“Hey you, the Rock Steady Crew. Show what you do, make a break, make a move.” The year is 1983 and breakdancing is breaking through worldwide. The Rock Steady Crew produces a hit and draws attention to the subculture from The Bronx, New York. B-boys and B-girls can be heard and seen worldwide. Hip-hop combined with a dance style developed on the street between rival groups.
“Hey Mister Crazy Legs. Can we take a picture?”. The year is 2018 and a young fan wants to be photographed at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires with ‘Crazy Legs’, real name Richard Colón, 52 years old. ‘Crazy Legs’ is a member of the early days of the Rock Steady Crew and now a judge at the Games. The raw breakdance culture of the late seventies and early eighties has become a decent sport in 2018.
“This generation has everything to take breakdance to another level,” says Crazy Legs. “They grow up in good conditions and can work on their moves at clubs and in the gym. I’m from The Bronx, where we apparently created something new on the street. But we had to find out how everything worked, to invent things. We made mistakes, did naughty things and made sure that breakdance – what we did every day – was a hit. ”
From the text on the cap that Crazy Legs is wearing in the Urban Park of the Games can be concluded that he always carries The Bronx with him. “If it wasn’t for the Bronx,” the blue cap reads in white letters. “And that is of course definitely the case. Surely we could never have imagined that breakdancing is a sport at such a big event ?! But if we hadn’t done what we did in The Bronx then, this wouldn’t have happened. ”
And the level of young athletes in Buenos Aires is very acceptable to the legend. The moves of the youth, challenging the opponent, the appearance of some B-boys and B-girls. The judge appreciates it very much. “They could be my children, haha, but I think it’s great that a new generation is taking over in this way.”
Incidentally, the Rock Steady Crew still exists. As a kind of umbrella organization that offers space to different talents. “We have DJ’s, painters, designers, poets, dancers, musicians. We have been there for 41 years and we are still going strong. ” When ‘Crazy Legs’ has finished the spontaneous photo session, he tilts his cap one more time. Another day of judging tomorrow. “You made history man”, the fan yells after his idol and he lets you hear “Hey you, the Rocksteady Crew” by YouTube on his phone.