Emma: At what age did you start dancing?

Crazy Legs: I started dancing at 10 years old. I went to a Jam in the Bronx (my ex and my cousins invited me) in Crotona Avenue and 180th Street, which eventually became my little stomping ground for a minute. When I went to this Jam, it wasn’t the first time that I had witnessed the dance, it was the first time that I had witnessed the dance with in the scene and the environment in which it existed in. So I just got caught up in what I had seen and I felt like I wanted to be part of it and it was my goal to just do my best at it and become a little ghetto celebrity. The year before I actually started doing it I saw my brother doing it in 1976 in front of my building with Africa Islam they were comparing moves I had looked at my brother and I was really embarrassed and ashamed for him because I was wondering what the hell he was doing on the floor. That was basically it.

Emma: Are you still active in your dancing?

Crazy Legs: Semi, I still perform, this is my last year performing. I’m thirty-six now and the body doesn’t really care to move the way it used to or for as long as far as the dance is concerned. (He laughs) Yeah September is it for me. September of 2002 makes 25 years for me.

Emma: Which and where was your last event?

Crazy Legs: My last event I was in Japan, Fable and I went out there and hooked up with some of the Rock Steady Heads in Japan and put a show together as well as judged the contest and taught classes to the kids out there.

Emma: How many members of the Rock Steady Crew are in Japan?

Crazy Legs: About 15 and growing I’m not trying to make it like back in the days we used to have 500 in the early 80’s. I’m looking more for quality instead of quantity it gets to hectic and overwhelming you don’t have to have a whole troop of people that you have to take care of when you have your own responsibilities. I’m looking for the loyal ones, responsible ones and people that are definitely talented. In order to get into Rock Steady you do have to battle they gotta be good, they have to be able to handle the pressure of the battle because a lot of people just fall apart. You saw the battle some people got a little nervous when the pressure got on them.

Emma: Do you do any type of community participation?

Crazy Legs: Yeah all the time, the event I just did isn’t a money maker it’s an event to really give kids the opportunity to display there skills at a venue that’s not going to say hey stop making a circles or you can’t make a circle. Back in the days you could go to a jam or a club and make circles it was all good kids can’t go to the clubs and do that the bouncers will come and say ay break it up, get off the floor.

Emma: I noticed there were kids of all ages there?

Crazy Legs: In the Rock Steady Anniversary we had kids in strollers to people who are in there fifties. We got a really wide age range.

Emma: How often a year would you say you travel?

Crazy Legs: Last year I traveled about $73,000 let’s put it that way. Not playing that’s only on Continental Airline. I travel about $100,000 a year (Emma: you must have some free tickets!) I have about three right now but I give them away as Christmas presents, to the family.

Emma: Once September of 2002 comes up are you hanging up your Adidas?

Crazy Legs: I’m going to dance but I’m not going to be performing. I stopped competing already. I also have two herniated disk in my neck so when I practice a lot the pain it starts bothering me. It just stops me for a little bit for like two weeks it’s like having a stiff neck for a long time.

Emma: Will you at least teach?

Crazy Legs: Yeah I want to open up a school do lunches, work shops. Like in the next two years.

Emma: How often do you do those types of things at the Point? (Bee-Boy contest)

Crazy Legs: I started to do it every month or every two months then I got away from it for a minute but now I’m trying to do it again just to give the local kids an opportunity to shine because a lot of times they don’t get as much fame as other areas in the states or in the world because the right people ain’t doing events here so I guess I’m the person to try to do it on a regular basis. You also have Speedy B who also throws Bee-Boy events which is cool the kids want to go to quality events some times I promote it sometimes I don’t but either way they know when it’s going on so if they want to go do there thing they got somewhere to go, be competitive, win a prize things like that. There’s no age range any one could just come through.

Emma: Who from the Original Rock Steady Crew are still active?

Crazy Legs: What you may consider to be the Original Rock Steady and what I consider to be the Original Rock Steady are two different things. When you think of Original Rock Steady you probably thinking of Dose, Ken Swift, Buck Four, Kudiaky they came after the Original Rock Steady Crew the only person that’s from the Original Rock Steady is me. Rock Steady started in 77 Ken, Dose and them didn’t come in to Rock Steady until 81 cause that’s when Rock Steady was given to me by the original President Jimmy Dee. If you ask me as far as in the second forming of the group I’m not talking about the people in Beat Street you got Fable, Wiggles, Dose is still around, Kudiasky past away, Ken Swift went his own way, Frosty Freeze is still around he’s not active. That’s basically it we don’t have a lot of people still active because they either stopped or doing something else.

Emma: Out of the places you have traveled, which would you say have been your favorite or the most memorable?

Crazy Legs: Most memorable would be Japan because I go there at least once a year. I liked when I went to Amsterdam it’s one of those places that lived up to its brochure. I don’t really have a favorite place the place I like to go to as often as I can is Puerto Rico cause it’s like I prefer to support our honor. I liked going to Miami it’s fun, Miami’s always fun. I like different places for different reasons some places for their privacy, some place for the way you could just chill and just lounge. Pina Coladas and just be you.

Emma: How old is your son?

Crazy Legs: My son is five years old.

Emma: Now that you’ve had like five years of experience being a parent do you see the world different?

Crazy Legs: As soon as he was born I saw the world differently. I was at a point in my life where I had the opportunity to see so much and do so many things in such a short amount of time. If I found out that I was going to die tomorrow I would be cool with that. I’m a fortunate Puerto Rican coming from the Bronx out the Welfare System. So when my son was born that was deaded, I deaded that whole thought immediately. I love spending time with my son. I’ve turned down trips to be with him. Anything that I have booked I try to arrange it so that it’s not during the time that I have to be with him. Even on the weekends I don’t go out to clubs when it’s time to be with my son I don’t go out partying when it’s time to be with my son it’s just me and him. Outside of that, you know time is precious.

Emma: How do you feel about the September 11th?

Crazy Legs: I lost my uncle, my uncle past away he was in the 1st building that got hit on the 86 floor William Delcasal. He was in a wheel chair, he’s from the Bronx, he probably never had a chance it was one of the first floors that went on fire and it was smoke filled and an in between hit. It’s straight bugged out what happened I don’t know what else to say. It’s hard to go to a funeral without seeing the body it’s not really heard of out here at least a cremation something at least his ashes. He was the kind of uncle that came over and always had some bugged out stories to tell us when we were kids. Like all these far out stories and we were like yeah, really. They were just stories but we thought they were all real. He was an Entertainer definitely when it came to telling stories. I actually traveled more after that happened. Jumping on a plane for the first time was a little scary because of the leery of all the other people but then your leery about all the people that are watching you too. Everyone is watching you so it was an uncomfortable feeling. If you went to talk to a friend they looked at you like there plotting. It’s starting to ease up; but I noticed every now and then you see an undercover guy it’s pretty obvious for us out here to know DT’s.

Emma: What advise would you give to an up and coming dancer (be boy or be girl)?

Crazy Legs: Learn how to dance before you try to do all these acrobatic movements. Some people just have no flavor. Like the way Image came out that little short kid he had mad flavor he was working the beat it’s like that music took him on a ride and he was just flowing with it. He blew my mind and a lot of other people that just go out there and jump on the floor and spin on there head. See I come from an era where you had to really know how to dance we got down for ours the beat was the most important thing. Especially now I could go out there and do some pop rock and a little footwork and I don’t have to do some acrobatic moves and I could still feel like I got down and still be able to get it off. And that’s because I have my foundation I learned how to dance and I could still do it at 36 years old. If I would have gone the other way I would have been some kid who just wanted to do all the acrobatic moves. When your body gives in on all of that which my body doesn’t even want to do all that acrobatic moves. What are you gonna do when that beat just comes up from behind you and snuffs you “Like, Oh man I’m feeling this” but you never learned how to dance so your stuck.

Emma: If anyone wanted to contact you.

Crazy Legs: They go to RockSteadycrew.com try me there my email is linked to that. So for any information they can contact me there everything is there photos, events.

~E2K Magazine.

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