Pics from J. Maus of "Sprock Out"

STOLEN! from flickr.com

Alright, an overlooked chapter of the bikedance ballet branch has surfaced in a recent flickr search.
They are from Brighton, UK and they perform with an aerial view in mind. A lot of patterns and imagery. How majestic with the sea behind and the bikes in the sky.

photos mostly from raysto, thanks!

Guess What?!!!

Click on Image to enlarge.

More to come about this fabulous event.
If you care about the future like I do, then check out these authors and consider going to the conference.
The subject has been the bane of my existence for at least five years now.

Radapalooza!! 2012

2012conference.org

Highly recommened:
2012: Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck

Sprock Out With Yer Cog Out!!!

Sprock Out With Your Cog Out!
-a bike dance dance party
Sunday July 20th
$5 5pm-12am
Ace Junkyard
2255 Mckinnon st off bayshore

Sprockettes all girl bike dance troop!
The Sprockettes all girl mini bike dance troop from Portland OR.
Here Comes a Big Black Cloud (portland)
Heavy Pedal Cyclecide
The Derailleurs Bay Area all girl bike dance troop.
Grass Widow
Space Madness
Double Dutchess
Floral Beef

Come out to the post-apacalyptic Ace Junkyard to celebrate the triumphant return of the world’s premier bicycle dance team, The Sprockettes. These hot pink and black clad cyclists have taken it to a whole new level with dance routines performed on, with, or about bikes. They have been working hard for the past four years to bring a new branch of dance to the history books. Since their inception in 2004, they have inspired many more pedalpushing troupes including three in Canada and one in England. The newest on the roster is The Bay Area Derailleurs, who are joining The Sprockettes for a bike bash beyond belief. Heavy Pedal Cyclecide will be setting up their pedal powered amusements. Local darlings Double Dutchess
jumprope team will royally astound you with their slick moves and stamina. For your audio-entertainment we present to you the enigmatic ladies of Grass Widow. Space Madness will release a fusion of rock, blues, and mathamatic mayhem upon the crowd, and Here Comes A Big Black Cloud means the thunder storm is coming. Show starts at 5pm and goes till midnight.

2255 Mckinnion St. San Francisco CA (off Bay Shore Blvd.)

Only $5 bucks

I got spotted...

http://velovogue.blogspot.com/

Derailleurs Flat Tire by Danny Girl teaser

Breaking news!

Here is a picture I stumbled upon and makes me so happy! My first visual of the Seattle group, the Bike Belle's.Or is it the Stripped Nipples? I need more info.

Do you have any hot tips on the movie? I need to see it!

Can I get a HEYOL YEAH!!

The Spokes!!

Beat my heart with a baseball bat!!!
It's the green and black sista's from an Machester, England mista'.

myspace.com/spokesmcr

Just Found this...

Sprockettes @ Fat Tire's Tour De Fat July 2007

This just in from the Sprockettes Bike Bash Weekend!!

More text is on the way but I can only do so much when I am at work.

Can I just say it was the most fabulous weekend of my last five years!!

The Brakes

The Crowd

The Sprockettes

Jerico of Cyclecide

The Derailleurs

KAZUM

Mysterious new dance team from Canada

Mellissa and Vanessa Vortex

Modern History of the Bike-Dance Team

A History of The Modern Bicycle Dance Team

The first inklings of bicycle dancing can be traced back to the dawn of the invention. The dance of mastering the steel beast, the shuffle of the rough terrain and the climb up to the top of a Lamplighter bike. There are many forms of expression on a bike, but for the sake of brevity, we will only discuss the modern history of street style from 1996 forward. This is when the 20" wheel dancing and team innovations really started to gain momentum.

In the year 1996, The San Francisco Bicycle Ballet united in an effort for a top-viewed Busby Berkeley-esque patterned performance on bicycles. Their show involved many cyclists, riding in formations that fold into each other and back out like a kaleidoscope. Their founder, Carla Laser, throws a near yearly show. She has some dancers return, and some new recruits each year. *1
Fast forward to the year 2003, in the green folds of Portland, Oregon's west hills, where a sect of female cyclists were hanging out in the woods above the city. On a group ride called Zoobomb *2, they looked around and realized they were fed up with the male-dominated bike scene. They needed something to bind them together, so they decided to make the Gravity Girls calendar*3. They took naughty pictures in elevators, re-enacted whiskey fueled bike crashes, and posed topless with a tied up Santa in North Portland Bikeworks. This camaraderie brought a new power dynamic to the west hills, and a female kinship was formed. At the end of winter, planning started for a two week bike event called Pedalpalooza*4. Agent Chaos was a Gravity Girl and she offered to organize a "bicycle ballet" for a fun event at the upcoming Multnomah County Bike Fair. She was unaware of the SFBB at the time, and Agent Shine, a school teacher and practitioner of capoeria offered to team with her after the meeting. At home, Chaos tells roommate Agent Trouble of the plan and they cackle about a team dancing like synchronized swimming meets fly girls from "In Living Color" meets 7th grade cheerleaders. The name The Sprockettes*5 seemed to be a great expression; a mixture of the Broadway Rockettes and the sprocket cog. It was time to get to work, and most Sprockettes knew nothing of dance. With the help of instructional videos on working out, belly dancing, and stripping, they met up each week to learn some slow motion moves in front of the TV.

For their first performance, The Sprockettes were the half time girls at The Multnomah County Bike Fair, jumping on the chalky fairway for a hot pink and black number in between slow races, bicycle eating contests, and the ever popular jousting. The fair goers responded with delight and asked when The Sprockettes would be performing again. They hadn't had any notion of going beyond that one performance, so this new idea thrilled them. This opened up pipe dreams like performing in other countries and having the five year goal of an International Bike Dance-Off. They booked shows for street fairs, benefits, house parties, and a mutant bike event called The Chunkathalon.

This new idea really surprised Portland dwellers, and the hot pink dancers soon inspired more and more bicycle fun. There was a one time performance by their male friends, each choosing a solid color and calling themselves The Different Spokes. Their show was for the North American Cycle Courier Championships (NACCC) and the highlights include synchronized moshing, all levels of bicycle, rear ends spray painted to spell out Different Spokes, and a puker on the dancefloor. They filled big blingin' chalices with glitter and shook their dreads to 'Lil John. That was the first and last of them. Some members have gone on to help with a new male dance team in Portland to be discussed later.

In September of 2005 The Sprockettes attended the Margaret Charles Chopper Collective's*6 (or MC3) bike event, Velomutations*7. The audience's eyes couldn't get bigger. The sweet hearts of Canada were extremely psyched and wanted to join. The Sprockettes encouraged the Canadians to form their own incarnation, and that next week The B.C.Clettes*8 were on their way to forming. They chose red and black as their power colors. They circled around the Vancouver bike scene with their burlesque wheel dances and bike tool acapella number. In no time, the contagious nature of pure bike fun reached their male friends and they found a choreographer and coach and began practicing. In 2006, The Brakes*9, without knowing of the Different Spokes, chose to adopt a single color for each individual. Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, Orange and Black. They rock hip hop moves and make the ladies wild with their bike strip tease.

This exploratory undercurrent reached across the Vancouver bay to Victoria during a pollinating bike event. There a group formed called The Velo Vixens*10, expanding the burlesque hotness of the BCClettes into a sideshow with acts, belly dance, fire, and surprises. These ladies chose denim and fishnet as their colors, and began to pull the boundaries of bike dance out in a new direction.

In November of 2006, The Sprockettes rounded up all of the known cycledancers for The Sprockettes Invitational Weekend*11, an international expose' on the evolution of the modern street bicycle dance. This event blew the whistle on the possibility of fun between your legs, and over 600 people attended the performances.

By the end of August 2007, a most surprising myspace search concluded that over the Atlantic Ocean there was a bikedance team in Machester, England, called The Spokes*12. They recieved the underground broadcast and began action, choosing green and black as their team colors. They have since performed at the London Bicycle Film Festival and other bike events like critical mass.

2007-2008 was a year of exponential dissemination as branches of modern cycle dancing popped up along the west coast and spotted in the eastern lands. For MiniBikeWinter*13, Chain Reaction*14, a long awaited Portland male dance team rocked tricky maneuvers and matching black t-shirts. Also in Bellingham, WA, Agent Vortex moves in and organizes a performance as an addition to a circus. News is heard from Seattle that purple and black is now in the color register with a team called the Bicycle Belles*15. Richmond, Ohio has a young lady organize a dance for her college project. March 2008 in Oakland, Agent Chaos and Agent Verve spring into action with new plans for The Derailleurs*16, bay area bike dance team. Agent Chaos' experience and Agent Verve's degree in dance, they find a flock of fabulous females and spend the next three months choregraphing song with original music by local artists. Agent Chaos finds the challenge enlightening and trying, because of lucky exposure to the rest of bikedance history.

June 28th, 2008, exactly five years after the inception, The Sprockettes hosted a Bike Bash afterparty for the Multnomah Caounty Bike Fair. This was the international bikedance-off pipe dreamed five years ago and that came to fruition. Teams from Canada, Bellingham, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle were west-side-storying in a warehouse by the river. Where will the next leg of bicycle fun take it's adventurous riders?

************UPDATE:

Bottom Brackettes took the stage in 2008, from Eugene OR

GACHARINCO just added to the Bikedance Roster!
Japan's first street style bicycle-inspired dance team performed October, 2009, in Nagoya.

***********UPDATE: MORE TEAMS!!!
more to come, but check it out:
Heelz on Wheelz from NYC
Greasy Gears from Madison Wisconsin
Les Velobici from Bristol England
The Racketeers from Chicago Illinois

SF Bike Ballet

The Sprockettes

Multnomah County Bike Fair 2007


B.C.Clettes


The Brakes


Velo Vixens


The Spokes

Chain Reaction

Photo: J. Maus

Bicycle Belles

Bottom Brackettes


The Derailleurs


Vertical Momentum



Gacharinco

Heelz on Wheelz:

Greasy Gears:

Les Velobici:

The Racketeers:

(1) http://www.sanfranciscobicycleballet.org/thirdpage.html

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoobomb

(3) http://www.flickr.com/photos/ethanjewett/415690041/in/photostream/

(4) http://www.shift2bikes.org/pedalpalooza/index.shtml

(5) http://www.sprockettes.org

(6) http://mcthree.blogspot.com/

(7) http://vancouvercm.blogspot.com/2005/09/velomutation-24th.html

(8) http://www.bcclettes.ca/

(9) http://www.myspace.com/thesearethebrakes/blog/221248233

(10) http://www.myspace.com/velovixens/blog/222539562

(11) http://zoobomb.net/forums/index.php?topic=1233.0;wap2

(12) http://thespokes.wordpress.com/shows/

(13) http://bikeportland.org/2008/02/18/mini-bike-winter-ruled-the-weekend-6718

(14) http://bikeportland.org/2008/06/09/meet-chain-reaction-portlands-all-male-bike-dance-crew-7829

(15) http://www.myspace.com/bicyclebelles

(16) http://derailleurs.wordpress.com

The Derailleurs perform "Sexy Bike"

Song by The Monkey and The Mermaid
performed live @ The Art of Bicycle show, March 31, 2008.

HEYOL NAW!!!!! Awards:

This one is from the Cheesepuffs:

Chloe Sevigny's clothing line.

HELL NO.

HEYOL NAW!!!!! Awards:

Today's winner:

GETTING DOORED!!!
You want to yell and punch and steal wallets everytime this happens but somehow bikers end up being all out of it in shock and usually get screwed. I got doored in North Beach after being all zoned out after an accupuncture treatment, but I yelled at the guy and asked for money. He gave me $2.

Yeah.

Two MOTHER FUCKING dollars and my bike's brake is bent, prohibiting free movement from the tire.
I should have marched him to the nearest atm.

from Woster Collective

HEYOL NAW!!!!! Awards:

Can I get a big HELLNAW!!! for the Pussycat Dolls?
They fake feminism, are molded by a rich man megaplex, and are the undoing of girl power. Don't you wish your girlfriend was a twat like me?

Chongalicious!

New: The HELL NO!!! Awards

I think I will periodically say:
HELL NO!!
at things that be trifilin'.

Today's issues:
Greenwashing.

HELL NO! Shell is not doing anything to better the environment.
Dow Industries is not going to lower the atmospheric temperature.
Buying a motha fucking hybrid SUV is NOT going to save your ass from lack of oxygen in the goddam air.

2012: Bad Apocalypse

HELL NO! Let's change the status quo
with this one. I know all you cute little crusty kids and earth lovers
have been thinking that 2012 is the time when the earth will go into
shock and die. Or open it's mouth and swallow us. Turn that frown
upside down. Although it might be something out of the ordinary
doldrums of your job, life, box living, it is not something to bet on.
I have a solution. Hows about the full formation of Rad America? All
the good ideas and meaningful people getting together to reclaim our
stolen land. My genius friendLBC says, "Evil only wins when the good doesn't do anything about it." Let's have a festival (said in a lisp)! RADPALOOZA 2012! Four more years to get some real hyphy
bands and what not. When you think of 2012 you will look forward to the
great summer long party instead of electricity turning on us and robots
using us for batteries. Let's make it a goal that by 2012 we are well
into our new renaissance and the whole black/woman president thing
calmed down the nuclear weapons pointed at our heads. Or whence the country is suffering from zombies and dollar bill toilet paper, we are out on a secret island having a generator show that you needed a hot air baloon to get to so we could drop off the counter RADicals into the sharks food bowl. We need some real positivity people. Let's carebear stare a nice little nest for the RAD this upscoming apocalypse.

sidewalk rage

It's been about 8 months now since I have commuted on my 'lil pink skateboard. I have gotten the zen of the motion, the carving downhills, even practicing my kung fu stance while cruising. I feel very at home, can stop on a dime, but sure as hell can't ollie worth a damn. My friend at ArtNowSF thought I was a big ol' lesbian because of my buff arms and my skatephillic lifestyle. Many people get me confused here is gaysville. I guess it doesn't help that I call Hollis my wifey, a glorified term for BFF.This fact might make me look like I belong to different subculture than
I do. I am not aware if I am a punk ass skater chick like the textbook
case. I guess it might appear this way. But I digress. A few days ago I
was getting off work, one block away, scooting down the sidewalk on a
deserted 20th street. I pass this fellow, a girthy cholo and his "maybe had a past in meth because of the slow twitch" lady. I must have penetrated a three foot
personal bubble because he yelled at me to get in the street, that it
was illegal to skate on the sidewalk. I informed him that it's illegal
to skate in the street too. Sorry, this is much safer on a mostly
deserted sidewalk. Gruff voiced chick says,"She'll listen when she gets
a ticket, then she'll listen." As I push on I hear a thick pounding
behind me and dude is running. "I'm going to push you off and throw you
into the street you piece of trash! This shit wouldn't happen on Haight Street." Oh dear.
He gets closer and I jump the curb, dodging any oncoming traffic. He
stops. I think he just wanted to tell someone what to do. I looked back
at him from a safe distance and told him that I was sorry if he had any
problems with skaters in the past but I try to be respectful and I
watch out for old ladies too. I wish I had stopped and turned around,
maybe used some of my kung fu to deflect any punches he might throw and
make a 250 pound fool out of him. Nah. I just skated into the sunset
and worked on getting this heart from beating too fast. I don't need
physical stress from some vato with anger surrounding him. That's his deal.

The next level has been breached.

From: blublu.org

Coming up....

Welcome back to West O!

Night I got back from the east my wife kidnapped me and took me to a slanted bar on Oakland Harbor. Home of Jack London er something.
Faces kept filing in, two by two. What a wonderful feeling. I realized the family I have here is older than the amount of time I have lived here. Such beings.
Then we went for a sleepover at Donna Wood's house. On our way there we passed, or rather they passed us, a scraper car rally. They had the matching fatty rims with the little thin tires and hella painted out and busting some jams and squealing and squirming all over the place. There were 8 scrapers and 2 minivans. It was just like in TrealTV with MacDre.
Then I found out that the police pulled a male rape suspect out of our basement while nobody was home and knocked down our fence. They didn't tell us until two days later when we called them about some wierd noises coming from the abandoned, burned out house next door.
That's when they informed us what had happened two days prior and how they had peep holes to watch our movement. Welcome back to West O!