The South Florida Rave Scene: A Dancer's Viewpoint

          The Perfect Circle
                 

In conjunction with a wish of preserving memories of a particular era in South  Florida, I am writing these stories as a dedication to an underground culture, vast and spiritual, The Rave Culture of South Florida (from the early 90’s to the early 2000’s.) This viewpoint is not just from a patron of these parties, but, to speak frankly, a dance icon of my era, wrought from countless battles and trailing a history filled with moments of pure, dance madness, in environments that can only be considered “otherworldly”. I am Otto, otherwise known as Aquaboogy from Miami, and this is my summarized story – of a time and place that will remain as one of history’s craziest, party and event scenes of the manic 90’s.

1993: The Warehouse Raves

So while Grunge and Alternative Rock was living its hay-day (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP) I was dealing with my newfound manhood at eighteen. One day fate led me to a Rock party thrown in a warehouse, in an isolated and remote industrial park. In these obscure parties, bands would crank their music hoping the cops wouldn’t prematurely end their set. I dabbed into the Rock Scene when Hip Hop started getting too hood for me (I was trying to steer away from gang-related activity). I started hanging out with “Rockers” and I was even in a band for a while. I was going through quite a rebellious stage in my life.

The Rock party ended at 3 am or so. And then a few odd characters came in to set up some DJ equipment. To my ignorant mind, they were dressed a little funny, with too much glitter and flash. Most of the Rockers frowned and started setting off, as a new crowd ushered in, just like the odd Club Kids that had set up the sound system. Intrigued by this new crowd, I stuck around, rocking a plaid flannel in the middle of summer.

When the music cranked on, there was a massive beat that took over the crowd and everyone went absolutely crazy. Most of them were on something (I didn’t know that they were on Ecstasy at the time) but everyone was so friendly versus the moody attitudes of the Grunge kids.  I was taken by the music and soon I witnessed a dance circle appear. Instantly, dancers jumped in and started battling each other, while occasionally interrupted by a kid dancing with glow sticks. I was mesmerized; I was taken back to my childhood experimentation with Street Dance in the 80’s. So immediately after this experience, and a few others, me and my close friends at the time started dancing at these new Rave events.

1994: The Edge Nightclub in Downtown Ft. Lauderdale

As I began getting plugged into the underground Rave Scene, I began hearing of a Ft. Lauderdale nightclub that hosted all-night Raves every Saturday night. A good friend of mine Julian (who was an established Club Kid and few years my senior) took a group of us out to the Edge one fateful evening in 1994. I was there every night thereafter! Only the circles in the Edge were much bigger and there were many, many dancers competing for attention and respect. I was honestly “shook” for a while. It took many months of preparation, practice and hard work to finally get the courage to represent in the “Pit”.

Like a gladiator arena, the Edge had a sunken dance floor, which the dancers called “The Pit.” And if there was anywhere to test your resolve as a dancer, it was there, in front of the veteran Club Kids & dancers (plus the thousand plus spectators that were watching from all around and a second story balcony). It was a menacing place, only meant for gladiators of the dance floor. It was here that I was tempered, until a life altering experience called Zen: A Gathering of the Tribes occurred.

"The Pit" The Edge Nightclub, Ft. Lauderdale

1995: My first Mega-Rave

Imagine it if you would – you’re driving up to a great fair ground, thousands upon thousands of cars are parked everywhere, just a few guys with flashlights directing traffic. In the distance, you think you hear thunder. But it’s not thunder, but the booming bass from music far away. The nervous anticipation builds a strong tension in your neck & shoulders, just knowing that somewhere out there, in the middle of an army of drugged out maniacs, was the Perfect Circle.

What was the Perfect Circle? It wasn’t small; a side circle to get your practice on. The perfect circle is one that opens up in the hottest, most lively arena, at the fever pitch of a song or act. They were massive, like 20 or 30 feet in diameter (or more). The crowd would be live and supportive, sometimes cheering their faces off if you were good. The best dancers and crews would join these get-downs and compete to win the crowd, to out-shine one another. They were performance circles, where you wanted to shine the best. And, just the thought of the Perfect Circle, and what dancers would be rocking them, used to steal sleep from me the night before these events. When I pulled up to my first Mega Rave, the anticipation almost made me throw up I was so excited.

If the Edge was a wave, Zen was a tsunami. Like a large wall of energy, pulsating in the night like a beacon, drawing us in. In the distance, you could see smoke rising above lights…there were so many lights…lasers, strobes, neon lights, it was amazing. Then you could hear faint screaming, like people riding a rollercoaster. But there were no rides, not at this Rave. It was just people enjoying themselves.

By the time we arrived at the front entrance, me and my friends implemented contingency plans (remember, it was 1995 – few people had cell phones.) Most of us had pagers but you couldn’t relay adequate messages so you had to set rules. Rules like: if we get separated (& we knew we would – there were 15 of us) we had to meet by the main entrance at say 9am. No matter what state of mind, or where we were - we had to drop everything and meet to coordinate our departure back to our hotel. This was serious business folks. In a fair ground with multiple arenas, with over forty thousand attendees, you could loose someone for an entire night. If you add drugs into the picture, the prospect of getting stranded at one of these functions was great. I saw it happen many times and it was scary. But I rolled with seasoned Party Kids, who had all the bases covered. I was taught by the best.

So, my dancing friends and I would engage in expeditions for these ultimate circles. And when you found one, you could hear the cheering from a great distance away. Then you had to push through layers of tightly woven spectators to get to the edge where you could launch yourself into the cipher. Sometimes, unless you were a known head, you wouldn’t get close enough to the edge to be able to get loose and break it down center stage. Some people were mean. They wanted a show – if you couldn’t give them one, you were ushered out.

The excitement these circles produced was unbelievable. Eventually when you got known, people would open a path for you and “roll out the red carpet” as they did & do for me. These people want to see you dance, and possibly battle some fool that’s trying to hog the circle. Zen was an eye opener and the first of many, many Mega Raves for me.

It was here that our names were wrought, battle after battle. Until Florida dancers, from the bottom of the peninsula to the top, knew who we were. They showed us mad love everywhere we went. By the time the infamous Pro Am era began, I was a seasoned battler, ready to take on the world. And that’s what I did. The Rave kid went full fledged into the Popping scene, when there finally was one again in the mid – to – late 90’s.

Jose, Otto(Aquaboogy), Mike Littlefield (RIP), Haviken Hayes, Oreo, Jimmy, Myra (1995)

1997-2000: An Old School Revival

The late 90’s was an era that will forever be marked as some of the best & worst times of my life. The Rave scene down here had a resurgence of an Old School 80’s flavor. We (my crew of dancers) started rocking Adidas suits, Shell Toes, Fedoras, Big Apples, looking like we were straight out of an old Breaking movie. It was a remarkable time down here.

Dance enemies I had made in the Underground Hip Hop Scene in Miami (The Deadly Venoms), figured out why the Rave was such a dope environment to hone your skills. Ok…yes…there were drugs. But to us dancers it really wasn’t about that. It was all about the pounding music, the overloading of senses, the lights fantastic - it would induce such a hype, that it would allow you to free your mind through dance, to create like you never have before. It was a pure release of your creative mind. That is why the circles then were so different than the circles in the competition circuits of today. Because back then, the movement was pure – unconditioned – uneducated on style restrictions – just a bunch of kids releasing their souls on that concrete or wooden dance floor, nothing more – nothing less. We wanted to prove that we were the best, not for money or a trophy – but for respect. It was a simple get away for us.

On the flip side of all these wonderful, fairy-tale memories, are the tales of a hard-core, underground dance scene. Let me tell you about Miami. How serious did we take dancing down here? Serious enough to draw blood; fights were frequent. We used to gather on 10^th and Ocean, for many years, to practice in front of a live, South Beach crowd. When dancers from all over the world came to Florida to experience Pro Am and the beaches, they always visited our ciphers on 10^th & Ocean (and the gazebo on 7^th). It was a legendary place for us street dancers to call each other out. I battled Play Boy Eddie (L.A.) and Domino (Boston) out along that famous, South Beach strip. But here is where altercations, some that ended in blood shed, occurred. It was a gritty scene; no place for a punk. Battlers would mud sling and shit talk, disrespectfully, in your face. Sometimes, someone would loose their cool and snap on somebody, fists would fly and the whole scenario would become chaotic.

True Story: I was at a small jam once competing for a couple, hundred dollars with some homies, when a rumble erupted between two rival, Asian gangs. We got caught in the crossfire. Bullets shattered all the glass of the pool hall the event was being held at, screams erupted like a scene in a movie. In my head I kept on saying, “this cannot be happening.” Literally dodging bullets, flying chairs and debris, we escaped out the kitchen of the spot, to an alleyway that led us away from the mass hysteria. By the grace of God we were uninjured. In the terrible aftermath, two (or more) people had been shot and rushed to the hospital. We were out as the cops were rushing the parking lot. We were not sticking around to get details. It was a truly a terrifying experience. 

True Story: I was at an event once (it will remain nameless – only if you were there will you know) – a Breaking battle – where a fight between two rival crews erupted. As the rumble reached its climax, the crowd turned on the merchandise vendors! They rushed the booths and robbed them all! The vendors struggled to fend off these multiple culprits and we assisted all we could, but the entire scene was out of control and nauseating. The hood-ass attendees just took advantage of the chaos and robbed these supporters of our culture. It was truly a sad day. I’ve never seen anything like that again. It served as a testament on how ignorant things were down here. There was truly no safety at some of these functions. Although these events were not in the majority, they occurred - & it tarnished our Underground Hip Hop Scene. So the Rave was a solace for me, a haven, where I could express myself and I usually walked away unscathed by knuckles, blades or bullets.

The Freestyle Age & The Old School Age

The Rave scene in South Florida had various icons: Mike, Milton, Shabazz, The Fever Crew (Manny Risco, Chocolate, Jay-C, etc.) Shadow Drum, Eddie (Mr. Clean), Jimmie (Floor Killa) Mike & Maylene, Rudy, Elf, Mike Littlefield, - names that carried styles that would mix elements of House Dancing, Whacking, Vogue & Liquid with acrobatic Freestyle dynamics. Early on, only a small portion was messing with Breaking, Popping & Locking.  But soon that would change as my crew’s popularity grew and we began booking major shows at these Mega Raves. Our style was all based on Old School Foundations, even our garb; so soon thereafter we (and our arch-nemesis’s The Deadly Venoms) bred a grip of clones. The Freestyle Age in our parties down here (‘93-’97) was replaced with the Old School Age where many dancers were trying to Pop, Lock, Break, Old School Booty Shake, etc. This continued until the scene died in the early 2000’s. While there still were and are parties, it is but a fading shadow of the way things used to be. The Golden Years of the Rave Scene in South Florida is roughly from 1993-2000. These mega parties bred the phenomenon I coined as the Perfect Circle. These sometimes spiritual encounters between music and dance served as a blueprint of how harmoniously some elements blend so beautifully - like a union of two, powerful forces that became the soundtracks of our lives, and to so many that have passed, our deaths.

I’ll conclude with this: Since around 2001, I’ve had a wonderful, professional career as a dancer and choreographer, reaching over 20 countries in magnificent world tours where I represented Popping, Locking & South Florida to the fullest. I have been fortunate to be in Off Broadway productions & worked with countless artists. I have been truly blessed. I made it out - I took my skills and ran with it.

However, my journey of excellence is far from over as I reach every year for new heights and will continue to do so, as a testament to the true dance expressionist. And I am proud to say it all truly started in the grimy, maniacal Rave circles, with crazy fools screaming for you as that rushing feeling of invincibility takes hold of your soul as you destroyed that song that made your hairs stand on end. That feeling could only be classified as an unparalleled moment of glory, of which, my life has had many.

This article was dedicated to all the real dancers in both the Rave Scene & Underground Hip Hop scene in the 90’s that made South Florida an exciting place to come up in. Big ups to the many heads I battled. I hope I didn’t crush too many dreams – ha ha – I love you all. Seriously, you guys made me who I am. For those that have passed on & for those that are still with us, I’ll be searching for my Perfect Circle for the rest of my existence. I hope you find yours – now - tomorrow - & in the hereafter.

Peace, Love & Respect,

Otto (aka Aquaboogy)