- GABRIEL BIENCZYCKI
- Alfredo “Free” Vergara, Jr. (from the Circle of Fire crew) flies through the air at On the Boards.
One recent afternoon at On the Boards, b-boy MozesLateef slowly and mechanically moved his hands up and down in front of his body, palms out as if he were pressing against a wall. “Move your hands like you’re inside of a box,” a little girl’s voice said over the sound system. “You know, like one of those…” “Mimes?” a woman’s voice asked. “Yeah,” the girl answered, “a mime.”
Instead of music, the recorded voice of Lateef’s 9-year-old daughter Kyana guides him in one section of Opposing Forces, a collaboration between local choreographer Amy O’Neal and five professional b-boys (popularly known as breakdancers): Alfredo “Free” Vergara, Jr., Brysen “Just Be” Angeles, Fever One, Michael O’Neal, Jr. (no relation), and MozesLateef. The recorded conversation stemmed from rehearsal banter among the dancers about how they define b-boying; when O’Neal asked Lateef’s daughters—who frequently attend the rehearsals—to participate in the conversation, Kyana’s responses were so insightful that O’Neal switched on her phone and began recording. True to the collaborative b-boy spirit, Kyana’s opinions were heard, heeded, and are now part of the show…