CHOREOGRAPHERS BALL HALLOWEEN STYLE

West Hollywood (myFOXla.com) - Every month some of LA's top talent shows what it can really do at the Choreographer's Ball. It's a chance for dancers and choreographers to let loose and do it their way. Hal Eisner was in West Hollywood where Halloween was the theme.

Story link: MyFoxLA.com

Greg Campbellock Jr of the legendary 'The Lockers' passes away

It was a sad day on Thursday, January 28, 2010 as the world loses a legendary street dance pioneer Greg Campbellock Jr from the infamous "The Lockers."

During the 11th Year Anniversary of the Carnival Choreographers Ball held at the Vanguard last Wednesday, January 27, 2010, "The Lockers" were being honored with a special award from the organization along with other notable dance choreographers such as Toni Basil, Greg Campbellock Jr, fainted and was taken to the hospital. 

First word of his passing was received by this reporter from Maryss From Paris Courchinoux of The Beat Freaks. According to Courchinoux tweeter yesterday, "He was the sweetest, kindest man, please keep him in prayers. Funk & dance mourning!"

Campbellock Jr's was a big part of "The Lockers." Quoted from The Lockers' site, "The Lockers were created in 1973, eight years before MTV and thirty-two years before any dance competition television shows. The Group as a whole broke down many barriers." They helped give the locking dance form a place in history as part of the Great American Art Form.

As quoted by Justin Timberlake, "The Lockers were the pioneers that founded a place for street dance in pop culture."

Greg Campbellock Jr will be missed by all in the dance community and beyond. Greg Campbellock Jr 1952-2010.

The Carnival Choreographer Ball 11th Anniversary Show

Carnival started 11 years ago in Los Angeles, Califrnia. Imagine being in a room with some of the most well known, talented choreographers and dancers in the industry....... I'm talking about THE industry, choreographers to stars like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, The Pussy Cat Dolls, Choreographers Wade Robison, Dave Scott & Shane Sparks & some of the dancers from MTV's America's Best Dance Crew and FOX's So You Think You Can Dance. Dance is the greatest form of free expression. A story told through the motion of the body, love, fear, passion, anger and all of the journeys can be shown through the art of dance.

This is Carnival. We will also be highlighting one of the performers: Kimberly Cole is a gifted singer, songwriter, musician and stage performer with a debut EP titled, "Superstar" out now and a new release set for 2010. She has performed with acts like Katy Perry, LMFAO and Shiny Toy Guns. Kimberly is one of Twitter.com's featured suggested users with well over 1 million followers and a MySpace Records family member with a marketing and promotion deal. Her catchy tunes are clever, irresistible and top 40 friendly.r…she is the one to watch.

DMK's 9th Annual Carnival

DMK's 9th Annual Carnival

By -- Elina.Shatkin @latimes.com

DANCING skews young, so it's fitting that at only 44 years old "Hairspray" director Adam Shankman will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at DMK's 9th Annual Carnival: Choreographer's Ball, a yearly blowout that amps up the already gilded monthly extravaganza.

Part nightclub, part talent show, Carnival features a who's who of local dancers grinding, pirouetting and popping-and-locking for an audience of their fellow dancers and the occasional dance-friendly celebrity.

"I love the atmosphere. It's like an old-fashioned burlesque party. The pressure isn't on, so people have been really fre

e to express themselves," says dancer-turned-filmmaker Shankman. That doesn't mean the drive to impress is any less fierce. That's because Carnival is largely by dancers, for dancers.


"Everyone knows that when I get up at Carnival, it's going to be crazy," declares actor/dancer/comedian Robert James Hoffman III, costar of the upcoming dance movie "Step Up 2 the Streets." In past years his work has included such varied performances as a "Riverdance" parody and a street ballet version of "The Karate Kid" set to Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love." (In Hoffman's version, Mr. Miyagi walks off with the girl.)

At last year's gala, taking the stage as one of his alter egos, James Precious, he and fellow dancer Kato Bonner led "The Yes Dance," a raucous and raunchy parody of exaggeratedly effeminate male dancers. It met with wild enthusiasm. That only means that this year, Hoffman has to top himself.

Dancers spend weeks, months even, choreographing routines with elaborate dance moves, costume changes and lighting cues. "It's a chance for working choreographers to come together and showcase their work for the dance community," says Carey Ysais, Carnival founder.

It also serves as an unofficial casting call. "It's the only forum aside from dance classes where I can go and see who's new and great," Shankman says. It was at Carnival that the producers of "You Got Served" spotted Hoffman, landing him his first big-screen choreography credit.

"You want to come in and leave the biggest impact," Hoffman says. "You want to be the king of Carnival. And if you ask me, I've held that crown for a while."


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