OCTV Presents: "The Hat Trick Turn Up," directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Deidre Schoo of "Flex Is Kings"
Earlier this week, as a Jamaica-bound J/Z train lurched above ground and into the winter sun, two male dancers began to perform in a subway car. If you've taken public transit, you may have seen a similar set-up—the flexin (Brooklyn), the b-boyin (NYC), the krumpin (LA), the turfin (Oakland), the jookin (Memphis)—or perhaps a freestyle appropriation of all these. You recognize it by the flashy, turbo-charged case of showmanship, accessorized by a boom box and a flat-brim, in and out with the closing doors and the jangle of change.
The only difference is that this duo, Showoff, 24, ("the nickname is pretty self-explanatory," he deadpans) and Dre, 23, aren't kids without agenda. Both are professional flex dancers first, and friends second, having met at a past Battlefest.
"Everything is dance; it's my form of self-expression," Dre says. "We call it 'mind-labbin.' Even when I'm not dancing, I use my imagination and make up dance moves in my head, and then go home and try 'em out. It's where the best moves come from." The dedication is paying off: The Brooklyn-born Jamaican, whose professional career just touched seven years, will be one of 18 dancers featured in FLEXN, a Peter Sellers-directed performance to debut at Park Avenue Armory come March.
On this day, aside from the whirring train, there was no music. Showoff, a gifted bone breaker, and Dre, who specializes in tutting and hat tricks, were their own choreographers, rhythms drummed up inside their heads and executed with the instinctual boop, bap, bing, bong, foop, fop— sound effects that would escape their lips; heads and shoulders moving in choreographed ticks, like a hyped-up pocket watch.
The most common misconception about the dance form? "Flexin has nothing to do with flexibility," Showoff says. "It stemmed from the BCAP channel's 'Flex in Brooklyn', a TV show about young, talented people who came out of the ghetto to dance."
"I'm about to modd you!" Showoff shouts to Dre, using a popular slang word that means something like "mad" or "amazing" or "one-up," depending on the context. The two were going especially hard for the camera, of course (watch the above video to view), but these performers thrive off friendly competition, competing in multiple Battlefests a year.
Aside from gaining confidence in themselves, the two admit that it's always nice to garner attention from new fans. When we broach this subject, Dre gets a little shy, breaking into a Cheshire grin to reveal a delicate gold grill on his bottom teeth. "The attention from girls—that's always nice," he ad
Earlier this week, as a Jamaica-bound J/Z train lurched above ground and into the winter sun, two male dancers began to perform in a subway car. If you've taken public transit, you may have seen a similar set-up—the flexin (Brooklyn), the b-boyin (NYC), the krumpin (LA), the turfin (Oakland), the jookin (Memphis)—or perhaps a freestyle appropriation of all these. You recognize it by the flashy, turbo-charged case of showmanship, accessorized by a boom box and a flat-brim, in and out with the closing doors and the jangle of change.
The only difference is that this duo, Showoff, 24, ("the nickname is pretty self-explanatory," he deadpans) and Dre, 23, aren't kids without agenda. Both are professional flex dancers first, and friends second, having met at a past Battlefest.
"Everything is dance; it's my form of self-expression," Dre says. "We call it 'mind-labbin.' Even when I'm not dancing, I use my imagination and make up dance moves in my head, and then go home and try 'em out. It's where the best moves come from." The dedication is paying off: The Brooklyn-born Jamaican, whose professional career just touched seven years, will be one of 18 dancers featured in FLEXN, a Peter Sellers-directed performance to debut at Park Avenue Armory come March.
On this day, aside from the whirring train, there was no music. Showoff, a gifted bone breaker, and Dre, who specializes in tutting and hat tricks, were their own choreographers, rhythms drummed up inside their heads and executed with the instinctual boop, bap, bing, bong, foop, fop— sound effects that would escape their lips; heads and shoulders moving in choreographed ticks, like a hyped-up pocket watch.
The most common misconception about the dance form? "Flexin has nothing to do with flexibility," Showoff says. "It stemmed from the BCAP channel's 'Flex in Brooklyn', a TV show about young, talented people who came out of the ghetto to dance."
"I'm about to modd you!" Showoff shouts to Dre, using a popular slang word that means something like "mad" or "amazing" or "one-up," depending on the context. The two were going especially hard for the camera, of course (watch the above video to view), but these performers thrive off friendly competition, competing in multiple Battlefests a year.
Aside from gaining confidence in themselves, the two admit that it's always nice to garner attention from new fans. When we broach this subject, Dre gets a little shy, breaking into a Cheshire grin to reveal a delicate gold grill on his bottom teeth. "The attention from girls—that's always nice," he ad