What is Urban Ballroom
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Everybody keeps asking me “What is Urban Ballroom?” This is a video created by James “Rocky” Hubbert (with a little editing from yours truly) where Mike Tyus explains its origins. Mike is the little brother of Capers Tyus who is generally recognized as the person who brought what was originally called “Detroit” Ballroom to Los Angeles.
A couple of side notes:
1. Capers was also a great Hustle/Disco dancer. I originally planned to learn the dance from him in 2001, but he fell sick. I ended up going to Benny Corpos who was teaching Hustle at the Hacienda Hotel. There I was also introduced to West Coast Swing, and the rest, as they say, is history.
2. Capers may have brought Detroit Ballroom to LA, and Mike helped in it’s original introduction here. But the person who I believe is most responsible for growing this dance exponentially in the Los Angeles area is one of our own DJs for this event, Mack Hopson.