No strings attached
'Break! An Urban Funk Spectacular' made a stop on its world tour
at Blackman Auditorium.
Keir Bristol
The Huntington News
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: The Inside
Tickets quickly sold out for "Break! The Urban Funk Spectacular,"
which was performed in Blackman Auditorium Friday and Saturday.
The show presented many different aspects of the history of hip-hop,
including DJing, break-dancing, rapping and beat-boxing. People
from all around Boston, including local high school and college
students, parents and children attended, in addition to Northeastern
students. The show was complete with urban backdrops, costumes
and smoke machines.
Each element of the show was presented by itself and collaboratively
with other elements. There was beat-boxing, dancing, drumming
and DJing, broken up by combinations like beat-boxing and rapping,
or drumming and DJing.
During the intermission, audience members could buy DVDs of the
show, apparel and pictures of the performers.
"Break!" featured music from drummer Doron Lev, DJ
Razor Ramon (a.k.a. Ramon Gilmore) and beat-boxer Kenny Muhammad,
also known as "The Human Orchestra."
DJ Razor Ramon scratched music by Daft Punk, Kanye West, Jay-Z
and Justin Timberlake. Muhammad, who beat-boxed during a performance
dedicated to James Brown and encouraged audience participation,
was one of the more popular acts.
"My favorite part was the human beat boxer," said Gladys
Fashote, a freshman pharmacy major.
"Break!" is a counterpart to Love Productions founded
by Steve Love in 1985. Love directs several other touring productions
in addition to "Break!" as well as music videos, commercials
and films. Val Brochard, the director of production for Love Productions,
worked with Love on the show. Darrin Ross, the tour director for
Love Productions, is also a longtime producer, engineer and songwriter.
Love Productions is a company based in New York City that is
divided into several segments that cover different performances:
Love Asia features Asian acrobatics and martial arts, and Love
Comedy is dedicated to making the audience laugh. "Break!"
which is part of Love Urban, is currently on a world tour and
recently returned from China.
"The DJ was amazing," said Peter Franklin, a junior
English and French major.
Franklin said that the show was "very put together,"
and stressed the show's organization.
"This is one of the best performances in Blackman
that I've seen," he said.
Dancers and choreographers included Doc, Zen One,
PEACE, Jumping Bean, Aquaboogy, Urban Action Figure, Kid Glyde and
Locking Q.
PEACE is an internationally-known break-dancer whose
name is an acronym for People Everywhere Are Created Equal.
Aquaboogy displayed his water-like abilities through
his "Living Mannequin" performance, in which he popped-and-locked
his way into the audiences' psyche.
Locking Q was the only girl featured in the ensemble,
but the audience embraced her all the same. The host told the audience
that Locking Q was "representing the ladies."
"I've never been to any of these [shows], so
to see any of this going on … I kept asking, 'Where's the strings?!"
said Chris McDermott, a local high school student.
The audience was enthusiastic about the show, using
the words "awesome" and "amazing" to describe
the performances that took place on stage.