Breakdancing to Fame and Fortune

Transcription

1 Breakdancing to Fame and Fortune By Douglas Paton Photos by Norm Edwards GRADE 5 Book Club: All Systems go! SHARED READING 4 pages Non-fiction: profile 2008 Scholastic Canada Ltd. V001

2 Breakdancing to Fame and Fortune By Douglas Paton Photos by Norm Edwards In the summer of 2007, more than 10 million people watched four young men walk out on the stage of the talent search show America s Got Talent. The group was led by a young Canadian in a white tank top and red pants, walking with the aid of arm-brace crutches. My name is LazyLegz, he said into the microphone. And this is our crew, Illmatic Styles and we re going to inspire every single one of you. It seemed like a bold statement, but once the music started it wasn t long before it was proved true. The audience went wild as LazyLegz dropped his crutches and began breakdancing, using only his arms to support his body. At the end, the audience was on its feet, clapping and cheering. The judges, too, were completely won over. Soon, Illmatic Styles were on their way to Las Vegas for the next round of the show. 1/4 BBoy LazyLegz

3 Luca LazyLegz Patuelli was born with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC), a rare disease that limits movement in the joints. AMC can affect nearly every joint in the body, and at its worst, it brings on muscle weakness that further limits movement. But Luca was lucky: only his legs were affected by the disease. With the help of arm-brace crutches, he is able to walk. At the age of eight Luca began developing scoliosis, which caused his spine to curve. By the time he was 13, the curvature was so great he had to have surgery to correct the problem. In order to straighten Luca s spine, doctors fused together eight of Luca s vertebrae, the bones that make up the spine, and inserted a titanium rod for support. You might think these things would slow Luca down, but they didn t. I never let anything or anyone stop me from doing anything I ever wanted to do, he says. Luca continued to be an active kid who loved swimming, diving, skiing, and sailing. Like a lot of teenage boys, skateboarding soon became a big part of Luca s life until knee surgery forced him to stop. He was 15 years old. Big Break Around that same time I was introduced to breaking, says Luca. A friend noticed his muscular arms and invited him to a breakdancing competition. I fell in love with it right away, he says. Breakdancing, or breaking, came out of New York City s South Bronx neighbourhood in the early 1970s. 2/4 BBoy LazyLegz

4 DJs (disc jockeys) would string together chunks of music to provide a series of changing beats and rhythms for dancers to improvise to. Dancers worked to develop the coolest, most powerful and amazing moves. After two years of training nearly every day, Luca felt he was ready to compete. But during his second competition he fractured his femur. I was devastated, he says. I did not know what to do. He took some time to think about it, then decided to get back into breaking. He entered his first contest since breaking his leg and placed fourth. It motivated me to try to become e the best in what I do, he says of the experience. Since then Luca has competed in cities across the world, including Ottawa, Toronto, Washington DC, Montreal, Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Rome, and Chicago. He has performed on stage with such hip hop artists as Kanye West and K-OS. He s Got Talent And then there was the performance on America s Got Talent. America s Got Talent was a great experience, he says. We [he and his crew, Illmatic Styles] came into that competition pretty confident for the first round and we were there to have fun. I think the judges and audience saw that, and that is what made us advance to the next round. Not only has Luca been busy with breaking, but he takes time to speak in children s hospitals and schools promoting his philosophy: Taking the bad and making it good. 3/4 BBoy LazyLegz

5 When I was growing up I spent a lot of time in hospitals, he says. Any little thing to distract you from your pain, fear, boredom, and any other feeling you may have when you are there always helps. After more than two years of public speaking, Luca has found that he almost prefers talking in a smaller setting over appearing on stage or in a music video. I have had the opportunity to travel around the continent to share my story and listen to others stories as well. And, he adds, if I can motivate or inspire one person in the audience then I know I did my job. On top of everything else, Luca has found time in his schedule to go to school although with his busy schedule he s only able to take classes part-time. Luca and Illmatic Styles didn t make it past the next round on America s Got Talent. But, as always, Luca was able to look on the bright side of the experience. At first I was a little disappointed, not advancing after Las Vegas, he says. But then I realized bigger and better opportunities will come, one way or another. Things happen for a reason and I am thankful for all the experiences I have had so far. Illustration by Charlene Chua Breakdancing involves momentum, which relies on two simple things: mass (how dense something is) and velocity (how fast it s going). Breakdancing uses what is called rotational momentum the speed of a spin. Think of a basketball player spinning a basketball on his finger. If the ball isn t spun fast enough, it won t stay up. Now think of a breakdancer spinning on her head. Can you imagine what will happen if the dancer isn t spinning fast enough? In order to be able to build and keep rotational momentum, it helps to have a strong upper body arms, shoulders, and chest. So it s no surprise that Luca was a natural. His powerful muscles push against the ground with enough force to get the spin started. (That s the velocity part.) The mass of those muscles keeps the spin going longer once it s started. 4/4 BBoy LazyLegz