Kenny Louis is a member of RAD Crew. He tells us about what inspired him to dance and how he inspires the next generation. Check him out at https://www.instagram.com/the_klou/ and https://www.facebook.com/bboyKLou.
DanceTalks with Kenny Louis: Full Transcript
Hosted by Andrea Cody, Director of Dance Houston. Originally released July 19, 2021. This transcript was generated automatically and may contain small errors.
Episode summary (SEO)
Houston b-boy Kenny Louis of RAD Crew joins host Andrea on DanceTalks from Dance Houston. Kenny started breaking as an eighth-grade elective and went on to teach dance to babies and preschoolers through Arts Alive, teach middle school dance, captain the Houston Rockets’ Launch Crew, and perform as a principal dancer with FLY Dance Company. He talks about touring Germany, Hungary, Albania and beyond with FLY, what goes on in rehearsals with artistic director Kathy Wood, the four pillars of hip-hop culture, RAD Crew’s community jam The Ether, and the young fan who cried when FLY came back to his school. Recorded March 20, 2021.
Key takeaways
- Hip-hop is a culture, not just music. Its four pillars are the MC, the DJ, graffiti art and breaking, and fashion (“looking fresh”) goes hand in hand with them.
- “Break dancing” comes from the breaks. At DJ Kool Herc’s parties, dancers hit the floor during the drum breaks of the song.
- Big, explosive movement and musicality. As one of the shortest dancers in his high school crew, Kenny learned to push every move out so the audience could see it.
- Community events keep the scene alive. RAD Crew’s jam The Ether welcomes all styles, works with other studios and sponsors, and gives out trophies, prize money and merch.
- You never know who you inspire. Kenny saw FLY perform in middle school and later joined them. Years later, a student cried because “my heroes are back.”
Transcript
This transcript has been lightly edited for readability: filler words and repeats were removed.
[0:00] Getting started
Andrea: Hello and welcome to DanceTalks. I’m your host, Andrea. Today is March 20, 2021, and my guest is Kenny Louis. Kenny is a member of RAD Crew. Kenny, welcome to DanceTalks.
Kenny Louis: Hey, thank you. I really appreciate it.
Andrea: I’m so excited to get to know more about you. Will you tell us your story?
Kenny Louis: I’m a member of RAD Crew, and I work with a lot of different companies. I work with the Houston Rockets, I’m a principal dancer for FLY Dance Company, I do a lot of shows as an independent contractor, and I teach at studios. A little bit of everything.
Andrea: How did you get started dancing?
Kenny Louis: At first I just saw it on TV and thought it looked cool. Then in eighth grade I saw that break dancing was one of the electives at school. I thought, “That looks really cool, I’m going to try it.” It was fun just being in class, so I kept taking it.
Andrea: I totally would have done that if it was offered at my school. Is that unique to those schools, or are people around the country growing up doing it in school?
Kenny Louis: I think it’s being introduced in more schools now. Break dancing still isn’t an elective in most schools, but over time it’s opening up more, and I’ve even helped some of my friends start teaching at schools so they could start programs.
[2:07] Teaching young children
Andrea: That’s so nice. How did you start out as a professional? What was your first job?
Kenny Louis: My first paid dance job was as a dance teacher at a daycare, right out of high school. Before that, I thought I’d only be a performer. Some of the children were in kindergarten, some even younger, and the oldest was maybe in third grade.
Andrea: Were you teaching them breaking or just dance basics?
Kenny Louis: Hip-hop and break dancing. They probably just heard some songs, so whenever I started a class, I let them know that hip-hop itself is a culture. Then I’d break it down: there’s dance, there’s music, you can be a graffiti artist. There are different things in hip-hop you can go into.
Andrea: I taught at preschools too, for about a year when I was 22. I had 12 different assignments with a company called Arts Alive. I’ve interviewed the directors of Arts Alive, Tina Sabuco and Anissa Dwiggins, on a previous episode. They send teachers to different facilities to work with the kids, usually as a guest who comes once a week. I even taught babies. We’d dance them like puppets, making sure they got the rhythm and stretched and got stronger. As they got older, we’d try to ignite their imagination: one week we’d be dinosaurs, then we’d go around the world, then under the sea. Some schools would have eight 30-minute classes in a row. I’d start with the babies, and by the end of the day I’d be with the five-year-olds, and I’d see childhood flash in front of my eyes. How long did you do that?
Kenny Louis: About two or three years, and then I became a middle school dance teacher. Throughout that time I was still performing and getting paid for shows, but teaching was my day job.
[6:14] Captain of the Houston Rockets Launch Crew
Andrea: What’s it like dancing for the Houston Rockets’ Launch Crew?
Kenny Louis: It’s been fun. It can be challenging, because sometimes we have to pump out a dance really quickly, like when our performance is at the next game and we only have one or two rehearsals and haven’t started yet. We get the music, and I split everybody into groups: break dancers on one side, poppers on the other. Then we come together for choreography and tricks. I’ve been with them for six years and was the dance captain for Launch Crew. Now I’m moving to a different role within the Rockets organization.
Andrea: That’s awesome that you got to be dance captain. Is it an all-boys group?
Kenny Louis: Mostly boys, but we do have women join. At first it also included the cheerleaders, so there was a big female cast. Then it split into the Launch Crew cheerleaders and the Launch Crew dancers, and eventually the cheerleading fizzled out and it became just the dancers. We still have women dancers join, but usually it’s one.
Andrea: How big is the crew?
Kenny Louis: Usually around 13. Right now it’s smaller. I haven’t worked with them this season because of the pandemic. They didn’t hold auditions this year, so they kept the same members, and some people couldn’t do it, so the cast might be half that size. They’ve been doing video shoots: dance sessions they record and post, or just rocking Rockets gear. They use us for more than dancing.
Andrea: So do you have a ton of gear?
Kenny Louis: A lot, from being on the team so many years. Every year we get new gear: bags, pants, jackets, hoodies and shirts. We send in our sizes, and we also had a tailor who would measure and fit us if we needed it.
Andrea: Do you have breakaway pants?
Kenny Louis: Not everybody. I think my second year on the team was the last time we had breakaways.
Andrea: It’s fun to just rip them. Do you rehearse at the gym?
Kenny Louis: We used to rehearse at a fitness gym in Midtown, but now we rehearse at Toyota Center. I guess it’s cheaper and simpler when it’s all at Toyota Center.
Andrea: Do you always perform to all sides, since it’s circular?
Kenny Louis: For our main performances we mostly face the sideline where the people who pay the most sit, where the owner would be. Every now and then we face the back or the side, and in freestyles we spread out more.
Andrea: Are you on TV a lot?
Kenny Louis: Pretty much any game on the network, we’re on TV, but it’s harder to see us unless you have one of the streaming services that shows the breaks and the fan entertainment.
[14:40] FLY Dance Company
Andrea: What’s going on with FLY?
Kenny Louis: They’re on tour right now; I’m here handling things. The pandemic hurt us a lot. All our contracts were cancelled, but now they’ve started booking places again. They’ve been on tour for a week or two and will continue through next week. Meanwhile I’m teaching classes.
Andrea: How long have you been with FLY Dance Company?
Kenny Louis: Since 2013, so going on eight years. We’ve traveled to so many places. Rehearsals are always crazy, but I enjoy performing and traveling with the guys, and we’re able to inspire a lot of people. I know Jorge, Chris, Adam and all the principal dancers are doing their thing out there.
Andrea: Where all has the company taken you?
Kenny Louis: Within the United States, I can’t even name how many cities: east, north and west. Once we did what I call the United States triangle. We started in Texas, drove to New York for a conference, drove straight to Colorado for a performance, then drove back to Texas, all during a snowstorm. I don’t recommend that. Back then we had a big Suburban; now we have our own FLY van, which makes it a whole lot easier.
Andrea: What about internationally?
Kenny Louis: Albania, Montenegro, Hungary and Germany. The Germany and Hungary tour, about three years ago, was our longest, over a month, maybe a month and a half. It was my most tiring trip ever. We’d do a show, move to another city, and do another show, plus workshops and meet-and-greets. Wake up, breakfast, a school show, prep, the concert, sleep, and the next morning a different city, over and over. It was exhausting, but I had so much fun. I kind of became German on that trip.
We visited small places people don’t know. In a lot of those cities, everything shut down by nine. No restaurants open, everybody at home asleep. As soon as our show was over, the whole city was asleep. That tour also connected to Hungary, and we spent most of our Hungary time in Budapest. We were also able to stop in Turkey.
[21:00] Inside FLY rehearsals
Andrea: Will you take us into the rehearsal studio and tell us about the shenanigans?
Kenny Louis: If you show up early, you have time to warm up. If not, you just hop in. Kathy runs rehearsal. A lot of times she gives us the chance to come up with our own choreography, and then she paces it together. She can’t do all the movements, but she understands that to make it work it has to be our own movement, so she organizes it, paces it and builds the transitions. It’s beautiful. We often work on multiple dances in one rehearsal for different concerts. With all the guys there, we joke around, and sometimes Kathy’s like, “Guys!” So it can be a little crazy.
Andrea: How many people are usually at a rehearsal?
Kenny Louis: A little over 10. The cast is usually 10, plus understudies who shadow, so sometimes 12.
[24:14] Kenny’s style
Andrea: How would you describe your own style as a dancer?
Kenny Louis: Really energetic, big movements that wow people. That’s how I got into it, through exciting movement. In high school I danced with Inertia, and I was one of the shortest guys there, so all my movements had to be really big. I was usually in the front, so for people to notice, I had to push everything out. I was always hoping to get a freestyle, and I usually did. I’d call it an explosive style. In the breaking world I don’t do too much power moves, but my style itself is powerful.
Another thing is musicality. People often say it’s like I made the song when I dance, that they didn’t notice a part of the music until I danced to it. Once I listen to a song, it really sits in my head.
Andrea: When you go to a jam, do you know most of the music already?
Kenny Louis: Not right now, because I haven’t been to many jams lately; I’ve usually had a show. But back then, I’d know what was coming up. Sometimes you just ride the rhythm, and a song makes you feel like there’s a hit coming, so you hit, and surprisingly it’s there. Going to jams has helped with that. There are a lot of DJs now, and some make their own songs and remixes, but if you listen to a specific DJ, you get to know their style.
Andrea: Have you ever played or made music?
Kenny Louis: I played trumpet in middle school, though I wasn’t really good at it. I’ve always been into rapping, so I might write a little and play with instrumentals, but I wouldn’t say I make music. I listen to all sorts, even though hip-hop and rap are my main thing, because artists pull inspiration from other genres too.
[29:21] RAD Crew
Andrea: Will you tell me about RAD Crew, its origins and what you’re doing now?
Kenny Louis: RAD Crew started with a member named Jesse Germs. He’s not part of RAD Crew now, but he was a big factor in getting it started, and he taught at my high school, which is how a lot of the newer guys who are the face of RAD Crew got into it. He had a guy we call Panda, another named Checko, who’s still in RAD Crew, and Adam. They came from other crews, Vicious Germs and United B-Boys. Then he brought in me, my brothers, Canaris and Sydney. In high school we called ourselves “a beast,” and the people Jesse brought in plus us became RAD. Over time we added Joel, Floyd, and Sean and Chrissy, who were already close friends.
People see RAD Crew as the new hip b-boy crew. We create a lot of trends, and it’s cool to see people inspired by what we do. We’re just being ourselves: have fun, inspire, be yourself. Right now RAD Crew is about 11 members.
We all have a breaking and hip-hop background, but we spread into different areas. I’m into all styles: mostly breaking, hip-hop and house; I’ve been around popping a lot and teach beginner popping; I was into locking, though I’m not really a locker. I’ve also had classical training in jazz, modern, ballet and contemporary. Joel is taking a lot of those classes too. Jeffrey and Canaris focus hard on underground breaking competitions and have excelled really far with that. Mo makes music and is into fashion, so he makes a lot of clothes. Sean and Chrissy are our photographers and do videography. Everybody branches out, but we share with each other.
[34:34] The Ether
Andrea: Do you have a steady thing you do together?
Kenny Louis: The Ether is our main come-together event. It’s actually the shirt I’m wearing. It’s a community jam that brings in all sorts of dancers, not just break dancers. We connect with other studios. Our last one was with SoReal; we have a good relationship with SoReal, and we did a performance with them at World of Dance Houston and won first place, not bragging. Before that it was with Soundbox. We didn’t hold one last year, and I’m not sure about this year, but it looks like we could bring it back next year.
We’ve had help from outside companies, including Dance Houston and a tea house whose regional owner sponsored free drinks. We had help from Break Free, from Houston Healthy Hip-Hop, which is Chris’s brand, and from Only Love. We keep all our relationships, and that helps with big community events. We give out trophies, prize money, raffles, shirts and Ether merch, and we sell merch too, because we have to pay everybody back for working. Overall, it’s a community event for you to have fun: dance, buy food, practice or enter the competitions and win money or clothes.
You can follow RAD Crew on Instagram at Rock All Day Crew, and our Ether page is rad.ether. We create recap videos so you can see what happened at the last Ether.
[38:45] Hip-hop is a culture
Andrea: What do you mean when you say hip-hop is a culture?
Kenny Louis: If you randomly asked somebody what hip-hop is, they might think it’s rap music. But it’s a culture, with four major pillars: the MC, the master of ceremonies, who controls the mic and gets the party going; the DJ, who plays the music; the graffiti artist, who creates the art for the culture; and the dancer, specifically break dancing. Street dance has spread out since then.
It was inspired by DJ Kool Herc. He’d invite people to parties just to have fun, dance and hang out. The MC was on the mic, and the DJ would play the breaks, the part of a song that’s just a drum solo, where everybody catches a vibe. Somebody would go out and start dancing; maybe a guy talking to a girl says, “Hold up, I love this part,” and goes and wrecks it on the floor. That’s where the media term “break dancing” came from: they danced to the breaks. The atmosphere was all positive. It wasn’t about violence; it was about getting away from the bad parts of your community and having fun.
Andrea: Sounds like fashion could be a big part of it too.
Kenny Louis: Yes. When you go to these things, you want to look cool. We say “looking fresh.” You don’t want to look like you’re about to stay home and watch Netflix, so you put on your best shoes, match them with a nice shirt or jacket and a nice hat. Fashion isn’t a major pillar, but it goes hand in hand.
It’s funny you brought that up, because that’s one thing RAD stands out for. A lot of people come to a jam in something comfortable. We find a way to be comfortable but also flashy, so you might see us entering battles with hundred-dollar or even thousand-dollar shoes on. People see these little trends and get inspired to do things the way RAD does, or create videos the way RAD creates videos. And Mo is one of the most fashionable people I’ve ever met.
[43:56] Connecting and supporting RAD
Andrea: How can people connect with you?
Kenny Louis: Through Instagram. RAD Crew is Rock All Day Crew, each of us has individual pages, and you can find me at the_klou. The Ether page is rad.ether. That’s the main way to stay updated. We have interviews with other podcasts, videos dropping soon, and jams and competitions we’re entering.
Andrea: How can people support you?
Kenny Louis: Stay updated with what we’re doing, follow us and ask questions. I’m always happy to give advice. I try to run the business side, so you can contact me on my personal page or the RAD page if you want RAD to perform or do interviews. We’re a brotherhood, but we decided to run our crew like a company too.
Andrea: What’s your goal for your company?
Kenny Louis: We want to rule everything. In the competition scene, we want to be the crew everybody looks at. In the performing arts scene, we want to be the one everybody invites to perform. In fashion, we want to be in every magazine. We believe we’re the only ones holding ourselves back. A lot of things can try to stop you, but if you keep trying, you can get there. Each of us works hard on our own craft, and it all comes back to the company, like our photographers, who more and more people are hiring for photo and video shoots.
Andrea: It’s easy to laugh off the idea that you want to rule the world, but you’re awesome people and great role models, and you sure make things fun. You’ve got my vote.
Kenny Louis: I appreciate it. Everything we do, we want the community to feel what we have and what we bring, and we always want to do more.
[48:09] What’s next
Andrea: What’s next on your horizon?
Kenny Louis: I’m starting the RAD podcast, called The RADDY Show. It’s still in the works, but it’ll be me and a co-host talking about everything related to hip-hop: what artists are doing, dance styles you might want to get into, what we think about breaking being in the Olympics, and how everything in hip-hop is being affected right now. Meanwhile, our crew is still going to competitions, creating content and dropping videos.
[50:12] Advice: inspire others
Andrea: Let’s wrap it up. Give us some advice for life, from your life and dance.
Kenny Louis: It’s always good to inspire others, because I got into this by being inspired. In middle school, I went to Corpus Christi for a performance and saw FLY perform. My teacher told me it was FLY; I thought they were cool, and that was the last I saw of them. After I graduated high school, Jorge asked me to join FLY. When I saw some of the dances, I realized, “You’re the same guys I saw back then.” That stayed in my head. Little things like that inspire people.
Another story: we had a show in Colorado. We did school shows, taught the students about hip-hop, did workshops and a concert, and felt we’d made a big impact. About three years later we came back to the same city and did the same thing. After one school show, the teachers asked us to come into the classrooms and have fun with the students. We were dancing and playing games, and they had a little pizza party. One of the students I brought up was crying. I asked what was wrong and told him he didn’t have to dance if he didn’t want to. He said, “That’s not it. My heroes are back.” He had been at our last show three years earlier and had waited so long to see us again. That was huge for me. I told him it was good to see him, and that if he ever needed anything he could email us or draw us a picture and send it, and we’d receive it. You never know how you can inspire somebody. I’ll never forget that.
So inspiration is a big thing. Keep doing what you do, and be the best you can at it.
Andrea: My guest today has been Kenny Louis. Kenny, thank you so much for being a part of DanceTalks.
Kenny Louis: Thank you. I had such a fun time being here.
Andrea: Thanks for listening. Please subscribe and share our podcast, and reach out to us on social media if you’d like to talk. To support DanceTalks, donate to Dance Houston.