When did you start breaking?
I started breaking fall 1999. I was the first girl out of all boys in my family, so I was a tomboy and I would always hang around the guys or try to be better than them at sports but I always loved dancing. One day I was at my best friends house and they shared the same driveway with these asian kids who had a linoleum floor laid out playing freestyle music. I knew that music, so I looked out the window and everyones out there breakdancing. They had all their fast and the furious cars out. The lights from the cars were shining on the linoleum floor and it was like love at first sight for me. From the moment I saw it I wanted to be the best. I went outside and instantly they started showing me some moves. My first move was the invert. they were like just do a handstand look at your feet and stick out your butt and I did it!
From there I took it back home. I told my siblings that this would change our world and the way we see it. The space my brother and I created in our basement, we named it “basement 55.” I would make these flyers that said something like “if you wanna breakdance come meet me at basement 55.” My brother and I set up turntables, linoleum, we had an area with couches and a TV so we could watch the VHS videos. we would open up the cellar door and bring the community to us.
Who were your first teachers?
After I brought breaking home to my brother we started to watch from VHS tapes. Easy Rok, Wiggles, Storm, Circle of Fire, Crazy Cujo, Crumbs, Reveal, Remind, there were so many. We would see what they were doing to try to figure out the different types of movement and put our own stuff together. We started together but he had to stop because he got injured. He was the person that trained me, trained all my strength. A lot of it was really self training and watching, going to the battle seeing new things learning new things and being like “OH! what was that” and just rocking out with people. Thats the best way to learn, I feel, through community and experiences, no classes, no youtube, no nothing just straight raw community. Later on I started going to the community center and I linked up with Problems Kru (1999-2005). I got influenced and inspired by people like Problem Child (RIP), Dubz, ABgirl, Spy, Mutt, and Vee who was one of my main mentors. Mutt was another one of my mentors. He did a lot of flow and he taught me a lot of that flow style that wasn't big back then. Also Spy, he was a power head.
you wouldn’t really see or talk to certain dancers until you caught them at a jam. So when I first met him I went up to him and said “your my inspiration” dapped him up and rolled back to invert in his face
As far as inspiration from other people in the dance scene: Free, Orb, Crazy Kujo because they were all doing different stuff at that time and I loved it a lot. Ya-ya, Solstice, Beta, Asia One, Pancho, Ghandi Sopheak, Remind was also a big influence but I think watching Kmel amped my fire with his energy. People don’t really do this now but back in the days when you saw a person that inspired you at a jam you would go up to the person and call them out. We didn’t have social media or youtube so you wouldn’t really see or talk to certain dancers until you caught them at a jam. So when I first met him I went up to him and said “your my inspiration” dapped him up and rolled back to invert in his face and just held it for mad long. Everyone was like “OOOOH!!!!” and then I walked away.
How did you get your Bgirl name?
From my Grandma actually. One night I was with her, may she rest in peace, and I told her I really needed a good name and I started describing to her all the things that were important to me and they all came in three’s. She also knew how god is really important to me and after I told her all of that she just said “Trinity” and that became my name.
Who were the girls that you were seeing at the time that were your generation or coming up at the same time as you?
Over these past years the scene has grown there are a lot of Bgirls to find inspiration in. Back then there weren't as many girls so when promoters would fly me out to battle, The girls I was going up against would become my inspiration because I was battling them.
I remember battling with Beta and Solstice at Queen B around 2003. I got flown out to Toronto Canada for Enter the Break that same year, I was 18 and there was a girl I battled named Cleopatra.
I got invited to California for Mighty Four in 2004. It was a Bgirl top 4 and I battled Vendetta. Miss Twist was another Bgirl that I always ended up battling in New York and also Jskilz. I won a lot of 1v1 competitions. Bibishe was someone I had always wanted to battle because she matched me in a lot of ways. We both did power, tricks and inverts! my favorite move. Plus she was girly like me, so I wondered what she would inspire me do if we battled. I was supposed to get flown out to France to battle her but I had missed so many days of high school traveling to events that if I missed one more day I would not have been able to graduate.
How would you describe your style?
I was a battle head, thats all I wanted to do. back then I would enter a 1v1, a 2v2 and a crew battle all in the same night. If I tried that now I would throw up but when I was younger I was hungry so I would just enter every category, I did not care.
At first I wanted to represent women but smoke dudes. I never wanted to go up against women, but after a while it got to a point where whoever was in front of me was just gonna get it. I'm a very aggressive battle person, but it’s not because I hate you, how I battle comes from how I grew up and it’s where I come from.
The moment I saw breaking I wanted to be the best and breaking was an obsession, a lifeline, my healing, my poetry, my outlet and I protected it with everything. Girls thought that I had an ego because of my aggressiveness when I battled and they didn’t understand that I loved the energy and moves they pulled out of me. On the battle field I’m not friends, it’s either me or you but it’s always love after and before, nothing personal. Bibishe was the only girl I really wanted to battle because we never got to exchange.
When did you get injured and how did that change you?
The very first day I seen breaking I had a goal and I feel like I didn't get to accomplish that.
When I got injured in 2001, I didn’t waste a minute I took a break from my surgery, healed, then got right back into battles. In 2011 I started entering a lot of crew battles. I was waking up in the morning top rocking. I was practicing until 5 in the morning. I used to fall asleep on the floor and my mom would have to wake me up from the floor to go to school because thats how obsessed I was.
In 2013 I started training for 1v1 battles again and my fire was re-lit but soon after was when I got my back injury. I lost hope and motivation then because every time I try to train again I would just re-injure it. What I needed to do to get to where I was or better would be too much. I tried to battle after I got injured but it was so heartbreaking to me. I got re-injured again in 2013, a spine fracture. The last battle I did that year was a 3 vs 3 with Nova and Grinch at the Bboy Royal.
I wore a back brace. I feel like theres a part of me that still missing because I'm not the type of person to sit on the sidelines at all and if my crew is battling I find myself cussing out all the guys on the other side and they wanna battle me. so many visions I had for breaking but its not personal for me anymore.
What do you feel like are some of your biggest accomplishments in the breaking scene?
My biggest accomplishment was rocking out with my Bgirl partner N’tegrity and starting a crew, with Sweet-Lu. By 2005, the original members of PK were getting older and weren’t around as much, and we were the new Connecticut generation so there was a transition happening. United OutKast was founded that year, March 23, 2005 and the original members were: me, Sweet- Lu, Combo, N’tegrity, Vega, G-Roc(Nova), Grinch, Ignite, Patrix, Eli, Marcello, Eric, Vega, and Spaghetti (Puerto Rico)
We created this whole foundation of what United Outkast means when it comes to family and standing out from each other. We all looked different. Sweet-Lu came up with the word United as in us as a united family, because that was most important to us. I thought of the word OutKast because I felt like our styles were so different from each other as well as other Bboys and Bgirls we were very unique. Our energy is United our styles are OutKast.
Theres some crews you’ll look at and you can see who their influences are, They look the same, But with our crew we all look so different from each other and different from the breaking scene, but we complemented each other well. When we first started we were super strong in our unity. We were doing routines and I had a goal for us. I’m able to go to a practice with my crew years later and feel the same energy, same effect and even more appreciation and more love and it’s amazing!
Another one of my biggest accomplishments is my partner Bgirl N’tegrity. We took her in
and trained her. We tested her out to see if her heart was as deep in love with it as we were and if she would be dedicated and take it seriously.
No matter how hard a move was, she would get back up and do it over and over for hours, That’s why we gave her the name N’tegrity. She didn’t do it to show off she was just very determined. So she passed our test and from that moment I knew I found my partner and soulmate in breaking!
Talk to me about your music, when did you start and how did that come about?
I come from a family of music. Rest in paradise Dad and Grandpa. My family on my fathers side are all musical geniuses as well as my brothers who are producers, lyricists and vocalists.
My grandfather was a pastor and my dad played a lot of different instruments. Ever since I was old enough to sing starting at four years old, I would sing at my grandfathers church and I started writing music and poetry in the 5th grade. Jackson was and will always be my inspiration.
Sweet Lou created a lot of my music for me just to get creative with and start experimenting with as well as my brother. They helped me develop my artistry. Lu and I would make a song and then create a video for it. We would just taking what we had and doing everything you could with it, thats how we did each song. When I got injured I started writing for the record label Head Roc Music. I was working for rap artists and I would do their hooks. I also have a lot of EDM electronic house music thats out in europe.
Im going to be coming out with a music video with a song for my birthday. It’s the first project I did with my brother from scratch. We shot this video years ago and there was this one little rap I did towards the end that didn't feel right in my spirit to put out then for some reason, I finally hit him up and said “theres so much shit happening in the world right now lets do it now!”
I’m still writing and creating for my personal pleasure, music is another outlet for me.
What are you up to now?
I have my own dance program that I started in 2000. I’ve been hosting events since 2007. Most recently I hosted for Redbull BC one USA camp finals and Bgirl City Pro Breaking tour, which have been such a dream.
I went to school for television and broadcasting and graduated in 2009 and my goal with everything that I do is to host a talk show. I have so many ideas for segments on the show. I would have moments that I call hot seats where I’d roll out these toilets and interview people. I would Take it to the streets with real world people and of course have celebrity guests! I love comedy and I love to bring the darkest and harshest things to the light because people don't like to talk about those things. It’s been a blessing to still be part of my culture in another way that I’m equally passionate about moving and entertaining the crowd it’s where I thrive and enjoy the most. I am living my dream right now!
You can find Trinity's music on you tube at https://www.youtube.com/@BgirlTrinityMusic
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