The Greatest! Revisited at Breakin’ the
Law:
Tension and Unity
Law:
Tension and Unity
| Jen Bloesch, co-director of Slow Foods UW, introduces the panel and restaurant guide. |
By Jonathan Gramling
The Greatest: A Dance Homage to Muhammad Ali has
certainly evolved nicely since I first saw segments of it
during a practice in the Mills Auditorium back in March 11.
Peggy Choy has evolved and developed it into a now tighter
production with more power punch and with two world-class
dancers. What began as an innovative experiment — unusual
fusing of boxing, hip-hop dance and martial arts — is now a
fusion that is stamped with Choy's "flavor" and "style" in a
mixed-media performance utilizing the talents of skilled
dancers Sekou Heru & Ze Motion, and Patrick Lovejoy —
video artist and live video-j at the performance — who
created and projected his collage of documentary film clips,
integrated the striking graphics of NY underground graphic
artist Mac McGill.
It was a nice synergy of action and audience when The Peggy
Choy Dance Company performed three segments of The
Greatest at the Breakin’ the Law B-boying competition at the
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on May 12. In many ways,
it was a fusion of b-boying competition resembling
choreography and choreography at time resembling a b-
boying competition. And with the performance mat in the
middle surrounded by the audience, it felt at times that the
segments of The Greatest were being performed in a boxing
ring with the audience absorbed by the movements in the
center ring.
"By Any Means Necessary" shows us the explosion of energy
and synergy when two great minds intersect — the minds of
Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali — empowered by their unity in
Islam. The dance is an imagined meeting of the two icons
given substance by the poetry of Tara Betts performed by
Bilal Salaam on the soundtrack featuring music composed by
Graham Haynes.
Patrick Lovejoy showed clips that referenced night life in the
'60s integrated imaginatively with graphic artwork of Mac
McGill. In this first dance, Sekou Heru — who represented
the persona of Malcolm X — showed us, with his fluid yet
powerful style, how the history of African American culture is
embedded in hip-hop dance. His movements articulated
references to the Lindy Hop, swing, jitterbug and to the
Harlem club scene in the 1960s when the two men actually
met. Dancer Ze Motion brought the power of his virtuosic
breakdance style together with boxing to communicate the
depth of Ali's commitment to justice.
In the second dance, "Blood at the Root," the dancers went
through transformations right before the audience's eyes —
from making tree-like shapes with their bodies in one
moment then jerky broken movements in the next to convey
the horror of lynching. Graham Haynes' jazz-funk music
evokes the song made famous by Billie Holiday, "Strange
Fruit" —about lynching and racism. Patrick Lovejoy's video
projections suggest "dismemberment" through video
designs using swinging boxer arms that chillingly give us a
sense of hanging bodies swaying in the wind.
The final dance was "Will 'n' Skill," a tour de force
The Greatest: A Dance Homage to Muhammad Ali has
certainly evolved nicely since I first saw segments of it
during a practice in the Mills Auditorium back in March 11.
Peggy Choy has evolved and developed it into a now tighter
production with more power punch and with two world-class
dancers. What began as an innovative experiment — unusual
fusing of boxing, hip-hop dance and martial arts — is now a
fusion that is stamped with Choy's "flavor" and "style" in a
mixed-media performance utilizing the talents of skilled
dancers Sekou Heru & Ze Motion, and Patrick Lovejoy —
video artist and live video-j at the performance — who
created and projected his collage of documentary film clips,
integrated the striking graphics of NY underground graphic
artist Mac McGill.
It was a nice synergy of action and audience when The Peggy
Choy Dance Company performed three segments of The
Greatest at the Breakin’ the Law B-boying competition at the
Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery on May 12. In many ways,
it was a fusion of b-boying competition resembling
choreography and choreography at time resembling a b-
boying competition. And with the performance mat in the
middle surrounded by the audience, it felt at times that the
segments of The Greatest were being performed in a boxing
ring with the audience absorbed by the movements in the
center ring.
"By Any Means Necessary" shows us the explosion of energy
and synergy when two great minds intersect — the minds of
Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali — empowered by their unity in
Islam. The dance is an imagined meeting of the two icons
given substance by the poetry of Tara Betts performed by
Bilal Salaam on the soundtrack featuring music composed by
Graham Haynes.
Patrick Lovejoy showed clips that referenced night life in the
'60s integrated imaginatively with graphic artwork of Mac
McGill. In this first dance, Sekou Heru — who represented
the persona of Malcolm X — showed us, with his fluid yet
powerful style, how the history of African American culture is
embedded in hip-hop dance. His movements articulated
references to the Lindy Hop, swing, jitterbug and to the
Harlem club scene in the 1960s when the two men actually
met. Dancer Ze Motion brought the power of his virtuosic
breakdance style together with boxing to communicate the
depth of Ali's commitment to justice.
In the second dance, "Blood at the Root," the dancers went
through transformations right before the audience's eyes —
from making tree-like shapes with their bodies in one
moment then jerky broken movements in the next to convey
the horror of lynching. Graham Haynes' jazz-funk music
evokes the song made famous by Billie Holiday, "Strange
Fruit" —about lynching and racism. Patrick Lovejoy's video
projections suggest "dismemberment" through video
designs using swinging boxer arms that chillingly give us a
sense of hanging bodies swaying in the wind.
The final dance was "Will 'n' Skill," a tour de force
performance by Ze Motion & Sekou Heru that inspires us to understand the discipline of Ali's boxing, gaining a high-level skill
of pugilism through his daily training. The "will" of Ali came across like a lightening bolt when towards the end of the dance
piece, the two dancers "fight" using the toprocking style of hip-hop dance — crossing the small break-dance competition mat
that was their performance area with a speed and agility that gave fresh redefinition to toprocking.
This last dance also created a high level of tension in me as these two African American men almost seemed to be seeking a
way out of the ring that they had been placed in by a White society, seeking to escape it, but in the end forced to confront and
fight each other almost against their wills. In the end, they are pawns in someone else’s game.
It’s ironic that Peggy Choy’s full-length production of The Greatest will more than likely never be produced in Madison due to
cost and logistics. For that, one would have to go to New York where The Peggy Choy Dance Company performs and
Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X met, where The Greatest drew some of its inspiration.
I feel like the movie-goer who having seen the trailer for an upcoming film that fascinates him, soon learns that the movie will
not be showing in his hometown. I am thrilled that The Greatest exists, but frustrated that I will never behold it with my own
eyes.
of pugilism through his daily training. The "will" of Ali came across like a lightening bolt when towards the end of the dance
piece, the two dancers "fight" using the toprocking style of hip-hop dance — crossing the small break-dance competition mat
that was their performance area with a speed and agility that gave fresh redefinition to toprocking.
This last dance also created a high level of tension in me as these two African American men almost seemed to be seeking a
way out of the ring that they had been placed in by a White society, seeking to escape it, but in the end forced to confront and
fight each other almost against their wills. In the end, they are pawns in someone else’s game.
It’s ironic that Peggy Choy’s full-length production of The Greatest will more than likely never be produced in Madison due to
cost and logistics. For that, one would have to go to New York where The Peggy Choy Dance Company performs and
Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X met, where The Greatest drew some of its inspiration.
I feel like the movie-goer who having seen the trailer for an upcoming film that fascinates him, soon learns that the movie will
not be showing in his hometown. I am thrilled that The Greatest exists, but frustrated that I will never behold it with my own
eyes.