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45-613: Except for the name, the dance is unrelated to the boogaloo street dance from Oakland, California and the electric boogaloo , a style of dance which developed decades later under the influence of funk music and hip-hop dance . In the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans in the United States listened to various styles of music, including jump blues , R&B and doo-wop . Latinos in New York City shared these tastes, but they also listened to genres like mambo or cha cha chá . There

90-505: A Latin boogaloo revival. In Cali , Colombia, boogaloo, salsa and pachanga are played by disc jockeys like Heynar Alonso and others in FM and AM radio stations and dance clubs. Boogaloo (freestyle dance) Boogaloo is a freestyle , improvisational street dance , closely related to popping dance and turfing . It's best known for the dance move known as the Robot ; it is also related to

135-570: A dance group called Pirate and the Easy Walkers, together with Cornell "Tony Rome" Reese, Wayne "Freddy Snow" Dillard, and Levi Warner. The Easy Walkers were unique because they mixed different steps of social dances in a uniform boogaloo style. They also innovated challenge steps such as the "Ditalian". In the Ditalian, dancers would shuffle a combination of cha-cha steps, stomp, and end by pointing their right hand to challenge another dancer. The Ditalian

180-637: A hard "hit" - freezing in place until their muscles vibrated. This technique would influence the modern day "popping" technique within the Popping dance form. Since Boogaloo dancers would dance to the changing sounds of funk, Posing Hard matched the rhythm and intensity of the beat with their body's vibrations. Dancers chanted "BAM!" or "BOOM!" with each new pose. In East Oakland and West Oakland, federally-funded community development districts hosted talent shows. During these shows, Boogaloo dancers would showcase routines alongside live bands and singers. Throughout

225-572: A male and female duo of Marima and Juan Jose Hernandez. In 2001, La Gran Reunion featured seven invited artists, including Nestor Sanchez, Luigi Texidor and Frankie Hernandez. In 2004, Valentin's En Vivo Desde Bellas Artes was released in DVD form, as was his 35th anniversary, Vuelve a la Carcel. Valentin's "El Caiman" can be heard in the video game, Scarface . After a seven year hiatus, Valentín returned with his album, Evolution , which saw Ray De La Paz sing with Louie Ramirez. In 2016, Mi Ritmo Es Bueno

270-486: A member of the group, took particular influence from 20 Million Miles to Earth , imitating the dinosaur-like creature birthed in the movie and dancing to James Brown. A second generation of animated dancers in the 1970s innovated this style with a less comical approach to their dance, and focused on intricately detailed dinosaur movement. They specialized in sudden stopping-in-motion techniques called "dime-stops", as well as minute stop-motion effects and posing. Dancers from

315-555: A musical style was probably coined in about 1966 by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz . The biggest boogaloo hit of the 1960s was "Bang Bang" by the Joe Cuba Sextet, which sold over one million copies in 1966. "El Pito" was another hit by this popular combo. Hits by other groups included Johnny Colón's "Boogaloo Blues", Pete Rodríguez's " I Like It like That ", and Héctor Rivera's "At the Party". The same year as Joe Cuba's pop success, 1966, saw

360-486: A pair of live albums from the State Penitentiary of Puerto Rico. After Hernandez left the band that year, Valentín employed Johnny Vazquez (a vocalist who remained in the band for over 15 years.) Santiago then left the band and was replaced by Carlos "Cano" Estremera (who remained in the band for seven years). In 1980, another singer, Rafu Warner, joined. In 1982, the band had a hit with the song, "El Caiman," which

405-617: A partnership with the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers would host Oakland socials at their Temple church hall; these programs featured Boogaloo dancers such as the Black Messengers. Another central venue for Oakland's Boogaloo dancers was the Oakland Community School (OCS). The Black Panthers operated this school as part of their community "survival programs". As local Nation of Islam members hosted services in this venue on

450-548: A step (e.g., creating a step). We took the Ditallion from soft and sliding to a step with a stomp, a bounce, a hop, and a skip." Rentie would also innovate the concept of "the Freeze". He explains, "The Freeze was a part of a step whereas in doing it you would stop and that pause was to lead into or accent the next movement. Lock It Down was how we called freezing so hard to the point that we would jiggle when we would freeze." The Freeze

495-638: A talent show in San Francisco. Eventually, the Robotroids would join Debrah "Granny" Johnson. Through the combination of robotic dance moves of Lorenzo "Tony" Johnson and Donald Jones' Boogaloo, they would refer to this style as Strutting in San Francisco. Strutting was done in a solo through swift arm angles (The Fillmore) and group choreography. Boogaloo Dancers such as Benjamin James from Live, Inc. were also instrumental in

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540-731: The Jose I. Quinton Academy of Music, which he did. It was there that he learned to play the trumpet. In 1956, Valentín moved with his family to New York City , United States, where he attended George Washington High School and continued to take music lessons. In 1958, he went to play for Joe Quijano but, shortly after, he played in the band of Willie Rosario , who was from the same neighborhood. In 1963, Valentín joined Tito Rodriguez , and traveled twice with Rodriguez's orchestra to Venezuela. He also made musical arrangements for Rodriguez, and at times for Charlie Palmieri , Joe Quijano, Willie Rosario, and Ray Barretto . In 1965, he formed his own band and

585-545: The 1960 and 1970s, Oakland had numerous teenage funk bands that created the musical landscape for Boogaloo dancers. Some Boogaloo groups had their own band to perform with; East Oakland often had three to four funk bands on every block. Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Oakland was the center of the Black Power Movement , including the creation of the Black Panther Party . Boogaloo dance groups such as

630-538: The Black Resurgents performed for Black Panther community rallies and events. With the advent of the liberation spirit of funk music and Black Power , Boogaloo group names such as The Black Messengers, The Black Resurgents, Black Mechanics, and Black Operators came to signify Black pride and self-determination. In East Oakland, to outreach to militant youth, the Allen Temple Baptist Church created

675-591: The Boogaloo at a Chicago record hop hosted by radio DJ Herb “Cool Gent” Kent. In 1966, soul and funk musician James Brown released a boogaloo dance single, "James Brown's Boogaloo". He danced his interpretation of the boogaloo on Where the Action Is on national TV. In 1966, Larry Thompson, a local dancer in Oakland, California, created a new boogaloo style. Thompson was inspired by the boogaloo social dance, James Brown,

720-430: The Boogaloo community, influencing and teaching popular dancers such as Derrick Lovings of Derrick & Company, Newberry, Boogaloo Dan, and the Robotroids. In 1972, John Murphy helped form the Boogaloo dance group The Black Messengers and developed a robotic boogaloo. In the 1970s, Oakland high schools would host dance competitions to select their high school mascots. Mascots competed in their school's costumes, such as

765-570: The Fremont Tigers, Castlemont Knights, and Oakland Technical Bulldogs. While in costume, every mascot created in-character steps and developed "hitting" techniques to be noticed in large rallies. Competing high schools would have a mascot dance-off during basketball and football games. For example, Donald "Duck" Mathews was the Fremont High School's Tiger mascot. During half-time football shows, he would grab his tail, point, and pose to taunt

810-767: The Lat-Teens, Johnny Colón , and the Latinaires. As such, Latin boogaloo can be seen as "the first Nuyorican music" (René López), and has been called "the greatest potential that (Latinos) had to really cross over in terms of music" (Izzy Sanabria). However, Latino musicians and composers also made a big contribution to doo-wop . Latin boogaloo also spread throughout the wider Latin music world, especially in Puerto Rico, where top band El Gran Combo released many boogaloos. Latin music scenes in Peru, Colombia, Panama and elsewhere also embraced

855-561: The Temptations, and Fred Astaire. Thompson was also inspired by watching a dancer from The Hy-Lit Show named Harold Hazzard: "The move this guy did on the show was a Boogaloo style step with flailing arm moves that would cross the body then end in a freeze with the chest sticking out. This was a good step because we could use it to go into the Camel Walk and into the Skate." Thompson formed

900-526: The West Coast Relays. Often, the best boogaloo dancers in Oakland would be chosen as high school mascots: all of the surrounding high school mascots would compete against each other with a live school band during the half-time show. An annual event held in Oakland honors the contributions of the Boogaloo generation and hosts an intergenerational event for dancers in the Popping and Hip hop community to meet

945-484: The album that featured "Yo No Te Dejo De Amar" a cover of Michael Jackson 's " I Just Can't Stop Loving You ", again sung in Spanish by Warner. A couple of less successful albums followed, which saw Rafu replaced by Tato Peña. Como Nunca (1990) had another hit single, "Si Un Dia Te Sientes Sola." Giovanni Lugo joined the band and recorded the hit "Complicacion" in 1990. Symbol of Prestige (1997) introduced two new singers;

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990-448: The boogaloo. Though the dance craze only lasted until 1968/69, Latin boogaloo was popular enough that almost every major and minor Latin dance artist of the time recorded at least a few boogaloos on their albums. That included boogaloos by long-time veteran, mambo-era musicians such as Eddie Palmieri and his "Ay Que Rico" or Tito Puente's "Hit the Bongo". The boogaloo faded from popularity by

1035-455: The closing of New York City's Palladium Ballroom , when the venue, the home of big band mambo for years, lost its liquor license. The closing marked the end of mainstream mambo, and boogaloo ruled the Latin charts for several years before salsa began to take over. At the same time, several other rhythmical inventions came to notice: the dengue, the jala-jala and the shing-a-ling were all offshoots of

1080-531: The decade, two early Top 20 hits came in 1963: Mongo Santamaría 's cover version of the Herbie Hancock 's " Watermelon Man " and Ray Barretto 's "El Watusi". Inspired by these successes, a number of bands began imitating their infectious rhythms (which were Latinized R&B ), intense conga rhythms and clever novelty lyrics. Boogaloo was the only Cuban-style rhythm which occasionally acquired English lyrics. Established Cuban-influenced orchestras also recorded

1125-434: The end of 1969. What caused the fairly rapid end of the boogaloo's reign is in dispute. According to several sources, jealous older Latin music artists colluded with record labels (in particular, Fania Records ), radio DJs, and dance hall promoters to blacklist boogaloo bands from venues and radio. This scenario is explored in the 2016 film We Like It Like That , a documentary on the history of Latin boogaloo. Alternatively, it

1170-710: The evolution of Boogaloo to Strutting. Oakland Boogaloo groups as well as prominent San Francisco, and San Jose dancers, would compete in talent shows held in Richmond, California; this would be a cultural center for regional dance influences, by the late 1970s Richmond would be an epicenter of performers such as the Posing Puppets, Richmond Robots, Androids, Audionauts, Criminons, Lady Mechanical Robots, and Green Machine. Groups from Richmond would refer to their style as Richmond Robottin. The 60s and 70s Boogaloo generations have similar storytelling and animated movements and share

1215-458: The group Soulful Movements, such as Ted Williams, Steve Williams & Tony Newsome were masters of this Boogaloo animated style. In 1964, a Boogaloo dancer named John Murphy imitated the movements of the robot in the 1954 sci-fi movie Tobor the Great . He moved from West Oakland to East Oakland and introduced The Robot in various school talent shows. Murphy is credited with introducing the Robot to

1260-584: The later electric boogaloo dance. Boogaloo dancers use illusions, restriction of muscles, stops, robotic movements , and wiggling to create a soulful, passionate, animated form of street dance. The style also incorporates foundational popping techniques, which were initially referred to as "Posing Hard". The Boogaloo was initially a social dance within the African American community in Chicago; it also appealed to white teenagers. Between 1965 and 1966, it

1305-426: The mambo and chachachá. The older generation of Latin musicians have been accused of using their influence to repress the young movement, for commercial reasons. There was certainly pressure on booking agents by the established bands. The craze was mostly over by 1970, perhaps because of the hostility of established bands and key booking agents; the reason is uncertain. Almost every major and minor Latin dance artist of

1350-511: The occasional boogaloo, including Tito Rodríguez , Willie Bobo , Tito Puente and arranger, composer Ray Santos and his orchestra, which recorded "Cindy's Boogaloo" in 1968. Most of the other groups were young musicians – some were teenagers – the Latin Souls, the Lat-Teens, the Latinaires, Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers , and Joe Bataan . Use of the term boogaloo in referring to

1395-805: The opponents' mascot, while performing wiggling or worming movements with his chest. Mathews became notable for worming, wiggling, and posing while taunting school opponents as the Tiger mascot. Fremont High would be known to popularize the "Oakland Hit," allowing his headpiece to shake during each hit. This inspired future vibrating Boogaloo hat effects. Other innovative dancers in this era include Gregory Holm from Castlemont High, Henry Fischer, Lil Willie, Larry Robertson and John Murphy at Fremont High, and Ronald Nerves at Oakland Technical High School. In 1967, while living in Oakland, Jerry Rentie would innovate soul boogaloo styles with new funk movements inspired by "mimicking toys, cartoons, movies... everywhere we would cut

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1440-509: The original Boogaloo generation. Many Bay Area styles represented through Boogaloo, Robot, and Strutting are also showcased through different dancers at this event. Television Bobby Valent%C3%ADn Roberto "Bobby" Valentín Fret (born June 9, 1941), is a musician and salsa bandleader. He is known as "El Rey del Bajo" (King of the Bass). Valentín was born in Orocovis, Puerto Rico . He

1485-481: The public school system’s perceptions of what it meant to be Black and poor. Boogaloo dance groups incorporated various formations with different styles; here is a compiled list of active Boogaloo dance groups during the 1960s and 1970s. Boogaloo relies on the swing and groove of live funk records. Below are notable songs Boogaloo dancers dance to: In 1975, the Oakland Boogaloo group Robotroids performed at

1530-587: The same neighborhoods and families as today's Turf dancers who practice a street-style Turfing . Turf dancers cite inspiration from the previous generations of Boogaloo; they come from a long lineage of dancers in the Bay Area, specifically from Oakland, California. Popping would be eventually adapted from earlier Boogaloo movements to influence dancers in Fresno , California , in the late 1970s by way of California high-school gatherings of track & meet events called

1575-621: The side on the downbeat, held for two counts...accented by a distinct arm swing where the hand is raised to eye level...then combined with a distinctive backward head-nod to the beat...on the third musical beat, the body and head abruptly shift back and lunge in the opposite direction, before shifting once again on the fourth beat.” The boogaloo dance craze would inspire a number of soul dance records, such as “Boo-Ga-Loo” by Robert “Tom” Tharpe and Jerry “Jerrio” Murray, as well as Fantastic Johnny-C's “Boogaloo Down Broadway”. Tharpe created “Boo-Ga-Loo” after seeing local African American teenagers dancing

1620-453: The time had recorded at least a few boogaloos on their albums. It had been an intense, if brief, musical movement, and the music is still highly regarded today. The Latin boogaloo bands were mostly led by young, sometimes even teenage musicians from New York's Puerto Rican community. These included, but weren't limited to, Joe Bataan, Johnny Zamot, Joe Cuba, Bobby Valentín , the Latin Souls ,

1665-497: The weekends, this venue also came to be known as "the Temple". The Temple hosted numerous talent shows that featured Boogaloo groups such as the Black Messengers, as well as funk bands and singers. As part of the Black Panthers' curriculum, the venue's motto was “We serve the people every day. We serve the people, body and soul.” Directed by Ericka Huggins and Donna Howell, OCS provided youth with culturally relevant education and challenged

1710-629: Was a fad that had run out of steam. Its demise allowed older musicians to make a comeback on the New York scene. The explosive success of salsa in the early 1970s saw former giants like Puente and the Palmieri Brothers return to the top, while most Latin boogaloo bands went out of business (Joe Bataan being a notable exception). In the 2000s, Latin boogaloo has seen a resurgence in popularity, with artists like Bataan experiencing renewed interest in their Latin boogaloo output, and new groups emerging to form

1755-710: Was a mixing of Puerto Ricans, Cubans and African Americans and others in clubs, whose bands tried to find common musical ground. Boogaloo was a result of this search, a marriage of many styles including Cuban son montuno , guaguancó , guajira , guaracha , mambo , and American R&B and soul . Styles like doo wop also left a sizable influence, through Tony Pabón (of the Pete Rodríguez Band), Bobby Marín, King Nando, and Johnny Colón. Boogaloo has been called by Izzy Sanabria "the greatest potential that Cuban rhythms had to really cross over in terms of music". Though boogaloo did not become mainstream nationwide until later in

1800-558: Was created by Danny Boy Reese, who was the younger brother of Easy Walker's member Cornell Reese. From 1967 to 1968, soul dancers in Sobrante Park in Oakland, California, would challenge Pirate and the Easy Walkers through "face offs". In 1967, 1968, & 1969, a style known as 3-D, Dinosaurin', or Animating developed. The group One Plus One imitated Ray Harryhausen 's stop-motion DynoRama movies, incorporating these movements as slap-stick crowd entertainment. Albert "Iron Man" Milton,

1845-453: Was described as “a total new look compared to previous (social) dances...the entire body moved in a pulsating motion from side to side. The rhythmic impulse seemed to have centered in the upper torso, shoulders, and head...” The Boogaloo dance step has also been described as a “single-step combination made up of a smooth repetitive side-to-side movement, based on the soul music dance beat on a 4/4 time signature, it consists of lunging motion to

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1890-501: Was followed by another success with "Brujeria." In 1984, the band recorded En Accion , after this album Estremera left the band. In 1985, with a third singer in place, Luisito Carrion, they recorded Algo Excepcional , which yielded another hit single, "Me Diste de tu Agua". In 1986, the band released an album that featured the hit " Part Time Lover " a cover of the Stevie Wonder song, sung in Spanish by Rafu Warner. In 1988, he released

1935-643: Was signed by the Fania record label . He recorded Young Man With a Horn (1966). He held his first concert in Puerto Rico during that period of time. After several years with the same lead singer, Marcelino Morales, they parted, and Valentín introduced a new singer, Frankie Hernandez. About a year after he introduced another singer, Marvin Santiago; with him he had many hits, including "Soy Boricua" and "Jibaro y La Naturaleza." In 1975, Valentín left Fania Records and formed his own record label, Bronco Records, on which he recorded

1980-448: Was taught by his father to play the guitar at a young age. When his mother died in 1947, he went to live with his older sister and was raised in the town of Coamo where he received his primary education and studied music. When he was 11 years old, he participated in a local talent contest with a trio that he had formed. He played the guitar and sang for the trio and they won the first place prize. One of his teachers suggested that he attend

2025-507: Was the predecessor to the "popping" or "hitting" techniques of the late 70s. Rentie referred to their new Boogaloo style as "Bug'n". He recalls, "When we were Bug'n, we meant Boogaloo in the term of our dance style, but it was not the James Brown Boogaloo anymore". In the early 1970s, dancers from the Black Messengers group innovated a new Boogaloo technique called "Posing Hard". They would end their Boogaloo poses and dime-stops with

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