The Clinic
Day two began with a two hour b-boy clinic lead by Red Bull BC One champ and 17yr veteran Ronnie Abaldonado. After a brief meet and greet, Ronnie (accompanied by the Red Bull DJ) launched into a challenging routine that hurtled the students through the basics of B-Boying with the style only Ronnie could bring.
With over 20 B-Boys (and B-Girls) in attendance, the warehouse rehearsal studio heated up as everyone got busy learning how to sharpen their toprock, spice up their footwork, and build toward the perfect freeze. Later on, the students showed Ronnie their power moves in an impromptu cypher.
Learning the steps
Ronnie demonstrates “exaggeration of arm movements”
The girls from Enigma Dance Kru showed Orlando that they came to do work
A clinic participant works on his power move
The Movie Premiere
The highlight of the weekend was the worldwide premiere of “Turn it Loose“, a documentary about six world class B-Boys battling it out to become the Red Bull BC One Champion. Breakers traveled to Orlando from all over the US from places as far as Colorado!
Ronnie with Thanarat “Terry” Phuvapaisalkij from Colorado’s dance2live Crew
Thanarat “Terry” Phuvapaisalkij and Yuta (a fellow breaker) from dance2live Crew hopped a Greyhound bus from Colorado to Orlando just for the world premiere and a chance to dance at an event judged by Ronnie.
“My buddy Yuta found out about the Orlando event JUST THIS WEEK so we bought $300 bus tickets so we wouldn’t miss out” recalled Terry.
When asked what would make him drop everything and travel nearly 2,000 miles (and over 40hrs) to Orlando Terry explained,
“Being in Colorado means being cutoff from the B-Boy scenes on the East and West coasts. This was our chance to meet Ronnie and see a movie about us, a movie about B-Boys.”
Who could argue with that?
As the theater filled all the way to the top row, David “MEX ONE” Alvarado led a Q&A session with Ronnie. The enthusiastic crowd of over 100 B-Boys and B-Boy enthusiasts participated in a conversation about the future of B-Boy culture and what it takes to claim the number one spot.
Q&A at the Shakespeare Theater in Loch Haven Park
“Turn it Loose” at the Shakespeare Theater in Loch Haven Park
B-Boys from all over attend the premiere of “Turn it Loose“
Judging from the cheers and gasps during the film, “Turn it Loose” was a hit with this crowd.
Terry called from a stop on his 40+ hour bus ride home to share his thoughts on the film.
“I thought it was great” he enthused over the phone. “Before the movie I had this perception that the top B-Boys were superhuman…but after the movie I could see tha tthese guys are really just like me.” After a pause he added, “It gives me inspiration to back get back home and work harder.”
