New York's Flex Dancers Test The Limits Of The Human Body

Priscilla Frank
Updated
gg
gg

The dance craze known as Flex originated in 1990s Jamaica with a man named George "Bruk Up" Adams. Adams' nickname -- "Bruk Up" is Jamaican slang for broken -- pays tribute to his childhood bone infection, which gave way to the adrenalized jerks and jolts that characterized his movement.

Adams immigrated to New York in the mid '90s and brought his signature moves, like the crabwalk, the shoulder pop, and the ghost walk, along with him. He hypnotized the New York dancehall scene, blending his moves with those of New York's hip-hop-infused streets. Thus, the genre of Flex was born: part vogue battle, part contortionist spectacle, part freaky-beautiful bodily storytelling.

dd
dd

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

Photographer Deidre Schoo discovered the underground dance phenomenon by chance, after being blown away by a dancer named Storyboard Professor in Harlem. The Professor told Schoo about Battlefest, the primary destination for extreme Flex meet-ups. Soon after, a photography project came to be.

"The process could be rocky at times," Schoo explained to The Huffington Post. "These are kids, and they are sometimes hard to track down, and keep crazy hours. But I hung around for so long and just kept showing up that, eventually, I was accepted and my presence became the norm. Once that happened, it got fun. The dancers were ready to work with me and really enjoyed the attention."

pop
pop

Beyond its visual magnetism, Flex provides a creative outlet for many young people who may not have access to or interest in the more conventional artistic establishments.

"Youth having creative support and an artistic outlet is paramount to evolution," said Schoo. "The Flex community comes from a hard neighborhood. They are self-organizing and mentoring, thereby creating hope and options in a place where gang violence and police brutality is commonplace. The Flex movement is progressive and a movement of supreme style, love, life, youth and exuberance."

bbb
bbb

Along with Michael Beach Nichols, Schoo directed a documentary about the world of Flex titled "Flex Is Kings." Schoo's photographs and film capture moments of pure, almost impossible movement. With twisting limbs and popping bones, the dance routines look more like spiritual possessions or medical oddities than traditional choreographed movements.

Whether captured via photography or video, Flex is utterly hypnotic, almost fantastical. "Watching Flex is like being transported to another universe," Schoo said to Feature Shoot, "where the hardship and monotony of daily life fades to reveal the bare, glittering bones of what makes us human. All body types and all ages are celebrated, and the dancers’ joy is infectious; in the intensity of Battlefest, suggests the photographer, all arguments are smoothed over and hidden truths disclosed against the beat of the music."

Take a look at the action-packed dance universe.

Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland became the third African American female soloist at the American Ballet Theater back in 2007. Since then, she's spoken openly about racism in the dance world. "[Ballet is] such a traditional and historic art form that people are afraid to change it," she said in an interview with New York Magazine. "But I think it has to if it’s going to last in the world we live in today. It's hard to change someone’s ideas when they might not even really consciously know that they’re being racist, or have racist ideas, just because ballet has been this way for hundreds of years." <br> Her new Under Armor ad has been making waves online, effectively conveying a contemporary interpretation of what it means to be a ballerina.

Yuan Yuan Tan

Yuan Yuan Tan is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. In the late 1990s she became the youngest principal in the company’s history and the first Chinese dancer to be promoted to that level.
Yuan Yuan Tan is a principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet. In the late 1990s she became the youngest principal in the company’s history and the first Chinese dancer to be promoted to that level.

Shannon Harkins

Shannon Harkins was 13 years old when The Washington Post called her "the face of African American ballet dancers' struggles." At that time, she was the only African American girl at Level 7 at the Washington School of Ballet -- the highest pre-professional level.
Shannon Harkins was 13 years old when The Washington Post called her "the face of African American ballet dancers' struggles." At that time, she was the only African American girl at Level 7 at the Washington School of Ballet -- the highest pre-professional level.

Desmond Richardson

Desmond Richardson is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, a company that seeks to reinvent dance by creating an open environment that embraces multicultural forms of movement. Richardson also performed as a principal dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for seven years.
Desmond Richardson is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, a company that seeks to reinvent dance by creating an open environment that embraces multicultural forms of movement. Richardson also performed as a principal dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for seven years.

Natalia Osipova

While Natalia Osipova may look like the stereotypical image of a ballerina, her viewpoints express anything but. "I am not interested in sporting diamond tiaras on stage, or having my point shoes cooked and eaten by my fans," she explained to The Spectator this year. "Ballet has evolved and the ballerina figure with it. The world around us offers new challenges, new stimuli and new opportunities, and I believe that it is the responsibility of every artist to be constantly ready to respond to these. There is simply no reason, nor time, to perpetuate century-old clichés, such as the remote, semi-divine figure of the 19th-century ballet star." <br> Osipova's attitude eschews the celebrity of a glamorous field, and we can't help but love her progressive tone.

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp

Chehon Wespi-Tschopp became America's Favorite Dancer back on "So You Think You Can Dance" Season 9. Being the first male contestant to identify first and foremost as a ballet dancer, he brought the art form into the realm of mainstream television.
Chehon Wespi-Tschopp became America's Favorite Dancer back on "So You Think You Can Dance" Season 9. Being the first male contestant to identify first and foremost as a ballet dancer, he brought the art form into the realm of mainstream television.

José Manuel Carreño

Born in Cuba, former ABT star José Manuel Carreño is the Artistic Director at the Ballet San Jose. After dancing as the Prince in "Swan Lake" as his final performance, he ventured from New York City to Northern California to lead the financially-troubled company.
Born in Cuba, former ABT star José Manuel Carreño is the Artistic Director at the Ballet San Jose. After dancing as the Prince in "Swan Lake" as his final performance, he ventured from New York City to Northern California to lead the financially-troubled company.

Wendy Whelan

Wendy Whelan has become something of a figurehead for veteran dancers, advocating for financial support and career services for ballet icons nearing retirement. “We are not supported federally at all once we leave the ballet. There is no support whatsoever, financially or insurance wise for dancers in the United States." <br> After 30 years at the New York City Ballet, the principal dancer will bid her adieu this October, with plans to continue dancing with the likes of Edward Watson and the folks at Manhattan's City Center.

Cassa Pancho

Cassa Pancho is the founder of Ballet Black, a company devoted to inspiring opportunities for "dancers and students of black and Asian descent." <br> "All through ballet school I was really aware of the lack of black people around me," she explained to The Guardian. "So for my dissertation I thought I would interview black women working in ballet and see what they had to say –- but I couldn't find a single black woman working in ballet, and that really stunned me. When I graduated, I decided, very naively, to do something about it myself." <br> You can read more about Cira Robinson, Damien Johnson and Sayaka Ichikawa -- all senior artists at Ballet Black -- here. (Photo of the company by Bill Cooper.)

Sylvie Guillem

Sylvie Guillem made a name for herself after leaving the Paris Opera Ballet to become an international freelance ballerina. Now in her late 40s, the woman bold enough to appear on the cover of French Vogue nude and without makeup (long before the makeup-free selfie craze) is happily bursting through barriers between the modern dance world and ballet with works like "6000 Miles Away."

Shiori Kase

Tokyo-born Shiori Kase is a soloist with the English National Ballet who recently wowed critics in the London staging of the "psycho-thriller" ballet, "Coppélia."
Tokyo-born Shiori Kase is a soloist with the English National Ballet who recently wowed critics in the London staging of the "psycho-thriller" ballet, "Coppélia."

Michaela DePrince

Sierra Leone-born Michaela DePrince spent her early years in an orphanage after her father was killed during the civil war in her country. After being adopted by an American family and entering the world of ballet, she was told at the age of eight that America wasn't "ready for a black girl ballerina." Despite her challenging childhood, she's gone on to win a position in ABT's preprofessional division and the Dutch National Junior Company.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.