Interview: B-boy Ronnie Talks About the Red Bull BC One Finals in Paris and Giving Back to the Breaking Community

An interview with b-boy Ronnie who's as much of a breaking legend as he is a mentor and teacher.

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Complex Original

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Las Vegas-based b-boy Ronnie has a lot of "wins" to his name. Some are more literal, like winning the Red Bull BC One title in 2007 or winning America's Best Dance Crew in 2008 with Super Cr3w. Others have made him a figure with a real legacy in b-boy history—he's served as a judge for multiple BC Ones, performs with the Jabbawockeez crew in Vegas, and owns his own studio called Distrct. In short, he's as much of a top dancer as he is a teacher, a mentor, and a role model.

We caught up with Ronnie just before tonight's Red Bull BC One world finals take place in Paris. Below he discusses the breaking scene in France and how he gives back to the b-boy community.

Are you excited for the Red Bull BC One Finals to take place in Paris tonight, especially given that it was also in Paris in 2008?

It’s gonna be cool. This is the first time they’ve ever done BC One in the same country, because every year it’s always traveled to a different city in the world.

I think this year is probably the best lineup, and I can tell everyone's been putting in a lot of work to make this year even better than the 10-year anniversary.

What have you learned about the breaking scene in Paris over the years?

As far as b-boying and battling goes, Paris is known for having very aggressive b-boys. Some of the best b-boys come from France, in general. For example, French b-boy Lilou is one of two b-boys who won BC One twice. He and other b-boys from France have really made history.

As far as you know work ethic goes, French b-boys work very hard, and they’re always determined to be the best. As far as their style goes, it’s different now. France is one of the first countries I traveled to, maybe 10 years ago. I did a battle against a b-boy named Benji, and at the time he was considered the best in the world. So back in 2003, the best b-boy in the world was from Paris, and he was recognized to be the best. The style is very abstract and very flexible. French b-boys are known for being very flexible and aggressive when they compete. 

What do you hope to see at this year’s finals that maybe you haven't seen in the finals of the past?

Every year, everyone always expects three countries to make it far—the USA, France, or Korea. But because this year’s line-up is so insanely good and diverse, it could go any way. I could see Lil G winning; he’s been training so hard for this competition, and he’s from Venezuela. He made it to the top two in the Russian world finals in 2010. He was close to winning, and he actually lost to RoxRite that year, who is an American b-boy.

There are no Brazilians this year, and that’s crazy, because Neguin​ from Brazil won in 2010, and Roxrite won in 2011. So this year, there’s a possibility that a different country, one that no one is expecting, will just swoop the world finals and win the championship. There’s a guy named Benny from South Africa who won the Middle East/Africa qualifier; it could be him.

I follow BC One like a series, like leading up to the playoffs or like D1 in the Superbowl. This year, each competitor —from countries who aren’t normally recognized for winning the world championship—is doing so well, that it could go any way. For example, b-boy Cheerito from Russia—he seems like someone who has a chance to make it far. To be honest, I don’t know who's gonna win. It’s crazy, because they even invited Taisuke back to represent Japan. All the competitors are pretty much on-point right now, and it could go any way.

What have you learned from being a judge for Red Bull BC One in the past, and what do you look for? 

There are so many things, because b-boying is so subjective. It’s not like boxing, where you just knock someone out, and you obviously won. A lot of times, it comes down to your preference. It’s easy to judge when someone messes up, or if someone is being sloppy. Execution is one of the most crucial parts, and so is originality. 

So as a judge, I've just learned that originality is very important. Obviously, as a judge, you want to be able to see creativity. From being a b-boy, you want to see moves that have never been done before. Stage presence is also important—if someone has character. Because even though someone is dancing and doing a move, you want to be able to feel the moves. It’s a dance. It’s musicality and feeling the beat from the music. So when I watch b-boys, I learn. 

While we're on the topic of being a judge and learning, you're also a teacher and have your space Distrct in Las Vegas that's more than just a dance studio. What made you decide to branch out and create a hub in your hometown?

Well, I have two partners who helped me founded Distrct, and they’re part of my regional crew, which is Full Force. Full Force started in 1995, and two of the members started Distrct with me. We've been on a journey together for 19 years. My other crew, Super CR3W​, won the second season of America’s Best Dance Crew, so pretty much, we've all been family before anything went commercial. Even in high school, we would always talk about opening up a dance studio in Vegas. We were just putting positive energy out into the universe. We would talk about having a show in Vegas, having a studio, and inevitably, it ended up happening. Of course, with all the hard work, we started to push as much as we could. After we won the MTV show, it gave us a voice and a lot of leverage in the city, plus a big following. It was the best time to open up a studio.

We definitely wanted Distrct to be different. We wanted to separate our studio from all the other studios in town. The best way to do that is to fuse it with other things. It's like the new business model for restaurants with fusing different cuisines. Chris and Rob thought of the idea; they were like, "How about we open up a barbershop? What about getting a tattoo artist in here?" We knew it would be cool.

It was hard because we had no business background, and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We found the venue, we talked to a lot of people, we made the right connections, and now, Distrct is basically the headquarters in Vegas for anything b-boy or hip-hop related. It’s really family-oriented, and everyone reps it. You'll see people walking around downtown with Distrct hats and T-shirts, like a big crew. That’s the root of it all. It all started with Full Force crew.

Going into 2015, where do you want to see the culture of breaking go?

I helped with the organization of the national finals in Las Vegas a few months ago. I definitely want to see the world finals come to Vegas, too. I just see b-boying being as big as UFC one of these days. I grew up watching UFC back in the '90s, and now it’s huge. It’s almost as big as boxing, as far as popularity goes.

I just want to see b-boys actually making a living doing what they want. Obviously, we make a living entertaining; I work for the Jabbawockeez​ show, and there are lots of b-boys who do Cirque Du Soleil. But there are a lot of competitors out there who want to be b-boying full-time. I could see breaking getting there one these days, just like UFC and boxing has.

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