Events – Cinedans

LIL' BUCK: REAL SWAN

Memphis, Tennessee: the birthplace of jookin, a dance style developed in the city's underground rap scene in the 1980s; light-footed bounce movements, combined with sliding and turning on the toe.

Memphis is also the city where Lil 'Buck (1988) grew up in a poor neighbourhood, and where he learned the jookin. His turned out to be very talented and that did not go unnoticed. In 2010 he moved to Los Angeles to continue his dance training. And from then on it went quickly: in 2012 he had his breakthrough with his remarkable interpretation, together with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, of The Swan from Camille Saint-Saëns' Le Carnaval des Animaux. Spike Jonze, a famous director, recorded it with his phone, uploaded it on YouTube, and it went viral; millions watched the video.

Together with filmmaker Louis Wallecan, Lil 'Buck returns to the places from his childhood, the places where everything started. A portrait of a special dancer.

Year

2019

Duration

82 min.

Director

Louis Wallecan

Country of production

United States

Lil' Buck: Real Swan

Memphis, Tennessee: the birthplace of jookin’. A dance style, developed in the city's underground hip hop scene in the 1980s, that combines light-footed bouncy movements with sliding and turning on the toes. Memphis is also where Lil 'Buck (1988) grew up in a poor neighbourhood and where he learned to jook. He turned out to be very talented and that did not go unnoticed. He moved to Los Angeles to continue his dance training and from then on it was a quick rise. In 2012 he had his first breakthrough with a remarkable interpretation of The Swan from Camille Saint-Saëns' Le Carnaval des Animaux with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Director Spike Jonze recorded it on his phone, uploaded it on YouTube and it went viral. Nowadays, he works with the likes of Benjamin Millepied.

For this portrait, Lil’ Buck collaborated with filmmaker Louis Wallecan. Together they return to the places from his childhood; where everything started.