How did you get into breaking? What was your first experience? I was a teenager going to teen clubs, dancing reggae or whatever. I met my boyfriend at the time who was Little Dave, he taught me a couple of floor moves and I liked that style. Then we started hanging out with Ron , Steve, and Tony Bones who were Step Fenz and that was basically the original crew. It was more like learning how to dance than it was breaking. We linked up with Forrest (Forrest Getem Gump) and he taught us the basics, the true, you know, everything breakin’ like the history, his experience, six step and everything. You know, really breaking basics, learning that style. This was maybe from 94’ - 95’. We practiced with so many different people. We linked up with Glyde, who was part of the original Dynamic and he took us to practice with Kid Freeze in Astoria. That's where I really started focusing on trying to get head spins. He was teaching me some head spin technique. I was probably like 18, 19. We linked up with Josh, Incredible Josh, who was very young at the time. We actually had to go in his house and convince his mother to let him practice with us. I might've met Honey through Forrest because Forrest was her roommate at some point. She was mad cool and we hung out a bunch of times and just linked up. Yeah, So I definitely danced a lot of house, even probably before getting into breaking, I can't remember the timeline of how it happened, But a lot of the practicing happened in a backyard, on a piece of linoleum, in someone's basement, in a garage, or at the club. Mostly at the club, you know.
a lot of the practicing happened in a backyard, on a piece of linoleum, in someone's basement, in a garage, or at the club. Mostly at the club, you know.
Which clubs?
In Long Island, early teen clubs in the early to mid 90's were Trixx, Industry, and Malibu. In Manhattan from mid 90’s to 00’s there was Limelight, Sound Factory, Palladium, Mars, House Nation, Sound Factory Bar, Cafe Con Leche, Vinyl, Cheetahs, Nells, Speed, Bar 13, Latin Quarters, Apartment, Sapphire, and Toca Tuesdays. Also Brian Green's House Conferences were always off the hook.
How long did it take you to start learning power moves?
Well, my focus really was power straight from the beginning. Power really was what drew me to wanting to hit the floor and try all kinds of stuff and push myself to things that I didn't think that I could do or that I didn't see any girls doing at the time.
Basically, I would try on my own and then here and there someone would help me out with tricks or whatever. I never really got too much into spin moves because I got nauseous and dizzy. I would do them just because it was like a transition, but I really hated windmills I would hurt my shoulder and I would get nauseous. Even head spins, I loved the move, but I would get nauseous every time I did them so I tried to work on drills. I did a lot more handstand tricks and stuff that I could do in place, the stuff that wasn't turning or if it was a quick turn and then turn the other way to try to undo the spin.
Power really was what drew me to wanting to hit the floor and try all kinds of stuff and push myself to things that I didn't think that I could do or that I didn't see any girls doing at the time.
I heard you had flares, nineties, turtles, How Long did it take you to get those moves?
There were a lot of things that I tried that I couldn't do at first. I considered myself physically strong, but when I tried some of the hard power, I was like, wow, I'm not strong at all. So I did pushups and they definitely helped. As a kid, I could not do a handstand. I would always fall over and I just couldn't get it. When I started dancing, I forced myself over and over again and I finally found the trick of mastering it. I found a whole world of possibilities on my hands because I found that balance. Around 99/ 2000 I was engaged to a bodybuilder who was training me in the gym, so I really started getting strong. I always wanted to do a baby to a handstand and I remember finally getting that low to high transition and one day I started doing a lot of, up and downs, head track to 90, back down to a head track. Stuff that I always dreamed of doing I could finally manage.
How long were you with Step Fenz?
Maybe till like about 99’ so like 94’ to 99’.
Did you have any other teachers?
I think everybody was giving a lot of feedback. I've always been very independent. I don't really take instruction well, but it was more that I would see the way someone did it and then try it until I would get it. People would come and always try to offer help, but I didn't really like to listen to other people telling me what to do. Sometimes you just have to find it in your body and just figure it out. You can say it a hundred times, but until you finally learn it physically, it doesn't click, you know?
So who were the people you were watching and seeing at that time? Was there anybody who really influenced you?
I mean, so many people. In the beginning, of course the Step Fenz. House club wise, I would see the Mop Tops. I really liked Brian Green, Ejoe, and Shannon who was a dancer and a DJ. He would do a lot of power moves mixed with house and I loved the way he would throw in like turtles or whatever. Ronnie and Dino were real powerheads within the house club. A lot of air, like flips, which I never really got to master but I've always loved. They definitely made a big impression on me. Footwork wise, Marjorie was an Ill house dancer, God rest her soul. Footwork was so crazy, and she was just mad cool and down to earth, super genuine.
Some of the first crazy power that I saw was on a VHS tape of Maurizio and Storm. Of course seeing Honey Rockwell was dope, she was always very powerful. When I went to Rock Steady Anniversary, I saw a whole bunch of different people from different places with different styles.
I think around maybe 96’ or 97’ there was a spot that opened on Jam on the Groove, and they brought me over to France. They had trained me hardcore for a couple of weeks, and I remember not being able to walk down the steps after the first day. I learned a lot of different styles like locking and popping that I had never even attempted before. I met a lot of the originals there and that was a nice experience. That was like my first time out of the country. I met Style Elements, Crumbs and Ariston were with us and I loved their styles. I thought it was so dope and different, especially Crumbs power tricks. Kmel was a good friend for a long time. He was definitely a big influence on me. He used to push me to mess with different styles. When I first met him and started hanging out with him, probably in the late nineties, we would hang out with the Boogie Brats a lot. Megus was still around and Kmel had the whole crew staying at his apartment in the BX so I met a lot of out of town bboys through him and his friends.
Do you feel like the house style was in your Top Rock ?
I mean I never really felt comfortable top rocking to be honest with you. House felt more comfortable for me and if I were to dance to a hip hop song, it wouldn't be like a Top Rock style and it wouldn't be house, it would just be more like dancing, you know? I really took me years to start feeling comfortable, and I think doing shows and routines made me feel more comfortable with the movement of Top Rock. It didn't jive with me mentally. I didn't really love break beats either. I always loved hip hop and house, but I didn't really love break beats. There's a few that I liked, but I didn't really like dancing to them. More like listening and grooving to it, but I didn't feel like this motivated me to dance, You know? I didn't get hyped to get down.
So did you consider yourself more of like a cipher cat? Or a battlecat? Because a few people saw you as a hardcore battlecat.
Well probably because if they confronted me, they pulled out a side that I didn't want to bring out at that point in time, you know what I'm saying? If I entered a battle, you know, then I need to do something to beat what they just did. Let's not get angry, let's just see who rocked better on the dance floor, you know? Like I said, I liked to dance with my peoples. I didn't get a great vibe dancing around people that I didn't know what they were about. I liked ciphers at house clubs. I didn't like ciphers at Bboy jams because someone would come up and they just wanted to test. That would change my mood, I was just trying to have a good time. That's why usually if I went to a jam I would just like go practice on the side. If someone tried to test me, I wasn't having a good time anymore and we're not gonna be cool.
How did you get your B-Girl name?
I can't do it now, but used to do a move where you double twist your arms and you double twist your legs. I had all these combos I could do with different twists.
I got hollowbacks kind of early and I had one where I double twisted my legs in it, so I was just thinking of names and I like the way Miss Twist rhymed. Plus you have to find something that no one else has. I did find out later on that there was a Mr. Twist, but he wasn’t a breaker and well, I'm the female version.
What B Girls were you seeing at the time?
When I left Step Fenz, I actually started this all Bgirl crew Powerfemalia and that was me, Tara (LES), Pauline (Philly), Kat (Philly), Melissa (LES), Kit Kat (Canada), and I think Nez (Brooklyn)
and we started doing a couple of shows. It was very short lived, maybe like a year. We were friends and we just put a name on it and called ourselves a crew. We used to always practice at Smith, Kingsbridge, and went to some jams (the Dollar Jams, Skate Key, local NY jams). Eventually we all kind of spread apart. Soon after me, Honey, Deena/Snapshot (who I actually met on Jam On the Groove a couple years back) Wandee, Pauline, and later on Miri (SeoulSonic) created Truessencia, another all girl crew,
and again, it was just friends and we were just like “lets start doing shows.” Some bgirls that I saw when I first started breaking at jams were Honey, Rok, Asia, Beta and Patty Dukes, they were the first girls that I ever met breaking wise. After, I saw Abigail (Abgirl). There weren't really a lot of girls at the time in the very beginning and then more started popping up, some girls from France, I think Japan. At Rock Steady Anniversary I battled Asia and this girl from Rock Steady Japan. Asia and I actually ran into each other and battled a few times .
What years were Powerfemalia and Truessencia established?
Powerfemalia maybe 98’-99’ beginning and end , and Truessencia maybe 2000 until eternity. Also there is the two woman only squad, Bgirl Mafia that me and Honey Rockwell established sometime in the 2000s and will also be forever.
Did you travel a lot to different cities to compete or was it mostly for work?
Yeah, in the beginning I never traveled to battle. The only time I ever actually entered a battle was if I needed money and I thought maybe I have a chance to win, But otherwise I went to a lot of jams and just liked to dance with my friends. I never really liked battles, I liked to battle with my friends, but battling against random people I didn't really enjoy because it wasn't a friendly thing for me. People would battle and then they'd come up and try to shake your hand after but I'm not cool with you after, you know? Especially if they try to dis you, they try to touch you, forget it! Situations could turn into a physical confrontation if someone violated my personal space. I liked it more on like, just the friendly back and forth. I liked battling for fun or for jokes, You know, pushing yourself like “oh, you did that. Let me try to top that.”
Tell me about some of the commercial work you did.
I think the first video I ever did was for Jay-Z. I was friends with Voodoo Ray, who is no longer with us, unfortunately, and he used to hook me up with a lot of videos. I did Jay-Z, Black Moon, Rakim that was like a couple of the local videos that I did and then Mariah. I toured with Missy Elliot for a long time.
I did a theater show “Break” which would take us around to all different cities. We did college shows and went to a couple of different countries. It was definitely a fun experience, I got to see a lot of places I would never get to see, places I wouldn't be afford to travel to. I got to go on a private jet and experience a lot of cool things. I did some award shows, Dick Clark- The New Year's thing and I saw how the whole thing was fake and they filmed it a month before with a fake ball dropping.
What were some memorable events?
Rock Steady I think it was 95’ (and every year after) and then Pro-Am was another one. Zulu anniversaries we would go to every year. Speedy used to hold these jams in the Bronx all the time. I think I've been in a few of those battles and judged some. There was a lot of jams at Skate Key. Wetlands had a few jams. Brian Green's House Conferences were always dope.
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