As the late Tupac Shakur said, "Ain't nothin' like the old school." Almost nothing compares to the familiar, upbeat sounds of '80s hip hop as performed by Whoudini, the Fat Boys and Kurtis Blow, except for the heart-stopping dance moves that often accompanied them. From the slithering snake to cardboard-requiring break dancing to the staccato robot, the moves of '80s hip hop were as important an ingredient to hip-hop's unique flava as was the music coming from the icon of the '80s hip-hop era, the boom box.
The familiar acrobatic dancing which, for a while, seemed a relic of a hip-hop age long gone, is being brought to life in Detroit as 10-man dance troupe Jam on the Groove. The performers fill the Music Hall with the sights and sounds of the old school through Sunday.
The troupe's purpose is to take hip hop back to it's roots. Members concede that rap music today is following some scary trends, and they want to remind the world that what many see today is not where hip hop was born and not necessarily what it should be about.
"I was there when hip hop started," dancer Jorge "Fabel" Pablon explained in a recent interview with The Michigan Daily. "Then it wasn't violent, and there were no drugs."
But Jam on the Groove's on-stage performance is more than just random dancing. Each dancer's appearance is, according to dancer Adesola Osakalumi, part of a slow, converging storyline of aspirations, fears and social concerns.
"We work on the numbers and start flowing with the music," he said. "Then one or two people may have an idea and take a lead. It's like a big gumbo. (But) it's not about exhibitionism or machismo. We take hip-hop to a whole new level."
Greeted with the stirring sights, sounds and soul of the old school, performance attendees will have a feeling of being back home. Don't miss a chance to see, hear and feel what Pablon calls hip hop's deep-rooted cultural origins as tribal African and Native American music and dance.