2010: The Year We Make Contact
is fianlly here. Unfortunately, Arthur C. Clarke never lived long enough to see this day, but I'm sure he'd be disappointed no one has been to Jupiter yet.
Although no one has travelled to Jupiter, a lot did happen in 2009 in the funktacular Scrambleworld. Here I will share a little month-by-month review of what went down in my life this past year!
January
Since 2005 myself and bboy Treble have organized Steel City Cyphurs: an annual bboy jam in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Each year bboys and bgirls from Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Michigan and New York come out to battle. This was the last year we decided to do this series and we held a 5-on-5 battle for $1000. Over 400 people came out to support and get down and we managed to raise $500 for Brennan House, a local home in Hamilton for troubled youth. Special thanks to all the dancers who came out and Funk Fanatics (TO) for the win. (You can see the final battle against Fresh Format (MTL) below)
This year I will be organizing a similar event in Montreal on January 30 (my birthday!) called REAL CITY CYPHURS and will be focused more on the open circle and call out aspect of bboy events: be sure to check out the info here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=253909101527&ref=ts
February
In February my teacher, mentor and friend from France: Gemini came to Canada for the 2nd installment of the Locking 4 Life Canadian Tour which me and my good friend, Baby L (Toronto) helped organize. Gemini taught workshops in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa before heading out to western Canada (Vancouver, Calgary)and back to Toronto for What Da Funk? (See March)
March
In March, Baby L organized What Da Funk? in Toronto. It is a 1-on-1 Locking and Popping battle and it was her first time doing a jam. Frank Boogie and Gemini were the guest judges for the battle and the legendary Son of S.O.U.L. provided some of the illest funk you've never heard! This event was off the hook and although I won the locking contest! Below is a clip of the final battle between me and Treklock from Montreal. Trek is a dope locker and we are always battling each other!
April
The Irish Hip Hop Championships took place in Dublin, Ireland at the beginning of April and I was fortunate enough to have been invited over as a guest judge. It was a lot of work but it was a great experience and I learned a lot about judging contests outside of the locking/bboy realm. Big shoutout to Tara and Paul who brought me out, I had such a great time in Ireland I decided to return in September! Below is a pic of the workshop I taught and the other guest judges.
May
One of the biggest events in Montreal happens every May in Montreal called Bust-A-Move. It's an event which brings together street dancers from all over Canada and in recent years more people have travelled from Europe and the US for the event. The event has contests in various categories including Popping, Waacking, HipHop, House, Bboy and of course, Locking. After battling each other EVERY Bust-A-Move, this year me and Trek decided to team up. We worked well together and won the locking contest! Below is a clip from our battle against Baby L and Sox, the best locking battle of the night in my opinion.
In June the whole world was shocked to hear of the passing of Michael Jackson. I don't know a single street dancer who wasn't influenced by him in some way. Here I share a clip of Michael and his brothers locking, of course they were taught by Greg Campbellock Jr and The Lockers. RIP MJ!
July
The thesis work continued in July but I did manage to have some fun and visited New York City for a weekend. I hung out with one of my good friends and earliest locking influences: Disco Dave. To me, Disco Dave and Jazzy J are New York's funkiest! It was great getting to hang with them as well as Shallow, DJ Batsu, Rashaad, Boogtom and others during the Rock Steady Anniversary funk jam and Step Ya Game Up, Buddha Stretch's annual event.
August
After exactly 3 years I finally completed Graduate School at McGill University and submitted my Master's Thesis in Chemistry. It was a lot of work and at times very difficult but I was glad I got through it.
The rest of August I continued to work in the lab but also managed to enjoy the rest of summer before heading up to Inuvik, NWT on a week-long project with Buddha and the Blueprint For Life team. It was an incredible experience and being able to share with the young people up there is something I will never forget, along with the Bears!.
September-October
In the fall I took a 2-month tour around Europe. It was a trip full of funk, food and friends and I was fortunate enough to have been able to teach in the various countries I visited. Check my previous blog post for more info and all my photos are up on Facebook. One of the many highlights on the trip was winning the locking battle at Battle of the Year 2009 in Braunschweig, Germany.
November
Upon returning to Montreal I completed my new website (www.scramblelock.com) and locking video entitled "Love City" and spent most of the month re-discovering Montreal and getting back into a serious training routine
December
To wrap up 2009 I visited Quebec City where I taught a locking workshop and judged a bboy battle. The scene in Quebec City is small but the bboys and bgirls there have a lot of potential. I look forward to seeing that scene grow! Big shoutout to Gigo, Twister and Quebec Bboys for organizing a great weekend!
I ended the year by heading to Hamilton to spend Christmas with my family and back to Montreal to ring in 2010. It was a fantastic year and looking back, I can see how much I have accomplished and grown, it's almost as if I've travelled to Jupiter!
Here's to another year! What 2010 will bring? Keep checking the blog!!!!!!!!!
The Irish Hip Hop Championships took place in Dublin, Ireland at the beginning of April and I was fortunate enough to have been invited over as a guest judge. It was a lot of work but it was a great experience and I learned a lot about judging contests outside of the locking/bboy realm. Big shoutout to Tara and Paul who brought me out, I had such a great time in Ireland I decided to return in September! Below is a pic of the workshop I taught and the other guest judges.
May
One of the biggest events in Montreal happens every May in Montreal called Bust-A-Move. It's an event which brings together street dancers from all over Canada and in recent years more people have travelled from Europe and the US for the event. The event has contests in various categories including Popping, Waacking, HipHop, House, Bboy and of course, Locking. After battling each other EVERY Bust-A-Move, this year me and Trek decided to team up. We worked well together and won the locking contest! Below is a clip from our battle against Baby L and Sox, the best locking battle of the night in my opinion.
June
Despite all the dance-related stuff I did in 2009 I was also trying to complete my Master's Thesis in Chemistry and June was "buckle-down" month so I didn't do much traveling. I did however, spend my Saturday nights getting down at Vinyl, one of the hottest funk spots in Montreal for the weekly Love, Disco Style night. DJ's Bain Magique and F.U.N.K. provide a constant supply of 70's/80's funk and they celebrated their 1 year anniversary in June. If you are in Montreal on a Saturday, this is the place to go! Check out their Blog below
Despite all the dance-related stuff I did in 2009 I was also trying to complete my Master's Thesis in Chemistry and June was "buckle-down" month so I didn't do much traveling. I did however, spend my Saturday nights getting down at Vinyl, one of the hottest funk spots in Montreal for the weekly Love, Disco Style night. DJ's Bain Magique and F.U.N.K. provide a constant supply of 70's/80's funk and they celebrated their 1 year anniversary in June. If you are in Montreal on a Saturday, this is the place to go! Check out their Blog below
In June the whole world was shocked to hear of the passing of Michael Jackson. I don't know a single street dancer who wasn't influenced by him in some way. Here I share a clip of Michael and his brothers locking, of course they were taught by Greg Campbellock Jr and The Lockers. RIP MJ!The thesis work continued in July but I did manage to have some fun and visited New York City for a weekend. I hung out with one of my good friends and earliest locking influences: Disco Dave. To me, Disco Dave and Jazzy J are New York's funkiest! It was great getting to hang with them as well as Shallow, DJ Batsu, Rashaad, Boogtom and others during the Rock Steady Anniversary funk jam and Step Ya Game Up, Buddha Stretch's annual event.
August
After exactly 3 years I finally completed Graduate School at McGill University and submitted my Master's Thesis in Chemistry. It was a lot of work and at times very difficult but I was glad I got through it.
The rest of August I continued to work in the lab but also managed to enjoy the rest of summer before heading up to Inuvik, NWT on a week-long project with Buddha and the Blueprint For Life team. It was an incredible experience and being able to share with the young people up there is something I will never forget, along with the Bears!.
September-October
In the fall I took a 2-month tour around Europe. It was a trip full of funk, food and friends and I was fortunate enough to have been able to teach in the various countries I visited. Check my previous blog post for more info and all my photos are up on Facebook. One of the many highlights on the trip was winning the locking battle at Battle of the Year 2009 in Braunschweig, Germany.
November
Upon returning to Montreal I completed my new website (www.scramblelock.com) and locking video entitled "Love City" and spent most of the month re-discovering Montreal and getting back into a serious training routine
Scramblelock - Love City from Scramblelock on Vimeo.
December
To wrap up 2009 I visited Quebec City where I taught a locking workshop and judged a bboy battle. The scene in Quebec City is small but the bboys and bgirls there have a lot of potential. I look forward to seeing that scene grow! Big shoutout to Gigo, Twister and Quebec Bboys for organizing a great weekend!
I ended the year by heading to Hamilton to spend Christmas with my family and back to Montreal to ring in 2010. It was a fantastic year and looking back, I can see how much I have accomplished and grown, it's almost as if I've travelled to Jupiter!
Here's to another year! What 2010 will bring? Keep checking the blog!!!!!!!!!
