Interview with Shallow

Tags: Interviews with Poppers, Shallow

Shallow has been representing the Boston/East Coast Popping scene since 1978 and has earned his reputation as being one of the most technical waver’s in the world. Dancing for one of the longest repping Boston Bboy crew “Floor Lords” and now “Worldsoul” – NY, he has been an active pioneer in the Popping scene and has brought up many young dancers under his wing. Shallow now throws one of the biggest Popping Contests in the world called “Unity and Respect” bringing in talent from across the glode.

When did you start Popping?

I started dancing in 1978

What got you into popping? At what age?

I was in 8th grade when I started getting down.

At the time you got into popping, how many people were already doing it?

At the time I started in Boston there was allot of dancer in Boston at the time probably hundreds to a couple thousand the scene was very big in Boston there were allot of waving, tutting, robot, some mime. we were listening to allot of electro on the east coast but we partied of funk music and hip hop even some freestyle music cause it had allot of electro beats in the music.

How did you get your name?

That’s a very funny story cause back in the 80`s every bboy and popper had a dancing name one day when I was done dancing a couple of kids from my neighborhood approached me and asked what was my dancing name was, I said I didn’t have one/they said what’s your first name? So I said it they naw that wont work so they asked me my last name? So I said shallow they said that’s dope that’s what were gonna call you cause they said it fitted my style cause I was doing allot of waving and puppet at the time.

Who are some of the dancers that made a real impact on your scene or the art form in general?

In Boston myself , megatron , domino, tilt, super Steve, bionic smurf, the play boy poppers, the robonauts,nyc puppeteers, the funkafets, seven deadly sins, the devasting rockers, top master crew, these were some of the crews that represented in Boston during that erra.

Were you in a crew? If so which?

I was in the Floorlords or like over 25years they are the oldest bboy and popping crew in Boston there’s like 5 generations members over the years.

Are you in a crew now? If so which?

I’m in a group called worldsoul which is out of NYC.

How long have you and megatron been dancing together?

Me n megatron have been dancing together since the first time we got down in front of each in the first circle that we met each other and exchanged numbers . For over like 30years.

Where were you from? Where are you now?

I’m from Cambridge Massachusetts and now I live in Everett mass which is like two towns from my old neighborhood.

Was there a certain style your area was known for?

In Boston at the time it was about what dancers were representing in each different parts of the city when you went to a certain part of the city people would recognize you and that would decide by your skills if they were going to battle you and test your skills or if they were going to give you props and respect you and welcome you to there part of town.

We keep hearing that back in the day, no one danced like each other. Please explain.

First of all back then we didn’t have any video cameras to record different people we were lucky to ketch soul train so see the soul train line and watch the different dancers. The other thing is when we practiced back then we did it alone not in a big gym or studio with a bunch of dancers because we would practice solo to create personal moves secretly so we could bust them out at jams or parties. everybody got there reps of there originality and being different know you could line about 50dancers up and have them dance and they would all look similar to allot of the big name dancers in video’s think its ok to admire a certain dancer but you need to eventually put your own personality into what that person dance. I think that’s missing these days with allot of the younger kids.

What do you think is the major differences between today’s scene and before?

Back then when we battled and danced it meant allot more to us then it does to kids now we danced for our different cities where we grew up who we hungout with and what everything you ever represented for your crew or group and whether you won or lost it made a big difference how you were looked at among your peers whether you were going to be respected or not. Nowadays it not like that this error is watering it down and there’s not as much loyalty like there used to be. for instance ?you sometimes have these young kids try to call out the o g`s then when the old school legends take it personal and get upset you kids are like why is he mad like that? but they don’t understand that even if the og`s skills aren’t like they used to be if it wasn’t for poppers before you guys you wouldn’t be doing this dance and that when we were growing up it was a respect thing when they battled back in the day which was taken very seriously then. Not to mention even if the younger kid and the OG battled everything that your doing was done years before you even heard or saw the style or moves that these kids are trying. Just little FYI for you younger kats.

Who were some known poppers back then? What made them known?

Their popping names alone did the talking for the dancers back then like I said it was a respect thing think about this ok?example? popin pete, popin taco, klown , skeeter rabitt, boogaloo sa,m, flatopp, mrwiggles, earth quake,boppin andre,slick dogg, animation, what do all these names represent? They represent what type of style they danced, person’s personality was like, or the life style they lived by .this is how real things were back then.

Where were the hot spots to session/battle at? How often did these things go down?

They went down at block parties and house parties on the east coast and they were like every couple of weeks especially during the summer.

Who was your inspiration? What did you guys do different back then to get inspiration?

My first inspirations were this group I looked up to was the robonauts they all specialized in different styles and they were all dope. also there was this guy called karim saunders he was the first guy to teach me my basics waves and puppet he was the first person to give me my first white gloves and puppet strings to practice with. after couple of years gone by it was the dancers on soul train and poppin taco I used to study his hitting styles and waving and isolations then when I met poppin pete and seen how he used his leg movements and the different angles he would freak the beat in awkward angles and make it look effortless. and of course there’s boogaloo sam how he makes all the traditional styles look so funky .there’s so many people that I respect there skills my list could on for a while.

You are known for your incredible back waves, back shoulder waves, and micro waves, how did you come up with these techniques?

These type of waves I used to do and practice when I was in grammar school I would always try to be very creative with my waves but I would first practicing waves everyway up and down my different body parts and then in reverse. Then I would break the waves down into different body parts and muscles joints to the beat. I plan on putting out a DVD with these styles being done.
Did you train with a certain group/individual/teacher? If so who?

Allot times I would practice in my house for hours and then I would hook up with megatron and domino sometimes and we would have cyphers for hours trying not to repeat our moves.

Can you still find inspiration from the new generation?

There’s allot of dope up and coming dancers and I see them doing different stuff all the time and I get very inspired.

Please tell us about any memorable battles, beefs, sessions, moves, places, etc.

One of the most memorable battles I had was with this guy called snow white. The reason why they called him that cause from the projects he was from he was Puerto Rican but he had blue eyes and they called him that because he looked like a white boy. one day his crew came to my home town to battle me n domino there crew was called the playboy poppers they showed up like 30deep with black shirts with white playboy bunnies on them and playboy hats with white gloves. Since he was the best in his group and he wanted me after all my boys and his group went at it he called me out. so me and him battled for like 2hours people came from all over the city to see us battle people were sitting on roofs of houses and people gathered like 10boom boxes and lined them up it was crazy. It got so wild our girl friends at the time ended up battling in the middle of ours which finally after along time I finally beat him it almost turned into a riot it had to be broken up among all of our crews. But I would have to say that was one of the biggest battles they were so many battles I’ve been in that each had there own memories.

What were the dominant styles back in the 70s? How about in the 80s?

The styles that people were doing in Boston back then was more waving, tutting, mime, and robot.

Who were some of the dancers that you used to hear stories about?

Me n megatron always studied west coast styles cause we knew that’s where they all came from. but we used to hear about taco, poppin pete, animation , hugo, heckle n jeckle, little tuff from unique dominoes, booya tribe, boogaloo shrimp,the electric boogaloos, one arm bandit, jeffery daniels, casper from soul train, skeeter rabbit,oz rock , sugar pop,even ice T used to break back then.those are some we used to hear about.

How were battles judged back then?What do you think battles should be judged on?

We used to battle until someone stops or if one of the dancers repeats themselves. I know when we bring in judges for our event we bring in dancer with different styles that way there’s no arguments.

Skill level compared to back then to now, what are the differences?

I think the skills were better back then. Reason? Cause even though there’s allot of dope dancers now allot of them only have one style mastered and I would just like to see more versatility in the younger dancers nowadays. musicality is better now .but originality we have young guys beat cause that’s when all this stuff was created but there’s still time.

Who did you want to battle back then? What about now?

I wanted to battle anyone that wanted to get some. Not to be cocky but I was very confident in my skills and I practiced as if I was battling so I had allot of battle moves. but I would never go looking for it only if someone called me out but don’t get me wrong when they did I was very happy cause that was the stuff I trained for I guess you can say I made my name off of battling.

What do you feel about the internet becoming a big part of networking in poppin community?

I think the internet is very good for networking and promoting and educating the culture. But it’s bad when you get these kids talking trash wanting to call people out on line that is so dumb.

When did you get back into the scene? Why?

I never stopped dancing I always went with the different dance errors but I always kept popping.

What was the down time of the scene like (late 80s early 90s) how did ppl react to poppin?

Back then people respected it more because everyone couldn’t do it .after you got down in a circle from showing everyone your skills we would look for a girl to dance with and chill. Then when gangster rap came out it started changing the culture everyone wanted to be a thug and not what hip-hop culture is about.

What do you think brought poppin back? Who is responsible?

I think allot of the bboy events and jams helped with it get its popularity back.

How do you feel about the new styles of music poppers these days are dancing to?

I feel it should be that person’s choice on what they prefer but as long as you’re dancing to the music with the correct foundation in which ever style your doing.

What legacy would you like to leave for the scene?

I just hope that when people think about me doing this dance that they will look back and say they respected what I did and how I did the dance and hopefully there’s some young dancers out there that I inspired them to want to do this and respect the culture like I do.

What advice would you give to anyone who is interested in getting into this dance?

Learn your foundation, be your own person don’t be a follower, and just have fun.

What do you think young dancers should do to help the scene grow as a whole?

First I think they should respect the og`s more. Second educate the people that don’t understand what we do to make these dances grow. And if you’re making money good for you but know what your worth.

Anything you would like the readers to know about you? Any other comments?

I just want to give props to all the dancers before me that did this dance and to all the younger generatioan that is keeping this culture alive remember even though we all want to be the best at these dances we are all family in this dance peace shallow….