Richard Colón (born January 1, 1966), better known by his stage name Crazy Legs, is an American b-boy who was featured in the earliest stories on hip hop dancing to appear in mainstream press, and as president of the

Rock Steady Crew Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...

brought the form to London and Paris in 1983. Today he is also involved in community outreach, dance instruction, and dance theater productions. His pioneering status is reflected in his appearances in fiction films and documentaries. Crazy Legs is the most well known and commercially successful of the few original members remaining of the Rock Steady Crew, and is its current president.

Career

Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón grew up in the Inwood section of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he was introduced to "breaking" by his older brother when he was nine.Alan Feuer
"Breaking Out Of the Bronx: A Look Back; A Pioneering Dancer Is the Last of His Breed"
''The New York Times'', August 27, 2002. He was an original member of the Rock Steady Crew after its foundation in 1979. Dance critic Sally Banes in an April 1981 piece on the form in the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' quotes Crazy Legs listing the best dancers extant and documents his accidental invention of the "W" move, in which the dancer sits with his legs double-backed behind him. The next month saw ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' cover a three-day conference on "Bronx folk culture". "There is a system of apprentices: a 'Lil' Crazy Legs with Crazy Legs," the ''Times'' reported, "Dance steps are performed solo to an accompaniment called '' rapping'' - chanting voice and percussion." His first film appearance was as himself in Charlie Ahearn's independent release '' Wild Style'' (1982), followed by his featuring in the early documentary on hip hop culture ''

Style Wars ''Style Wars'' is an American 1983 documentary film on hip hop culture, directed by Tony Silver and produced in collaboration with Henry Chalfant. The film has an emphasis on graffiti, although bboying and rapping are covered to a lesser extent ...

'' (

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

, 1983). As a craze for all things hip hop took hold, the 16-year-old Crazy Legs, now President of the Rock Steady Crew, took hip hop dance to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as part of the New York City Rap Tour, with recording artists Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmixer D.ST,

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

artists Fab 5 Freddie and

Futura 2000 Leonard Hilton McGurr (born November 17, 1955), known as Futura, and formerly known as Futura 2000, is an American graffiti artist. Biography He started to paint illegally on New York City's subway in the early 1970s, working with other artist ...

, and the World Champion Fantastic Four Double Dutch Girls. Appearances in Hollywood films were another consequence: he was a street dancer (and also a heavily disguised body double for

Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image A ...

' final dance scenes) in the film ''

Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend ...

'' ( Paramount, 1983) and, as with ''Wild Style'', played himself in the fiction film ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to ...

'' ( Orion, 1984). In 1991 he danced in ''So! What Happens Now?'', "probably the first hip-hop production on a mainstream dance stage in New York City," according to ''The New York Times'', which reflected that the production proved " street dance is an art as demanding and inventive as mainstream dance forms like

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

." The following year came ''Concrete Jungle'' as part of a program at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

which the ''Times'' called "a turning point in the evolution of urban street dance," the piece itself being "extraordinarily affecting". The "jubilantly hyperactive" and "astonishing" ''Jam on the Groove'' debuted in 1995, and in 1999 Crazy Legs instructed dancers of the Urban Youth Theater for their show ''Minotaur''. Crazy Legs has hosted b-boy contests, appearances at live events, and staging of Rock Steady Crew Anniversaries. He provided voice-overs for the television comedy series '' Kung Faux''. He is also a character in the video game '' Def Jam Fight For NY''. In 2006 he was invited by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

to contribute to a collection for the National Museum of American History. Crazy Legs officially retired from competition as of July 28, 2012 after competing at the Rock Steady Crew's 35th Anniversary at The Altman Building in

, NY.

Rock Steady Anniversary parties

As president of Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs and his Backspin Productions hosts and organizes the annual Rock Steady Anniversary, a community event that honors deceased members of the crew and celebrates

hip hop culture Hip hop or hip-hop is a culture and art movement that was created by African Americans, Latino Americans and Caribbean Americans in the Bronx, New York City. Hip hop culture is characterized by four key elements: rapping, DJing and turntablis ...

. The parties feature DJs,

breakdancing Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...

, MCs, and graffiti artists. The group also holds the annual Celebrity Basketball Tournament during the yearly anniversary celebrations to raise money for the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

Youth Council in New York. In 2003, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed July 26 to be "Rock Steady Crew Day" in New York City during their 26th Anniversary Celebration at Pier 54. Sportswear company Fila debuted the "Rock Steady Crew 77" sneaker in April 2004.

Awards

As part of the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs won a 1992

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

for choreography. In 1994 he received the Hip Hop Pioneer Award from

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

. He was presented with the Source Youth Foundation Image Award in 2003. He has also earned the 2003 AARTS Award from the Bay Shore Schools Arts Education Fund and was honored as the National Godfather of the 2003 Jersey City Puerto Rican Day Parade. He was nominated for an MTV Award for Best Choreography for his work with

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

. “Jam on the Groove” was nominated for best choreography at the Drama Desk Awards in 1996. His dance program at The POINT CDC for young people in South Bronx garnered him the “New Yorker of the Week” Award from New York 1 News.

References

External links

"'Breaking' Indoors"
by Jack Anderson, ''The New York Times'', October 6, 1981.
Interview at daveyd.com, 2001Interview at sixshot.com, 2005Crazy Legs pictured at E3 trade show, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crazy Legs (Colon, Richard) 1966 births American breakdancers Living people American people of Puerto Rican descent Entertainers from the Bronx American hip hop dancers