I truly wish I could have been in NY this past weekend, but instead, I'll just share an article off of the HouseDancers.com website. I LOVE Mop Top/Elite Force Crew. They're the reason why I dance today. Look out for footage, coming soon.
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This past weekend, November 7-9, 2009, many dancers lucky enough to be in NYC experienced a monumental event: the 20th anniversary / reunion of the Mop Top collective, which also consists by extension of the world famous Elite Force and Dance Fusion crews (+ Wiseguys). The dancers who make up this collective are the most influential artists of the Hip-Hop and House Dance generation, having inspired dancers on a global level for more than two decades. They are:
• Buddha Stretch (Emilio Austin, Jr.) [Brooklyn, b. 1968]
• Caleaf Sellers [Brooklyn, b. 1969]
• Ejoe Wilson [Bronx, b. 1970]
• Marjory Smarth [Manhattan, b. 1969]
• Tony McGregor [New Jersey, b. ~1970]
• Loose Joint [Brooklyn, b. ~1971]
• Mike Clark (MikeU4ria) [Brooklyn, b. 1972]
• Sekou Heru [New Jersey, b. 1969]
• Shan Selby [Brooklyn, b. ~1970]
• Bobby Mileage [Boston, b. 1972]
• Brooklyn Terry Wright [Brooklyn, b. 1973]
• Henry Link [Brooklyn, b. ~1970]
• Voodoo Ray [Harlem, b. ~1968]
Collectively, the Mop Top crew has appeared in dozens of groundbreaking music videos, films, and concert tours and have worked with all of the major players in the pop industry (Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross), hip-hop (Will Smith, Brand Nubian, Gangstarr, Heavy D) and House (CeCe Penniston, Crystal Waters, Dee-Lite). They have established and judged dance competitions the world over, and have participated in countless seminars and instructional workshops. Perhaps most importantly, the members of Mop Top have taken social dance movements from the urban vernacular and developed them into legitimate American art forms that are now emulated worldwide on a scale never before witnessed. Many dancers of the collective are destined to occupy the same rarefied air as dance luminaries such as Alvin Ailey, the Nicholas Brothers and Katherine Dunham.
The success of the Mop Top family is not only measured by their individual and collective talents as dancers, choreographers, and instructors. It is their dedication, hard work and passion that have set the foundation for generations of dancers to come. Each member of the collective is a pioneer in his or her own right, embodied with their own unique style, technique and approach to the respective art forms of Hip-Hop and House Dance. Not since the Soul Train dancers in the 1970s had a young group of dancers commanded such an impact on the world of what is commonly referred to as “street dance”. But the Mop Top legacy will arguably shine brighter than any self-taught dancers who preceded them, because Hip-Hop and House music as a cultural phenomenon have captivated a world-wide audience in a way that no other music has since, and perhaps ever will. And we can never forget that the origination of these crucial musical forms, the most powerful and enduring of the 20th century, was inspired by the Dancers.
They were all born between the years of 1968 and 1973 and graduated high school between 1986 and 1991, during the rise of the Golden Era of Hip-Hop. As New Yorkers, they danced at the epicenter of Hip-Hop’s explosion into the mainstream and redefined the cultural landscape of Hip-Hop through such classic films as “Wreckin’ Shop: Live from Brooklyn” (1992), arguably the greatest Hip-Hop documentary of all time. From their roots in Hip-Hop, they transitioned to House and transformed it. While earlier forms of House Dance had developed in Chicago (jacking) and New York (lofting), members of the Mop Top crew innovated the style in the late 80's and early 90's, crafting it into its own distinct entity, and managed to develop House Dance into an international phenomenon, the effects of which have only begun to be realized.
The performance at the Alvin Ailey theater on Saturday, November 7, featuring the Mop Top family was a milestone in the history of American dance. Standing on stage, together, unified after more than 20 years, the collective sent a message of solidarity that will unite the legion of Hip-Hop and House dancers worldwide . If the leaders of the Hip-Hop and House Dance generation stand united, than so shall all those who follow in their path. And through unification, all things are possible. While Asian and Europe have long heralded the accomplishments of American street dancers, the United States has traditionally treated dance styles of the urban vernacular as “fads” and have subjugated street dancers to mere background players. While MCs, DJs, Producers and other practitioners of the culture have reaped massive financial rewards and accolades for their musical contributions, the dancers – the individuals who truly bring the music to Life, who transform two dimensional soundwaves into three dimensional art – rarely get a footnote (at least in the U.S.). The entertainment industry at large, and the music industry in particular, have never truly respected dancers, unless of course they stepped to the mic. It doesn't have to be that way and a change is bound to come.
The Mop Top Reunion culminated Sunday night at Funkbox (Sullivan Room), where the original members gathered for a panel seminar to share their history. We learned that many of the members of the crew had known each other since pre-school days. The one common thread they all shared was that they first encountered each other on the dancefloor and worked hard to earn mutual respect. In many cases, their street reputations preceded them, as they took on the aura of urban legends. Battling was the norm, in those days, because the underlying mentality was rooted in Hip-Hop. As Marjory pointed out, they did actually dance in the street. Whether at the World, Union Square, Latin Quarter, Kilimanjaro, House Nation, Wild Pitch, Red Zone, Sound Factory, or Tunnel, they told stories of an era long gone but not forgotten. From their humble beginnings on the asphalt of local parks and hardwood floors of clubs, the Mop Top family shared a "behind-the-scenes" look of how they went on to transform the global scene: Brooklyn Terry’s last minute audition for Mariah Carey, prompted by a late morning call from Ejoe; Voodoo Ray’s arrest on a subway platform that led to the hiring of Link and Caleaf for a Diana Ross video; Stretch’s first trip overseas where he, Caleaf and Link were interrogated by English customs for hours, only to be allowed to party one night in London; Bobby Mileage’s move from Boston to New York as a teenager to pursue his lifelong dream. For true dance enthusiasts, the seminar panel would have captivated anyone for hours on end.
Our only hope is that the Mop Top crew won’t let another 20 years pass before they host another reunion. In general, underground dance communities are often fractured by competition and false claims to credit. Dancers just can’t seem to get it together, perhaps because opportunity from an industry standpoint is limited. The U.S. government, with its powerful grant programs and cultural subsidies, rarely extends a dollar to the realm of Hip-Hop, much less House. Corporate sponsors don’t care unless a million headspins are involved. In the end, it is up to the Hip-Hop and House dancers themselves to build their own infrastructure and stake a claim in American history. Mop Top’s 20th family reunion represented this vision in action and it will be exciting to see what comes next.
Santiago Freeman (Nov. 2009)
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