How did you get into Breaking?
I grew up in Germany and when I was young, my two older brothers, they used to break. I would watch them train and such but I was so young, I didn't really understand what was going on. My oldest brother is an MC and he was actually organizing a lot of Hip Hop events out there and it was all of the elements. It wasn't just a breaking event, It was everything. He had performances, he had DJs, he had MCs, he had graffiti writers and he had dancers. I was like 11 or 12 or something, but my mom would let me handle the cash register, so I felt like I was in the mix. It was raw, so much going on. I watched and I would always see a bunch of b-boys come through and just get down and I was just like, Yo, this is dope. But for me, I was a girl and I didn't see any girls doing it (breaking) so in my mind, it was a guy thing. As I got older, I started being friends with the b-boys and We would all hang out so I would go to practices. I don't really recall them ever being like, "Yo, you want to try it?” but I was still super fascinated, I just didn't see any girls doing it.
We moved back to the U.S. in 2003 and I had graduated high school at that time. I just couldn't bear the idea of going to college and continuing school so I was trying to figure out what to do. I knew I wanted to dance, I always was dancing. In Germany, everything starts at a younger age, so I was going to clubs and parties and such. When we came back we were living literally outside of Philly with my grandmother.
I looked up a Hip Hop dance class and it was the worst thing ever. It was not the Hip Hop that I needed or wanted. I did that for like a few classes and I was like, "I can't do this." Later that year we moved out of my grandma's house and into the city, into Philly, and I was just figuring out what to do. I finally saw a newspaper ad talking about a breaking workshop! So I was like, "Oh my gosh, yo, this is crazy!” It just felt like it followed me or something. I told my mom, "I really want to do this. I want to take this class" And she's like, "All right." So yeah, that was how I started actually breaking and taking a class. And then from there my journey just began, Basically.
I was a girl and I didn't see any girls doing it (breaking) so in my mind, it was a guy thing.
Who taught you?
The teacher who taught the workshop I found in the newspaper, his name was Amani. Then there was this event that I went to at First Unitarian Church. It was the first jam that I went to and Raph was there giving out flyers for a b-girl workshop, specifically for b-girls. He saw me and he gave me a flyer. I went to his class but I was also going to Job core because I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. There was a point where I actually stopped coming to the classes for about six months. When I came back that’s when I really started learning from Raph because I was the only one that really went every single week. He noticed that, so I think he was like, "Okay, she's actually taking it serious" and he decided to put more time into me. So yeah, my first mentor is Raph.
After about a year he took me in as an apprentice with his company Olive Dance Theater. I helped with the administrative work with his co-founder at the time, Jamie. She taught me the administrative side of the company. I also started traveling with them to performances and thats how I started meeting other b-boys, because they were part of his shows. I wasn't performing but when he would go on the road I would come check it out. Looking back, it was dope, but when you're young and me with my attitude problem at the time, I didn’t see it that way. I'm grateful for the experience to be on the road and with an established company at that time so it was great.
How long until you started performing and entering competitions?
I didn't start competing till at least three years in actually. It took me some time because my confidence wasn't there. I was traveling with the company and I would train. I went to open practices mostly at the CEC (Community Education Center) and I was shy, but I would still go. I was insecure, and I didn't think I was good. I would freeze up and I would get so upset at myself. When I really started building with the b-boys in the scene I got down with Sole Flave. They were first crew that I was a part of. We would just have practice sessions at our apartments.
Did you have any other teachers after that? or did you learn from people here and there?
It was really just Raph at first. Later, after I joined Sole Flave, Joe Sun was one that really took me under his wing and then Hannibal as well. They were the main ones and then people like Kurt (King Cotee) and others would help out give me pointers and such.
Raph and Hannibal were the ones that really inspired me with how they thought about breaking and being able to express that creativity. Outside of that, I didn't really have people that I was looking at that really inspired me. Even now I still don't really get inspired much by breakers, it’s always been music and artists that really inspire the way I present myself on the floor.
Are there any artists in particular?
My mom used to watch a lot of performances of Diana Ross, Chaka Khan and Tina Turner growing up and seeing and how they commanded the stage, their stage presence, really influenced me more than other dancers. Movement wise, the one bgirl that did inspire me was Hanifa (bgirl Bubbles aka bgirl Art) from the UK. I saw her in that video of her that circulates from time to time. It wasn’t about the moves it was the power behind her movement and the way she did her windmills that made an impression.
There’s a story that I hear through the beat, the melody, the rhythm, the lyrics, and it's also, the connection, that I have as a Black woman to this music.
What kind of music then? What is it about the music? Is it the horns, the drums?
For me it's really everything. It's how it all meshes together. There’s a story that I hear through the beat, the melody, the rhythm, the lyrics, and it's also, the connection, that I have as a Black woman to this music. Historically and heritage wise it's that pride as well, wanting to connect to why the artist thought of making this dope ass song and being able to share that with others, through your physical dance. That whole experience just kept the beats in me and makes me to do what I do.
Is that what helped you get out of your head and gave you confidence?
That absolutely helps me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing and why I enjoy doing it, because that’s the really important part, to enjoy it. We all get caught up because we're worried about what we're doing, how we come across, all of that.
Macca is your real name, right? Did anyone ever try and give you a Bgirl name?
Yeah, for my first few years I felt like I needed to have a different name, a dance name. As a child I didn’t like my name, I wanted to have a normal name like everyone else so wanting to have a different name probably stemmed from that. At one point people wanted to call me Finesse, but then somebody else had Finesse already. So, I was like, all right, I guess that's not me. But yeah, people will try to call me Macca Rock or something and I do have a few people that will still call me Murder Mac but outside of that, people were just like “your Macca” because people now think that's my Bgirl name. So, It serves its purpose.
One of my biggest accomplishments is.. not wanting to chase other people's ideals of me
What do you feel like are some of your biggest accomplishments?
For me, one of my biggest accomplishments is me getting really close to being satisfied with who I am within Breaking. With not wanting to chase after who I think I'm supposed to be, not wanting to chase after other people's ideals of me. So, that is definitely one of my biggest accomplishments and it's as late as yesterday. Every day it's happening, it's evolving, I'm getting to that space more and more.
I was Invited to the RedBull U.S. nationals and won the national championship! Also being chosen as the first ever bgirl sponsored by Monster Energy. These were important to me especially being a black bgirl.
When people first started hitting me up to judge, to travel, for invites and such. Getting to experience that for the first time and being sought out and recognized for something that you work on day in day out is definitely an accomplishment.
You started and IG page called The Battle Manifesto, what inspired you to create that?
It really came about through pandemic life and figuring out how to maneuver through this thing and still bring value to Breaking. I saw this gymnast on Youtube do these reviews of her own competitions. She was talking about what she was thinking in that moment while she was doing whatever she was doing, and it was funny! I thought it would be dope to see that within a breaking competition context, so instead of talking about my own moments I wanted to host this show and be the one to pick the competitor's brains.
The idea was for it to be culturally impactful battles, the ones that make you feel connected to the dancers and the way they put their hearts on the floor. I wanted to include some Breakin’ favorites but also battles that people don’t know, the hidden gems.
I had my first live in April 2020 and people enjoyed watching it. There are some competitors that are not going to come on because they got so much beef and it's just not going to happen, but I'm really grateful to the ones that do.
My idea is to start with Breaking and then venture out to different dance styles as well, because it also honors the dancers. We put ourselves out there in these competitions and it's no joke. As much as we want to say we are having fun, it's stressful, it's tiring, it's emotional, it's all these things. To acknowledge how you felt and what you were thinking in the moment is something we can all relate to. I'm hoping to have it continue to grow.
What about Girl Illa Tactics? Tell us about that.
Yeah, so Girl Illa Tactics. My sis Ella Katrina and myself we're the co-founders. She initially came to me in 2012 or 2013 I believe. She had an event in Wisconsin through the university called Girl Illa Tactics. Which was a fundraiser event for her main event, Breaking the Law, which was a yearly festival that they had.
She had brought me out to actually, to judge that year for the competition and we were talking about collaborating within the Breaking scene, with cultural and social justice ideas and merging those together into the Breaking scene. We were thinking about a name, but she already had Girl Illa Tactics which was already dope, so we decided to form that officially as Girl Illa Tactics. It's a multimedia platform that highlights Black indigenous voices within hip hop and seeks to educate, promote, and just have this solidarity within specifically Black and Brown communities, and within the event space and for Breaking and for hip hop period.
Check out Girl Illa Tactics here: https://www.facebook.com/GITactics/
Check out The Battle Manifesto here: https://www.instagram.com/thebattlemanifesto/?hl=en
Comments