by Samantha White
Northwest Asia Weekly
Massive Monkees will take the stage on Massive Monkees Day, where longtime members welcome new members to the team. (Photo by Samantha Parker)
On Sunday, May 29, the University District’s Neptune Theater came alive to the sound of breakdance as the venue hosted dancers from around the world for Massive Monkees Day.
Hosted by Seattle-based breakdancing group Massive Monkees, the international breakdance competition attracts b-boys and b-girls from all over the world, not just across the country, but from all over the world – from Canada and Mexico, to Singapore and Kazakhstan .
“They’re famous at our events,” said Massive Monkees member and event producer Hocine Jouini.
Dancers compete for prizes in four categories, ranging from $300 to $4,500 in cash and custom four-finger rings. In a three-on-three fight, the Rock Force Crew from California won against the native Mexican blood, while Canada’s Megabots defeated Seattle’s SCC in a two-on-two open-ended match. In footwork, Arizona’s The Mayaboys’ b-boy Conrad defeated b-boy Nabil from France. And in the competition for students (16 and under), The 808 Breakers Crew of Hawaii beat I Dunno of Canada.
Judges also came from around the world, including Sacramento, Los Angeles, New York and Kansas City, Missouri in the US, and Canada, France and Finland internationally.
Massive Monkees co-founder Jeromeskee was also one of the judges.
One of the judges declared Rock Force Crew the winner in a three-on-three battle against Native Blood. (Photo by Samantha Parker)
bring it back to the community
The first large-scale Monkees Day was April 26, 2004, before it became an international event showcasing breakdancing and hip-hop culture. Then-Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels declared it a holiday to honor the crew at the World B-Boys Championship. Although this is their first world title, the Massive Monkees have made their name in a broken world since they began competing at the Jefferson Community Center in Beacon Hill in the mid-1990s. Their first major victory was the B-Boy Summit in 2000.
The crew was also ranked third in America’s Best Dance Company in 2009.
The first large-scale monkey day event was held in 2005.
Despite Massive Monkees’ widespread success and fame, the community has always been part of the team spirit, and Massive Monkees Day fits right in with that.
Preliminaries were held at Pratt Park on May 28, with top dancers advancing to the finals the following day. Originally held at Xinghai Park in Chinatown International District (CID), the event was moved to the park’s covered basketball court due to rain.
The idea was to bring it back to the community where The Beacon, the crew dance studio, has been in place for almost eight years.
“It was a great experience,” Jouini said of owning a studio at CID. The studio, which closed in November 2020 due to the pandemic, said they were looking for new studio space – preferably in CID, Beacon Hill or George Town.
The May 28 event also includes public dance workshops, graffiti artists and a car show. Massive Monkees received a grant from the city’s Office of Economic Development to help fund the weekend’s events.
Massive Monkees Day also includes a Memorial Day Community BBQ at Jefferson Park and a children’s exhibit at Seattle Center.
In addition to hosting events in local community spaces, Sunday’s event kicked off with a recognition of the land, not just the Duwamish tribe — Seattle’s first. Tracey Wong, host of Asian American dance group Malicious Vixens, shared how attendees signed a petition to get federal recognition and financial help for the tribe.
B-boys Hocine (above) and Seansteady of Massive Monkees showcase their skills in a presenter and judges showcase. (Photo by Samantha Parker)
Create a safe space
While breakdancing may be a male-dominated art form and culture, b-girls and female dancers—from competitors to judges to Malicious Vixens showcase performances—are also in attendance.
Culture’s imbalanced demographics are addressed at the start of the show, as Massive Monkees’ b-girl Anna Banana Freeze shares the story of how she fell in love and found a home with breakdancing and hip-hop, but over the years , she started to distance herself from herself and it was when she started to feel unsafe in a space like this that she realized she wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
To address this, a representative from The Good Foot Arts Collective, a Seattle-based organization dedicated to preventing youth violence through arts education, shared resources to educate the crowd about how they can build spaces where not only b-girls but everyone can exist and feel safe.
beyond breaking’
For the main event on May 29, Massive Monkees partnered with the Seattle Theater Group (STG).
Although Massive Monkees’ partnership with STG dates back to 2010 – with staff performing and collaborating on various STG shows and shows over the years – this event is only the second time the two groups have worked together to produce a full event. Last year’s large-scale monkey day event was the first.
Jouini said one of the reasons their partnership with STG has been so successful is because of their shared focus on community.
Rex Kinney, associate director of education at STG, agrees, describing the staff as an amazing group of people who have put Seattle on the map when it comes to breakdancing. But it doesn’t stop there.
“They’re also amazing mentors,” Kinney said, noting that Massive Monkees strives to teach and educate younger generations about their art form and to make it accessible to as many people as possible — which ushered in Massive Monkees Five new b-boys give their crew a special performance.
“They’ve done such a great job in the community.”
Samantha can reach info@nwasianweekly.com.
