25\12\2011
Written by Jurriaan
Ronnie Abaldonado
Braun has launched a website that celebrates moustaches and beards of all shapes and sizes, with news, how-to’s, tips and interviews. One of the featured beard-wearers is the 27-year old breakdancer Ronnie Abaldonado, who has been dancing for 14 years.
Ronnie is a veteran in the b-boy world. Growing up he started to get into break-dancing watching his older cousins and his brother Rodolfo in the late eighties. When his family moved to Las Vegas in the nineties, Rodolfo quit breakdancing, whilst Ronnie kept on going.
He competed in several Red Bull BC One battles, was a dance teacher for the Red Bull battles, a former BOTY judge and won ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ in 2008 with his crew Super Cr3w. On top of that he also represents another crew: Full Force. Ronnie is very passionate about breakdancing, and the creative hiphop scene that that revolves around it. He finds inspiration in all b-boy dancers, from the kids who dance on streetcorners to experienced dancers, the latter of which reminding him of himself growing up.
So how did you get into B-Boying?
I was from a traditional Filipino family, who wanted me to finish college. But I’ve always been dancing, since I was 10 years-old. I still went to school, went to college for a couple of years but then started travelling a lot and passed up school to start B-Boying as my career. It’s rare to make a career in this, and it was definitely a risk.
If you weren’t dancing, what would you be doing?
I’m all about who I’m expressing as a person. I’m an artist as well and I love to draw. I just love anything that allows you to be you, that’s what’s so beautiful about B-Boying and our dance, because you’re able to create your own style and be you.I’m proud of where I’ve come from and what I’ve accomplished. A lot of times its hard for B-Boys to have their own unique style. I come from a generation where we didn’t have YouTube. You just didn’t have the means to check out B-Boys around the world at the snap of a finger. I come from a generation where we had to create it all ourselves.
How would you summarise your style?
I guess its intricate, it’s a threading style, it’s futuristic. I do moves where you don’t catch it the first time, you have to watch it back on video to work it out. But I’m so excited about the future. Look how big the scene is now – its really growing, it’s a really cultural scene, and they’re even making a movie about it! It’s huge.
And how does that come into your personal style?
I’m very urban I guess. And I’d feel naked without my goatee! I’m getting older now, so it’s definitely an older look!