Life in the Big D
Chad Lennon
August 2005
Welcome readers! This is just the beginning in a series of articles about life in Dallas. With Kirk’s recent move up here, we decided to make an effort to see all there is to do and share it with the world. I’ve long felt that Dallas deserves more cred than it seems to get; there are quite a few things to do here, as you will soon find out.
Our first installment features a trip to the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). Now we didn’t come to look at artwork, of which there is plenty, but to watch breakdancing by the crew of Diverse Soulz. One of the front men for the group happens to be my co-worker, so he gave me the heads up and after I got out of work, I flew on down to the DMA with Kirk riding shotgun on our dangerously fast ride downtown. After some minor trouble locating the good parking, we were inside and all was well. We came up to the “Atrium,” which is the DMA’s name for their cafeteria. The break dancing was sponsored by Starbucks, so the brewer had booths set up in the rearranged space. A large area in the center was cleared of tables and had a temporary wooden floor placed on it. The room was packed with people. We slowly edged around the crowd to find a spot with a better view, then proceeded to watch the B-boys* get down. The downside of our new, up-close position was that we were standing only a few feet from one of the speakers. Our right ears may never be the same. The music was decidedly old school and crewmembers took turns displaying their various areas of dancing expertise. What surprised me though is that there were quite a few members of the 40+ crowd who were thoroughly enjoying the jams. Kirk (a known whitey) was also flowin’ to the groove. After the first set up they had their DJ spin out some tracks and followed that with a 15 year old who beatboxed** for the crowd. All of this was follow up with a 3-on-3 B-Boy battle to determine which crew had the best skillz.
All in all it was a crazy fun time and we’ll be rockin’ it down at Fair Park when their next event, “Who’s Got the Juice 3,” goes down.
Definitions for Whiteys:
*B-boys: Basically a guy who breakdances; there are also B-girls for which
the definition should be obvious.
**Beatbox: The art of making beats and rhythms using only your mouth while
pressing it into the mic.
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