it's good to see there are girls as well footwerking it, and even better to see she's actually adjusting to the track & taking in the rhythm & moving with certain elements (occasionally), which is what dancing was and should be on it's most basic/primal level imo. That's one thing I've been missing, or maybe better - wondering about why, when watching the footwork videos. Everyone just seems to go through their routines without paying much attention to the music, e.g. not using breakdowns/pauses as an element to build up tension through if they occur.
thats actually the sign of a good footworker. Actually, the guy you referred to with the blue milk crate goes by the name of Que, he's 23, and ever since the age of about 19, has been considered a footwork legend. He knows how to hit things on point, he knows how to change things up as the beat changes, and use the toms, claps, snares, etc. The video I'm about to post is Que vs King Charles. King Charles obviously won this battle, but Que had not footworked in nearly a year, so his stamina was nowhere near where it was before he was on hiatus, as well as where he's at now. In any case, his first round in this video is absolutely fucking perfect. Everything is on beat, he hits moves right on point, that round alone is just genius! Literally, even with his next two rounds not really doing much, that first round hands down is one of the best routines ever out there, period.
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A lot of the guys from Creation do it as well, but they're not considered the best battle footworkers. They're more revered for their routines than anything else. Here's Basik Vs Steve-O, both pull off ridiculous moves, and its exactly where they hit the moves which make them the dancers they are.
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I wonder if there ever was/is/will be a point where each footwork crew will play with their own Dj (at the 'small'ish battles), finetuning/choreograph the set/combination of tracks to the dancing and vice versa... as in arriving at the jamaicam/uk soundclash element (conscious or unconsciously...) & even taking it one step further.
When someone's dance looks like its choreographed, it literally leaves a bad taste in the mouth for everyone there. Everything done at these battles is freestyled, it takes a lot more than just moving incredibly fast, you really have to feel the music and just dance without even thinking about what you're doing.
And a lot of these battles have people jumping in at random times, it's not just one side goes, then the next. I've seen shit where one side will go for damn near 5 turns before they let the other crew go. Trying to make order out of these battles, and making one side go then the other just takes away from the energy, and the essence of the battle. This stuff is just raw energy! and it just happens that way. i've seen battle go for 2 minutes and i've seen them go for 50 minutes! shit is ridiculous, but there's always energy.
and i have no clue about uk dnb & jungle culture, but i'm just saying, chicago juke/footwork is extremly localized. these guys will tell you every influence in the world to them, and i haven't heard one of em say anything about shy fx, unfortunately. the best proof I can offer is that their heaviest influences get sampled eventually, and I don't know of a single footwork/juke track that has any UK sample or riff. However, I completely agree with you that we should bridge the gap.