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Dance crews have become more popular than ever. The once underground art of breakdancing and bboying has found a new stage with the world as its audience. TV shows and the internet have brought us the magic of choreographed contortionists right into our living rooms. One of Vancouver’s veteran crews is Now Or Never. I asked crew member Eloquence if he could answer a few questions for us about life in the pack.

Photo: Courtesy of N.O.N.

Who are the members of your crew?

Jax

B-Minus

Twist

Muggy Mug

Trickey

Savage Rock

Pay Day Ray

Style Jack

Taiyo

G

Hao2

Eloquence

How and when did you all meet and get started?

The crew has been established since 2002. Most of the members joined the crew at separate times in the past few years. Jax, Hao2 and G are the remaining original members. Having similar goals helped bring us together as one unit. Our main goals are worldwide recognition and to represent Vancity to the fullest.

Are any of you involved in other dancing events outside of the crew?

A few of our members like to branch out and try other styles of dance such as hip hop and house. This helps with the performance aspect of the dance. Its always good to get inspired elsewhere, that way you can come back with fresh new ideas.

How does one enter the international scene and begin traveling with a crew? How did it happen for you?

You have to most definitely be prepared both physically and mentally when entering international battles. There are larger numbers of dope crews representing around the world that come to these jams. You enter small jams nearby your city ex. (Seattle) that help you prepare for the big ones. The more you battle, the better you get. We sharpen our skills until were really ready to take on the rest of the bboy world.

Tell us about the trip to europe, France.

We make it a point to go to at least one huge jam a year. So in 2010 and 2011, we went to IBE international Breakdance event. Its most definitely one of the largest events in the world, with over 10,000 people in attendance. Anyways, we made it to the semi-finals for both years out of almost 100 crews entered. We made a big impact in Europe, getting recognized by the top heads in the world.

What are the challenges of organizing/planning/practice with such a large crew? ex.

Having a large crew is not the easiest thing in the world to maintain. We usually give each other tasks, that way we run more efficiently. It’s like running a small company. Organizing practices is quite easy, we have set practices that are mandatory to attend. The most challenging is when we travel abroad. There are lots of things to plan ahead for, especially when we’ve never been to any of these foreign countries before.

What is next for n.o.n.?

We are currently in a hiatus. Its always good to re-group and not enter every single battle that comes to you. We are constantly helping each other improve individually and as a whole. We just had a meeting about which jams we will be going to this year to represent. Our big trip this year will most likely be Asia. We have never toured Asia before as a crew. Japan and Korea are countries were considering. These two countries have huge boy scenes. You can find jams weekly, as opposed to Vancouver jams, which is about a jam every few months.

Why Vancouver? (general question we ask. Why you live here, what is good about it, what you love. etc.)

Our crew is very thankful that we can do what we love to do and be able to support ourselves. We developed a niche market here. For shows, we offer something unique and highly entertaining. We do quite a bit of shows actually. These shows actually help fund our trips for battles as well. We love the support that people give us in this city.  Vancouver is most definitely awesome!