Oral Tradition

I'm reading a book right now called An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi. The author travels across the continent and meets with various storytellers of all kinds and disciplines to uncover the truths of African history unspoken or misrepresented by longstanding Western narratives. As I read about the Malinke and Songhay empires, Badawi highlights two tremendously important distinctions about the griot tradition of oral storytelling:

1. "In most African cultures, individuals do not lay claim to knowledge. It is communal, which is why it is so difficult to work out the provenance of information relayed by the storytellers."
2. "Oral tradition in Africa gives rise to interpretations that can run counter to the biases of written accounts."

The griot tradition--as Badawi puts it--is storytelling with emphasis on extolling the greatness of rulers, heroes, and heroines. And in street dance? The griot tradition is resplendent. I'll give you an example.

The photo above is of a guy named Bruno Falcon aka Pop'n Taco. Pop'n Taco is one of the most influential dancers of all time, albeit somewhat more behind the scenes than his peers. He is publicly credited with his Breakin' fame as well as his choreography with Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, and other artists. Within the street dance scene, Taco is colloquially known as the guy who actually taught MJ how to pop. He passed unfortunately in 2022, and he is lauded as one of the great figures within the dance.

Taco's level of technique was so high that it set several standards in Popping both in the 80s and the contemporary age. I've heard many stories from folks who grew up around him that, initially, people did not care to respect him because he was a Mexican trying to do what was, at the time, exclusively a Black dance. However, that undeniable skill made him not only immediately accepted, but also, according to some, broadened the spectrum for Mexicans in LA to gain further representation in this soon-to-be-global funk-rooted movement.

In fact, there is a move he popularized called "The Cobra" that is a combination of various chest, neck, arm, and wrist rotations so as to mimic the movements of the snake of the same name. While he did not create the move, his variation is easily the most popular out there. For some, they want to get Taco's Cobra down to a T. For others (like myself), Taco's Cobra is so popular that you might want to learn different ways to do the Cobra so as not to look just like everyone else! Taco's Cobra variation is so popular that, prior to the internet, there weren't really any public accounts outside of his group, The Electric Boogaloos, that could contest a claim that he came up with the move, much less be believed.

Now, Taco's story is a fascinating case of the power of oral tradition because that group I just mentioned, the EBs? Oh they got themselves in some trouble once the internet came around. See, the EBs were the first group to popularize Popping due to their Soul Train performance in 1979. While Taco was not an original member, he and Popin' Pete both starred in Breakin' in 1984. And, to my knowledge, the EBs were the first to tour the world globally teaching and performing Popping, combined with video tapes that served as tutorials for the international community. The EBs set the standard for what is and isn't Popping all up until the 2000s; there were other very popular dancers who did not adopt their style--colloquially known as Electric Boogaloo (surprise, surprise)--however, when questioned about the other dancers' styles, members of the EBs often relegated them to "tricks" or accessories to their style. As such, the EBs essentially created a school of thought that continues to confuse many. It is as follows:

• The true form of Popping exists within the movements of the members of the Electric Boogaloo dance group, past and present. All other related movements done in conjunction with Popping may be frequently witnessed, but they may not count as Popping unless EB members do them. In fact, someone can do these related movements exclusively, but unless they move like the Electric Boogaloos, they may not be Popping at all.

Now what's funny about this is that there are elements of Electric Boogaloo added over time that are clearly the creation/popularization of later members like Steffan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente from South Bronx, NY; while martial arts have factored in heavily into Popping's history, Wiggles' seems to be the first to readily introduce the "52 Blocks" movements into the canon. What's more, over time the global Popping community has been introduced to members of the pioneering generations whose skill levels are so high and so distinctly not Electric Boogaloo, that it calls into question Electric Boogaloo's supremacy. If someone like a Bopping Andre or a Flat Top, two pioneers who fall in what many people now call the "Animation" camp--for their techniques utilize and replicate various concepts within film animation--call what they do Popping, and they don't ever seem to do Electric Boogaloo, then maybe Popping is more expansive than just Electric Boogaloo? Or so the logic would seem.

It is contradictions and revelations like these that drive many a (now defunct) bboy.com forum discussion of the 90s and 00s, soon turned into social media and YouTube variants. Additionally, not only does the internet now bring the original players into the game and gives them a stronger voice: the pioneers of Oakland and San Francisco who started the whole collection of dances to begin with; but it also gives voice to those in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Jose who developed their own styles parallel to the Electric Boogaloos: those who know the dance as Poplocking. And, of course, they have their own stories to tell, too.

And, ironically, with these stories comes a great deal of clarity but also an even greater deal of confusion. What does this term mean? Are Poplocking and Popping the same? Who created this move in 1973? Why is this OG no one has ever heard of saying he came up with it actually in 1969? Who all is corroborating this? Oh, okay now this other guy just put up a video saying his crew came up with it as their signature move in 1972, but the 1973 guy stole it from their routine...you see where I'm going with this. And I haven't even mentioned what happens when these narratives-as-they-exist-at-the-time start getting written down in books or parroted to unsuspecting international dancers who may not know enough of the language or society to even begin to cross-reference the facts. Politics, man.

From what I understand, all of the contemporary street dances have stories like this: the famous pioneers and their unheard of counterparts; the revisionist histories to-be-corrected at a later date; the narratives as adopted by commercial entertainment industries, etc. And what makes the oral tradition so honorable and fun (for me) is in the tradition, the truth is out there, somewhere. You just have to talk to and listen to enough people, and you'll find it eventually.