Expanding The Scene: Forming Crews

One reason that the bboy scene has flourished in southern California through the 1990s and 2000s is the endless number of crews that formed and competed. The poppin’ scene has experienced similar growth in the past five years with more crews at local contests. We still haven’t seen this happen with the new school lockin’ generation, but a good sign is that they’re growing in numbers. Forming crews is an essential part of expanding the scene because it encourages training with your friends and builds the group personalities that define the local culture.

But what about starting all styles crews? Back in the 1980s, bboy crews had poppers and lockers. You needed to have multiple styles in order to match up against another crew. If they sent out their popper, you needed to have one to go toe-to-toe in a battle. Now, we see segregation in styles. It’s rare to see bboys, poppers, and lockers battling together as one unit. Part of this is due to the street dance scene splitting off into various communities over the 1990s. When the new school discovered these new dances, they gravitated towards a particular style because that’s how it was most accessible. You went to a practice session that was for bboys. Or you took a class from the Electric Boogaloos in the early 2000s to learn their boog style.

Today in 2010, there might be opportunities for us to go back to all styles crews. The collegiate hip hop choreo scene has grown. More Gen 2 new school dancers are participating in the choreo scene as well as the underground contests. Collaboration is going to happen. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see a crew with bboys, poppers, lockers, waackers, hip hop urban freestylers, and choreo heads all together? In some ways, Culture Shock LA has pursued that model in recent years. But we’re not seeing all styles crews showing up at contests.

It seems that all styles crews will appear more at choreography showcases like a VIBE or a World of Dance event. These crews have an advantage by having members excelling in different techniques. That only gives them more options in their choreography. Perhaps what we'll see in the future is a new breed of all styles crews forging the path for more diverse routines as they become more about showcasing than battling.