Planet B-Boy, Engaging Look Into the Evolution of Breakdancing
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Jumping continents and crossing cultures, “Planet B-Boy” looks at the history of breakdancing and its vibrant resurgence in urban cultures around the world.
I’m hooked on dance shows. I watch Dancing with Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s best Dance Crew and even Dance War (though I stopped watching ’cause it sucks). And I will watch the premier of Bravo’s Step It Up and Dance this Thursday. Anyway, though I’m not a fan of hip-hop music, I am a fan of watching dance and thought it would be a treat to watch Planet B-Boy, a documentary about the international world of breakdancing.
Breakdancing is not what it was in the 70s and 80s according to this documentary. It’s evolved from something American and definable to something international and elusory on some levels, but always fascinating. Planet B-Boy gives us some history on the evolution of breakdancing, from what it was in the 70s and 80s to what its become now in the 2000s. But mostly, the film documents the Battle of the Year annual competition that pits b-boys from around the world against each other to a final showdown in Germany. Its truly an international competition with candidates from France, South Korea, Denmark, US, South Africa and many other countries around the world.
The dancing is awe inspiring, truly. I think back to the breakdancing scenes from movies like Flash Dance and think they just can’t compare to the advanced skill sets these kids have today. You just have to see it to believe it. What was also great about Planet B-Boy is that you got to know some of these kids personally and each groups dancing styles and techniques were obvious reflections of their culture and personal experiences. The US and French teams were more individualistic and cocky. The Korean and Japanese teams were, as well as jaw-dropping, precise, clean and highly skilled technically.
If you like dance in any form, you should definitely watch Planet B-Boy even if you don’t like hip-hop music. It’s great!
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April 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 pm
[...] Film Tops wrote an interesting post today on Planet B-Boy, Engaging Look Into the Evolution of BreakdancingHere’s a quick excerptAnyway, though I’m not a fan of hip-hop music, I am a fan of watching dance and thought it would be a treat to watch Planet B-Boy, a documentary about the i nternational world of breakdancing…. [...]
May 20th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Hi Kemi,
My name is Grace Chang and I work for Edelman Interactive. First off, I just have to say that I am also hooked on all shows/movies related to dance. Definitely looking forward to watching the season finale of Dancing with the Stars!
I’m writing you on behalf of our client, the non-profit American Film Institute. As a film buff, I’m sure you know all about AFI’s Emmy-award winning “AFI’s 100 Years…” television series, but this year we’ve changed things up a bit. Instead of 100 films related to a single genre, this year they will feature AFI’S 10 TOP 10 – the top ten films in ten different genres; including: western, animation, fantasy, science fiction, gangster, sports, romantic comedy, courtroom drama, mystery and epic films.
The show will air Tuesday, June 17 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS.
Each of the 10 film genres will feature a different host (we’ll give you a heads up in the next couple of weeks of who they are) and the films in each list will be the definitive best as selected by over 1,500 leaders in the film community.
You are unable to vote, however you can still check out the AFI lists, download the ballot for this year’s show on the AFI website (registration required, FYI): http://connect.afi.com/site/PageServer?pagename=100YearsList and predict who you think the winners will be.
If you would like to know more about AFI’S 10 TOP 10, feel free to contact me at anytime. If you prefer not to be contacted with future updates, please let me know.
Thanks,
Grace Chang