Event

Under the Influence of ego trip Pt. 3

The Big Breakdance Contest
21 minutes, 1983

Originally aired on New York's WABC in 1983, The Big Breakdance Contest documents a Tri-State wide b-boying competition at world-renowned NYC nightclub The Roxy. The prize: $2500, an appearance on music video program New York Hot Tracks and a role in the film Beat Street. Hosted by actress Leslie Uggams and WKTU radio legend Carlos DeJesus and featuring an oddball crew of celebrity judges (e.g. footballer Hershel Walker, soap opera stars Debbi Morgan and Darnell Williams and New York Knick legend Earl "The Pearl" Monroe amongst them), it's a highly entertaining time capsule of early '80s pop culture. But beyond the headspins, windmills and electric boogie maneuvers (provided by dance crews like the Magnificent Force, Uptown Express, the Fantastic Duo, the Flash Dancers, Larry Watson and Jason Twigg, the Heartbreakers, and the Dynamic Breakers), it's a reverential celebration of hip-hop at one of its early high points of global influence. A brief video package featuring Afrika Bambaataa that precedes the compeititon touts hip-hop as, "The first youth culture since the '60s [to] put a premium on individual imagination." And it don't stop

Post screening Q&A TBA