Pop Lockin for the soul: Jeffrey Daniel:Urban Genius

Funk for the Robotic Soul

What’s going on world? With the dance scene blowing up tremendously within the past couple of years, it’s almost impossible to overlook any kind of dance movie, contest, tv show, and etc that’s marketing the art form. Here’s the thing though. A lot of the styles u see being performed at top notched levels have a root connection to what I call the best dance created better known as poppin aka pop lockin. Now for my older generation out there u probably thinking yeah, “Yeah we did that back in the day,” or , “Man that dance is played out.” And for the younger generation u probably don’t even know what I’m talking about and if u ever seen it before. Well the truth is this no this dance is not played out and yes u have seen it before. EVERYWHERE ACTUALLY. For example look at Ginuwine’s “So Anxious” and “Aint None Of Ur Friends Business” videos. The dance break sections in those videos displayed some poppin with fluid arm movements and the sudden robotic stops. Still confused? Better yet let’s take the late great Michael Jackson(RIP).Most of his stage performances contained a lot of poppin sequences with the slides and floats on his feet and the mime movements inspired my Marcel Marceau. These examples are NOT the ONLY elements of this dance as there is plenty of footage worldwide to dig through. However I like to use those examples as common footage that most of you have already seen before.
　
Bottom line is this. I honestly feel like poppin aka pop lockin doesn’t get the credit it deserves in the media for what it truly is. And this is why I created this site. If there’s anything u want to find out about the dance rather it be history, tutorials, videos, and etc, it’s all here. Some of u might be highly skilled with the dance and just want a website to visit that’s just geared toward the poppin community. Or u might be a newbie to the poppin game and u want to learn as much as possible from this incredible dance. Whatever the reason may be for your viewing of this website, knowledge of this dance is the foundation of the material that u are viewing. This site is also geared towards sharing your ideas and experiences with the dance. Lots of people would love to just have insight on poppin and their interpretation on the dance but don’t have a source to refer too. By no means am I a pop lockin God of any sort but this site contains loads of knowledge that is vital and it is my pleasure to share it with u. The site is completely free and enjoy the dance as it evolves constantly….

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Jeffrey Daniel:Urban Genius

Jeffrey Daniel has got to be one of dancing's greatest legends.He's innovated and contributed a lot of character to poppin.For those of you who don't know him he used to be a soul train dancer back in the 70's.From lockin,miming,poppin,and robot jeffrey did it all with the utmost effort and talent.Now get ready for this because waht I'm about to tell u might come off as shocking.Are you ready.Lol ok he is also known for introducing the moonwalk to Michael Jackson.You didnt see that coming did you?With Jeffrey contributing that much to the game he deserves his credit

As stated before he started out as a Soul Train dancer back in the 70's.Also around this time he had a dance partner named Jody Watley and they later formed the r&b group known as "Shalamar."They came out with a few hits of that time and Jeffrey would use his dancing skills to sometimes promote the group.Back in 1978 him and his crew "Eklipse" performed the moonwalk on soul train.The moonwalk was the signature name of the dance but it is originally called the "backslide."It was the first time that it was done on television and a young Michael Jackson followed their dance career ever since.It wasn't until the 80's when michael met jeffrey but was no stranger to his dancing on soul train.Geron 'Casper'Candidate and Coolie Jackson were the other members of Eklipse and Jeffrey actually sent them to MJ to teach the backslide.Jeffrey couldn't make it himself due to touring with shalamar.MJ paid Cooley and Casper a couple thousands of dollars to learn the move after JD introduced it to UK and Europe for the first time back in 1982.A program in the UK called Top Of The Pops was where JD introduced the move off of Shalamar's hit song "A night to Remember."MJ kept in contact with all three dancers and they worked together later on during the release of his "Bad"album.

Jeffrey remained choreographer for MJ for several years and went on tour with him as well.Videos such as "Smooth Criminal","Bad",and "Ghosts" were the main MJ hits that JD choreographed along with others.His success with Shalamar played a nice role with the r&b and pop charts with hits such as "A Night To Remember","Second Time Around",and "Friends."He would later on go solo in the late 80's and early 90's.Today he tours around the world as a solo artist and as well as a dancer.The man still has the skills and has been a major influence on artists such as Usher,Sisqo, and Justin Timberlake.His moves also inspired my mentor TJ Jefferson who is a OG from New Orleans.JD has played a major role with poppin and lockin culture since the early soul train days and the success of MJ's success.True OG!!

Here is a clip of JD getting down in the UK