b'Special Featurecoined the term. And it doesnt mean thatform. What I did was I really made it myNow, what is it about this dance we dance on a street. It means that weown. It became a signature dance form forform that keeps it connected to the were influenced by our street surroundingsme, and I became the father and pioneerstreet? in inner city neighborhoods across theof that particular style of dance knownIts one of very few things within the country. Id say started on Soul Train.initially as punking, having different namesinner city and ghettos across this country From there, we formed the group, theas it went on, like whacking. Some peoplethat doesnt require a lot of money to Believe inLockers. Cadillac Junior, Fluky Luke andcalled it the Shabba-Doo, some peopleparticipate. It is very physical, so it has me, Shabba-Doo. We were known as thecalled it the Cagney, and I rebranded itit has a sort of therapeutic element to it Trio. We were responsible for the routinesas the Shway Style. Thats my style inso that when you dance, you feel that that became popular on many of ourparticular. Its an amalgamation of manyit releases endorphins in your head, television appearances. And then we justdifferent dance styles into one, much likeyou feel better. And there is nothing like started permeating all the nightclubs herethe way Bruce Lee approached martialexpressing yourself on the dance floor, in Los Angeles area, namely Crenshawarts a little bit of this, a bit of that, andbeing as one with the music, riding its Boulevard. We went to places like Maverickyou create something new. And thatsrhythm, in that buccaneer sort of way. Its Flat, Summit on the Hill, the Apartmentwhat I did after I left the Lockers in 1977.sexy. Its low cost, but highly effective, and Club, the Joker Room, Blueberry Hill, TheMy last show with them was a Dick Vanthats why street dance tends to be a form Citadel, all these great clubs in the earlyDyke Special starring The Lockers andthat is nurtured and continues to evolve the Beat 1970s. And thats where it all kind of started.Lucille Ball. After that, I went solo andin the inner city and ghettos across this And then after we formed the group andnever looked back.country. made television appearances.Back in the late 1970s, somethingIts interesting just how many films, Then, I met a dancer first namedhappened while rehearsing at the CoronetTVshowsandmusicalshavepeople Andrew from the gay community. HeTheater for a dance show that I wastaking to the streets and thats where created a dance. They were calling itopening in Lake Tahoe. There was thisthe big dance numbers happen. the Garbo, like Greta Garbo. But theregroup I met one day called the ElectricYeah, but thats the Hollywood version, were some things you must know aboutBoogaloo Lockers. They did a lockingright? It happens on a much more attitudes in the early 1970s or even midroutine from me, but then they did a robotpersonal note for me. If we did do it on 70s. They had a lot of things going aroundthing that we thought was really good.the street, it would be, in terms of feeling, in those days. They were saying stuffAnd we hired them for my show and wetantamount to having a gang fight. In like black people had tails or saying thatnamed them and rebranded them fromBreakin, the so-called battle or dance you cant be around gay people becausethe Electric Boogaloo Lockers to thecompetition is reflected in shows that you if you did, you could catch the gayElectric Boogaloo. I went ahead andsee on TV today. We actually created that or if they touched your arm, your armbasically introduced these kids toin our film the whole idea, the whole would fall off. I took his gay dance andHollywood, to Toni Basil, and she usedconcept of lets settle our beef on the heterosexualized it, made it into anotherthem in her videos. I used them in mydance floor. From Broadway to Breakin and beyond, dance. Its a shame that people wouldvideos and television appearances. YouI worked a lot for the great Bob Giraldi, not accept a gay dance at a straightknow, now Im being Im being toutedwho had those numbers in his TV spots. Godfather of Street Dance the late Adolfo club, but at the time, the world was soas the Godfather of Street Dance, butHe would often hire me, and it was always narrow-minded and prejudice that theyou could also say Im the father of thea great gig. Hes such a great commercial Shabba-Doo Quinones discusses the moves required a facelift in order to goprofessional street dancer. I cut that nichedirector. I remember, he directed one thats mainstream. I learned that dance and thatout and paved the way so that peoplepre-Breakin, and Im wearing basically the Lockers, Lionel, and his legacy in his final kind of got folded into the street dancecould have a career.same outfit I wear in the movie.interview from 2020(L-R) Quiones, Muhammad Ali, Sam Firstenberg, Michael above: Adolfo Shabba-Doo Quiones Boogaloo Shrimp What are your first real40s musicals. I saw Cab Calloway,Chambersmemories of dance in your life?the Nicholas Brothers, the BerryChaka Khan I Feel for YouWatching my mom. This wasBrothers and Sammy Davis Jr. before my mom became a JehovahsThen, of course, I grew up watching Witness. She used to frequent manythe Supremes, Jackie Wilson and nightclubs around on the northThe Temptations, namely David side of Chicago. On division andRuffin. He was a prolific storyteller so forth. So, a lot of salsa closed inon stage. Those were my earlythe south because they would alsoinfluences, watching, getting turned play popular music after the club.on by dancing like that, and doing They would somehow find theirsomething really, really different. way back to our house. And late atnight my mom would throw theseNow, what would you say are afterparties. And I would watch the origins of the moves that you them, you know, set up the dancing are associated with? and doing it. Of course, these wereFirst, it was locking. I am one of the popular dances of the day.the founding members of the Lockers, Couple that with watching Saturdaywho coined and popularized the term morning television, because in thestreet dancers, as well as the style. early 1960s, TV played the old I think Toni Basil may have actually 74MVTMISSUE #1ISSUE #1MVTM75'