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Breakdancing: From the street to the stage

Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular has a cast of ten amazing musicians and dancers. One of the premiere Break! performers is Otoniel “Aquaboogy” Vasquez. A professional dancer, Vasquez has been in countless breakdancing competitions as a solo artist and with his group. The Miami native is known for his funky and innovative styles. Vasquez talks about the evolution of hip hop dance, spectacular Break! performances and the story behind his unusual name.

The Hip Hop culture is more than 30 years old and breakdancing has been a part of it from the beginning. What is breakdancing?
They call it breaking because you dance to the break of the song. In disco records, a lot of times, there would be a part in the song where everything drops out and the percussion just goes bananas. The deejays would time that break and loop it. The deejays noticed that was the part that everyone used to go nuts to. Breaking is really the art form that came from New York, the East Coast. On the West Coast, you have popping and locking. And through popping and locking and breaking together, they called it break dancing.

We’ve got a good idea of what breaking is. What can you tell us about popping and locking?
Locking symbolizes a more staccato movement. Popping really looks like the robot with really hard stops. You pop or flex the muscle to the beat with hard or rigid stops.

You’re known for your amazing dance skills. How did you get your start?
I’m a native of Miami. I’ve been dancing for most of my life. I started popping and locking when I was a little kid. I had some older kids I looked up to in the schoolyard and I was watching them dance. That’s when I first got involved in hip hop. Me and hip hop grew up together. TV was also a big influence. I would watch shows like Soul Train and Solid Gold Hits. I never took a dance class in my entire life.

Aquaboogy is one of the most original names I’ve heard. What’s the story behind the name?
I’ve had that name forever. They (Street dance culture) actually gave me that. The style that I do is very watery. People often ask me if I have bones or if I am double jointed. It’s just a technique that you practice with diligence. The stuff that I do is like the motion of water going through my body and affecting my body as a wave. I dance with that wave and I constantly look like I’m watery. A sub-style of “popping” is called “waving.” I am a specialist at that style of waving and popping. 

There’s more to tonight’s Break! show than just dance. What else goes into it?
There are musical acts. One of the most impressive acts is the beatboxing. The beatboxing is really amazing. The rhythms and sound they make with their mouths, you would think there is a musical processor somewhere in the back or some kind of keyboard. They can layer sounds of drums and music at the same time, like a ventriloquist. It’s like hard to believe sometimes the music that these guys can make with their mouths.

The other is deejaying. They bring out two records, two stereo vinyl records, and put each one down and start doing amazing tricks with them.

Breakdancing is a street phenomenon, making up moves as you go along. Do you make up moves within the Break! performances?
Throughout all the organized routines, there are certain segments within the songs and routines that we improvise. All the shows are going to be different because all our solos are going to be different. We create them from the top of our head.

What can we expect to see from you tonight?
I do a lot of things that look like slow motion. It looks like a slow motion reel and then from there I start breaking out my movement into quick little jerky movement. So my whole body looks like it’s under a strobe light. And then I’ll go into a very, very stiff robotic movement. It looks like the original robots.

What are some of the stops on past Break! tours?    
This season we did a U.S. tour. Last season we did the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

How is the audience different at each venue?  
They’re all different. They all appreciate us. What we do is street dance and hip hop. It’s a universal language. Every continent takes to it equally the same. It transcends ages. The age ranges from little kids to seniors. They all love it. They all scream. Dance is a universal language so they understand what’s going on. It’s all straight music and dance, a language everyone can speak.

What’s next for you and Break!?
Break! is constantly touring the world. In November, we tour Beijing.

--Diane Francis