then, the origins of Robson Square and how it became one of the main practice spots in Vancouver, hip hop parties for underage kids during the 90s, starting a dance studio and training a new generation and more.  Thanks so much to Jheric for taking the time and I hope you enjoy it.  Peace.

Today we talk with the one and only Piecez of Maximum Efficiency Crew out of Toronto, Canada. Whether it's on the dance floor with his crew, or in meetings with funders, Piecez is one of the most inspirational people I've met through this breaking journey.  He's become a world class dancer, started his own charity called Unity and helped make it a million dollar one at that, passed it on to good people and started a new adventure with EPIC.  He's even written a very honest and open book about the whole experience.  We got to chat about some of the things that came up in his book like mental health, dance and hip hop culture and how it permeates into the rest of his life, being accepted for who you are and trusting people, learning and adapting and so much more.  Really great guy with a lot of great things to share and I hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with one of the freest dancers I've met with a super original style, Jazzy Jester from Toronto, Canada.  Member of Albino Zebras, Conscious Soles, and Supernaturalz, he's been a big influence with his emphasis on in the moment creation and expression.  He had a lot of great things to share like how his style developed, the influence of 70's fashion, connection and “feeling” the music rather than just listening to it, and more.  There was a bit of background noise, but hopefully it doesn't distract you too much from what he has to share cause I really think it's stuff people need to hear.  Really enjoyed the talk and hope you do too.  Peace.

Today we talk with one of my favourite bboys from Japan, Ryo-Z repping Lucha Libre and Turks from Okazaki City, Japan.  I met Ryo-Z several year's back but we actually first connected through Youtube after hearing about him from one of his students, Ery, who I've actually interviewed before so check that out.  We were lucky to have my friend Makoon translate so Ryo-Z was able to communicate as freely as possible but it did make communication slower so please be patient.  Feel free to skip ahead to the English translation or enjoy the euphonious nature of the Japanese language.  Thanks to Ryo-Z and Makoon for helping out and hopefully we can do this kind of thing more often.  Enjoy the talk.  Peace.

Today we talk with my old Vancouver friend Jkay aka Jkay 47 originally from Surrey (SURREY WHAT!) now residing in Los Angeles.  Jkay is one of the most genuine, positive people I know and is someone who's drive and work ethic I've always respected.  She's represented all over the world and continues to push her craft and I'm happy to share her experiences with you all.  We talk about the Surrey dance scene and history, all female hip hop group Fly Antics, all female street dance group Diamonds in the Rough, working full time as a dancer, not compromising your style for a competition win, and more.  One of the most fun talks I've had so far and a lot of great information coming from one of the top dancers in the world.  Thanks again Jkay and hope everyone enjoys the talk.  Peace.

Abe definitely has an unique perspective on things with his wide variety of interests and marketing and business background.  We talk about his history, the origins of the Yoyogi house and some of the stories there, his curious mindset and how that helped him with business, his thoughts on growing the scene and not being too narrow-minded and more.  One of my favourite talks to date and I learned a lot.  Hope you all learn something too and enjoy it!  Peace.

Today we talk with Momo from Diamonds in the Rough, The Hoods, Qween of Qweens, and Robson 800, originally from Tokyo, Japan but now living in Vancouver, Canada.  Really fun talk with Momo about her experiences living in Canada and what brought her here in the first place, the differences between the Japanese and Canadian scenes, connecting with the younger generation of Japanese dancers, being more than “just a mother”, and more.  Really great talk and I hope you enjoy it!  Peace.

Today we talk with one of the first people I met in the scene and a guy that's been very influential in the Vancouver Popping scene, Jamieson De Guzman.  Jamieson and his crew, the Groovy Gs are in part responsible for helping build the popping scene in Vancouver which was almost non-existent when they started.  Always great catching up with him and his smooth calming voice.  We talk about the early days of the Vancouver popping scene, the formation of his crew Groovy Gs, learning from the Electric Boogaloos, his dance company and its focus on teaching the joy of dancing, what we feel makes a good teacher and more.  Hope you enjoy the talk.  Peace.