Stay Fresh forever in Fullerton

ILLUSTRATION by JOE MCGARRY

When someone like Koolski—a member of the Rock Steady Crew since 1991—puts on a six-hour B-boy/B-girl dance battle at Independence Park in Fullerton, names get dropped. Actually, names drop when a Rock Steady member does anything: local fixtures like DJ Abel of the now online-only Stacks Records shop in Cerritos, appearing at this event, or Afrika Bambaataa, one of the godfathers of break-beat DJing and founding father of the Zulu Nation, who toured with the Rock Steady Crew in 1982, or even Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 1983, the Queen invited Rock Steady to perform at the annual Royal Variety Performance, and so Rock Steady one-upped rival crew New York City Breakers’ record for most-prestigious-head-of-state-gala performance. (All the Breakers had to show was a set three years earlier at Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.) But Rock Steady’s 31-year history (including a recent appearance on Dancing With the Stars) isn’t the only reason to go to Stay Fresh. Aside from the battle (where dancers “must match and look FRESH to enter”) there’s a promising DJ and MC performance scheduled: Rock Steady member Artson is coming out from Vegas to MC and Zulu Nation’s Mark Luv (also of Stacks) will DJ as well.

STAY FRESH PRESENTED BY KOOLSKI OF THE ROCK STEADY CREW FEATURING 2 ON 2 B-BOY/B-GIRL BATTLES WITH DJS MARVSKI, WOBBLES, MARK LUV, ABEL AND KID TWIST WITH MCS CAVIAR BROWN, ARTSON AND SWEEPY INDEPENDENCE PARK | 810 W VALENCIA DR | FULLERTON 92832 | MYSPACE.COM/STAYFRESH76 | SAT 6PM | $10-15 | ALL AGES

Tags: breakdancing, fullerton, Music, rock steady crew