How Jelly made a B-boy novice's head spin

Nov 5 2007 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

Soon, breakdancing masterclasses will be held at the Theatre Royal. Reporter Paul Loraine went along yesterday to try out some moves.

SOMETIMES I question why I ever got into journalism.

Having endured a lesson in Irish dancing for the sake of my profession some weeks ago, I foolishly assumed my trainee initiation period had lapsed and I was “one of the team”.

It was decided, however, that there should be more humiliation to endure, ideally while further illuminating my comical build and resistance to stretching or bending of any kind.

I was to embark on my first lesson in the foundations of B-boying – what most people would know as breakdancing.

My teacher was Darren O’Kane – aka Jelly – a 22-year-old professional breakdancer from Omagh in Ireland.

Now living in Heaton after studying at Newcastle University, he is working alongside the Theatre Royal in an attempt to give break-dancing a new profile in the North-East.

He said: “I’ve been doing it since I was 12. Some friends and I learned from watching American and German videos.

“I carried on doing it through school and university and I even got the chance to represent the UK.”

On Saturday Darren will be running workshops at the Theatre Royal, taking in dancers of all ages and abilities.

Having seen him first-hand, I can confirm that the man can dance and, for those going to the workshops, I will also say that he has a way of making even the most inadequate pupil feel like they were born into a pair of parachute pants.

Having taken me through some freezes, in which the body is held stationary in an improbable position, he crafted a routine which we could perform in unison. I use unison in its loosest possible sense.

But, despite my eagerness, if to be “fresh” is to be good, I was positively off – rancid in fact – but it was a lot of fun and watching my mentor perform at the end of our session was breathtaking.

Darren is part of Bad Taste Cru – the UK and Ireland breakdance champions – who are putting on a biographical show called Soul 2 Sole at Newcastle’s Dance City next month. He said: “I couldn’t ask for more, spending time with my friends doing this.

“There is a lot of interest, especially among young people.

“We do a lot of work with schools through the council and it’s a great way of keeping kids active.”

As for me, like most men I will stick to the “dad” shuffle on the corner of the dancefloor where I belong.

Tomorrow: Our editorial assistant Rebecca Young goes Dirty Dancing to mark the 20th anniversary of the film.