Flipz dances his way to the money

IT was Breakdancin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo revived when international dance choreographer, actor, stuntman and breakdancer Ivan “Flipz” Velez made an appearance at the TT Fitness Academy National Schools Hip-Hop Championship and Fitness Challenge, UWI sporting facility, last Sunday. He got the red carpet treatment. But, he couldn’t escape the mob of female fans who, given a chance, would have their arms and legs autographed. When security personnel whisked him away into a room around half ten that evening, more than an hour after the show, it was evident that his spirits were crushed. “I hope they don’t think that I didn’t want to sign all their autographs,” he said to the show’s directors, Kenneth Wafe and Ian Levia.

The 25-year-old Puerto Rico-born street dancer — dressed in all black from his baseball hat to his “kid-sized” high-top Jordans — took a few days off the job in LA to visit Trinidad, where he now calls his second home. After Trinidad and Tobago’s second place at the Hip-Hop International in Redondo Beach, California last June, Flipz couldn’t pass up the invitation to visit. His two-day stay included a hip-hop workshop at the Creative Arts Centre, San Fernando, and a special guest performance in a hip-hop battle for supremacy. After two earlier dance-teasers that each lasted about two minutes, Flipz took the stage with his team of five which came up against another team pitted for a breakdance battle. After a matchless performance which comprised a few head spins, flips, undercuts and tumblings that evoked mostly “ooohs,” “aaahs,’ and “oh my gods!” — the decision was unanimous. Flipz and his gang were obvious winners. “How did he get his body to twist like that?” The answer — Flipz alone knows.
 
“I wanted to please the crowd and the kids. I did a lot of new moves and did almost every trick they saw in the movies,” he revealed. You would have seen him in the 2004 films Honey, as a street dancer alongside co-actor Li’l Romeo and You Got Served. He returned to the USA on Monday to begin work on the movies Be Cool! starring John Travolta and Christina Millian, My Life In Idlewild starring hip-hop duo Outkast, and You Got Served II. He also has lined up three commercials for Gap, Zippo and Bacardi. “Man, I feel like I’m in Puerto Rico! Everything’s the same: the weather, the people, and the rich culture. We have plena, you have soca. And the food is the best thing. I had pelau and curry,” Flipz went on. He pointed to the wrist band he bought on the street which read: Trinbago. “I gotta come back for Carnival.”

He was born in the village of Ma?aguez, home of the Malta beverage he said proudly, where gangs ruled and breakdancing on the streets was common. He must have been about seven years old when the movie Beat Street was released in 1986, but it was only a few years later that he rented it and began practising the moves at home. “I watched it for a little bit, and tried to do the moves. But my mom said if I continued I would be grounded.” And what if he persisted? “I would get hit hard; she would pull my ear. So I listened,” Flipz remembered fondly. “I had so much energy that I couldn’t channel it right, so I picked up baseball.”
 
After an arm injury made it difficult for him to continue, Flipz returned to dancing despite his mother’s disapproval. “I rented the movie again, copied it and made every (dance) move. I watched it day and night.” He joined the group “Skill Methodz” and began dancing on the street for money. “Then a promoter saw us one day and told us we could be making money dancing in videos, and asked if we would dance for Big Pun (now deceased), in one of his music videos,” he said. In the mid-90s, Flipz and his family moved to Florida after they lost all their belongings in a fire that destroyed their home. One gig led to a next, until he auditioned for Universal Studios and landed a job with the production “Yarooh” — spelt “Hooray!” backwards, earning US$25,000 a year. “I took the contract home and showed it to my mother and I asked her should I sign it. She started crying. I will always remember her words. She said, ‘I know you never meant any harm by it, but I’m glad you proved me wrong’”.
 
Today, Flipz is landing gigs that pay him in the hundred thousands (US$). “I was happy to make my dream come true. I lived a dream that almost seemed impossible…” He said that although the hip-hop culture is often associated with drugs and violence — hip-hop dancing, however, was about positivity; a talent that allowed him to make an honest living. “I’m blessed with what I have but I don’t flaunt it. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs because your habits inhibit a lot of what you do.” He said it was easy for him to fall into gang life like many of his friends; “but it’s the lifestyle you choose. I know gang bangers that could dance but they don’t choose to pursue their talent. They cannot be mad at themselves. I’ve tried to help them but it’s their pride.”

Though he found little success in assisting those of his neighbourhood, he remains willing to help anyone he meets. He was heartened by the favourable reception received during his stay in Trinidad. “What I saw here today was very well put together, very professional. I also saw a lot of raw talent among the youth. I can see dedication and influence from the films. Outstanding too, was good sportsmanship. “Whether hip-hop is US or not, some of the raw talent I saw here today is your own. You can’t give all the credit to American music videos. We (the Caribbean) need to embrace the fact that it’s our own people that are continuing the hip-hop. And even if it’s not our own, why can’t we be willing to accept something new?” he questioned.

Flipz believed that hip-hop dancing can be transformed into a lucrative career, even for Trinbagonians, “once we invite hip-hop promoters to come and see the talent. Dancers need artistes. What is music without dance? You can have a meal with flavour… And it can blow up in the US.” However, dreams come with a price, he said. In his ten years of breakdancing, Flipz has racked up a high injury list. He identified the major ones — two broken fingers, broken toe, dislocated shoulder, hernia and a ruptured stomach. The latter happened on stage, he said, during a live performance. “I was down on my hands and my elbow ripped my stomach muscle. The surgery lasted three days and it took me three months to recover.” No sooner than later, Flipz was back on the dance floor, and doing more difficult feats. Looking back, he said “it was all worth it!”