Jaquency Ford – Memphis Flyer

Epic may be an overused word these days, but when it comes to describing one of Jaquency Ford’s Old School vs New School Gangsta Walk events, it’s just about the only word that fits.

Old School vs New School 4 has attracted Gangsta Walkers and enthusiasts from across the Southeast and from as far away as Oklahoma. It features five solo and five tag-team Gangsta Walk battles, in addition to musical performances and special dance showcases. It’s a test to see if old school Walkers like Mike Mo and Cino can keep up with new school dancers like King Dre and Ocean. And to see if the new school dancers can measure up to the old school’s exacting standards.

Gangsta Walkers

“It’s all about respect,” says Ford, who will also square off against Gangsta Curtee in the evening’s main event. Ford’s always happy to show off his moves, but he’s even more excited to assemble so much Memphis dance history in one building.

“I finally got a chance to get all of the old school Gangsta Walkers in one building at the same time, and that hasn’t happened in 15 or 20 years,” he says. “It will be fun to see those guys out on the floor. Because to a lot of people, the old guys are like a myth. They’ve only been heard of. And maybe seen a clip or two.”

Julius Ward aka Hurricane from the seminal dance crew G-Style is scheduled to perform in a solo showcase, as is Marcus Bowers, who’s sometimes described as the man who created the Gangsta Walk. “He was before G-Style,” Ford says. “He was before everybody’s time, and we’re honoring him.”

The Gangsta Walk is the balletic, footwork-heavy style of urban dance that was born in Memphis and is the foundation for Memphis jookin’.

Dance fans — both street and classical — have a special opportunity this week to explore both the origins and the future of Memphis-style bucking and jookin’. The “Old School vs. New School 3” dance competition at Minglewood Hall pits Memphis’ first generation Gangsta Walkers against younger dancers looking to see if their bucking and chopping measures up against the original masters.

“This is the first time in a long time that people will have an opportunity to see the original Gangsta Walkers,” says instructor, artist, and event organizer Jaquency Ford, who has hand-picked the dance partners who’ll be squaring off against one another at Minglewood. Gangsta Walking is the direct antecedent of jookin’, the Memphis-born dance style that New York Times dance writer Alastair Macaulay recently described as, “the single most exciting young dance genre of our day, featuring, in particular, the most sensationally diverse use of footwork.”

Pretty Tony will be in the house to perform his seminal club hit “Get Buck.” Original Gangsta Walkers include Wolf and Romeo, two-thirds of the G-Style, the ’80s-era rap and dance team that first began to mix breakdancing moves with “buck jumps.”

A stone’s throw to the east, at the new Hattiloo Theatre in Overton Square, FreeFall finds New Ballet Ensemble (NBE) presenting a concert showcasing the company’s critically acclaimed hybrid of ballet, Memphis jookin’, and world dance styles. NBE’s program includes a revival of Noelia Garcia Carmona’s Dos, a vibrant mashup of jookin’ and flamenco set to original music by Roy Brewer and showcasing the talents of Shamar Rooks. The New Ballet Youth Company presents Doin’ It Right choreographed by NBE alum and Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark dancer Maxx Reed.

NBE is also premiering “Three Dream Portraits” based on poetry by Langston Hughes with music by Margaret Bonds and choreography by General McArthur Hambrick.