Oakland Boogaloo - An Intro to Basic Movements with Chuck Powell

I wanted to have Chuck show the dance community a few Oakland Boogaloo movements that I feel relate to what we do in Popping today. This was a very informal and unplanned demonstration just to get an idea of some movements and also some history behind them. These are just some of the moves they did in Oakland during the height of the Boogaloo era there (1965-1980), but there are many more left to be shown.

The years for each movement in this video correspond to the years Chuck witnessed the movements first hand. They are not necessarily the years the moves were created. For example, “Wiggling/Worming”, “Swinging the Arms”, “Hops” and “Puppet” movements were being done anywhere from 1965-1969 in Oakland by a generation of Boogaloo dancers that came before Chuck. I want to thank Chuck and all of these other Boogaloo dancers that came before us and honor their place in dance history.

Dancer: Charles “Chuck” Powell from the Black Messengers
Other speaker: Wayne from the Black Messengers
Video Editing: Bryce Hill
Music: “Keep It Gangsta” by DJ Mofak

Moves shown:
The Slot
The Moonwalk
The Falling Man
Hops
Swinging the Arms
Tidal Wave
Toy Spins
Wiggling/Worming
Puppet turn