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Attention Denver & Buffalo Skaters

RST NEWS

June 2007

Event Promotes the Love of Skating

DENVER [rollerskatingtoday.com] –   Roller Skating Today's recent Memorial Day weekend event attracted local skaters as well as rollers from Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Georgia and California.  Bill Butler and members of his Creative Skate Dance Company (CSDC) were the featured performers and workshop presenters during the “For the Love of Skating” weekend, May 25-27.  RST thanks event sponsors Skate City, Denver Weekly News, Ingrum Printing, Music Spectrum, Skate Mall and JiveBiscuit.

A modest sized crowd of dedicated skaters attended the weekend late skates and received bargain admission prices in comparison to those usually charged at such events.  After expenses, RST was able to make a small donation to the Denver Center for Crime Victims (DCCV),  however, the event seems to have been more of a fundraiser for four off-duty Aurora police officers, who are mandatory at these events for security, than the Denver charity.

The primary objective of the special weekend was to inspire local skaters, many of whom have never traveled to the national skate extravaganzas which  showcase a variety of skate styles.  Denver being so far removed from the East coast and the Midwest – where most of these events take place – is not often a stopping point for traveling skaters.  Additionally, the adult R&B skating community is not as active in the Mile High City as it is  in places like Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis or even Los Angeles.
 
 

That being the case, RST's goal was to host an event which would bring a taste of the (relatively) unknown to local skaters and which would also show those, who had never traveled, that there is so much more to skating than what they are used to.   A number of skaters commented on how fascinated they were to see the skate moves of Metro Rollers Robert Bolden, Vera Hollingsworth and Na'dir  Abdul-Haqq of Maryland; Kathleen Davis from California; as well as Butler (Georgia) and his troupe which included Michael Johnson (New York), Noriko (currently residing in Louisiana), Genuine Ruby and Billy Brooks also from Georgia, and Brian Mullins from Ohio.  Many also enjoyed the variety of music carefully put together by DJ Big Mike who played skate songs from classic soul, jazz and gospel up to today's R&B/hip hop.
 
 

CSDC was featured in a special midnight performance May 26, preceded by skater Trip Reynolds, a former Denver resident now residing in Nebraska, who went the extra mile with his near 2 minute musical arrangement which included segments of the following songs:  BT Express (Do It 'Til You're Satisfied), Tevin Campbell (I Need You), Shaquille O'Neal (Strait Playin'), Ella Fitzgerald (You go To My Head), Frank Sinatra (Please Be Kind), and JaHeim (Just In Case).  After the opening act, RST's founder Kim Muhammad skated a short improvisational piece with Butler who she later introduced as her skate mentor and a man she greatly admires and respects.  From there, CSDC showcased the Jammin' Technique which had never before been seen or experienced in Colorado.

Genuine Ruby was first with a solo performance, followed by two pairs routines – one by Butler and Brooks and the other by long time skate partners Johnson and Noriko.  Afterwards, Butler critiqued his own group and admitted that although still captivating and exemplary of the Technique, CSDC's performance was not their best.  The high altitude played a part in that according to Johnson and was the reason he and Noriko – well known for their fast-paced, energetic performances – almost ran out of energy after their first lap around the floor.  In spite of that, CSDC  was well received and much watched even when just “freestyling” during the late skate sessions. Some were inspired by Butler's passion and were heard commenting that they intend to skate well into their '70s like the skate legend who they had a chance to observe, meet and even skate with.

Workshops

A unique addition to the weekend was the line up of workshops offered which included Johnson's “How to do the Matrix spin,” and Ruby's skateformational “Harnessing the Power of Menopause to Skate Better,” both held at Wagon Wheel Skate Center.  Butler's three hour “Sharpen Your Skating Skills” clinic was held Sunday morning at Skate City.  Classes were small enough that participants were able to get one-on-one, as well as group, instruction.

The set up at Wagon Wheel is quite unique given the three trees spread out the length of the skate floor.  The rink boasts the only wood skate floor in the Denver area, a skate surface that was built decades ago by a woodsman who used the sturdy trees to hold up and support the roof.  Butler said he was privileged to skate in the rink due to the sense of nostalgia that is associated with it.  Johnson wasted no time in putting the trees to use to help in teaching the Matrix spin.  Jam skater Gina Rutter thought the class was “great” and afterward told RST that she loved Roll Bounce, the movie which made the spin one of the most imitated amongst many  R&B skaters although few do it as smoothly and skillfully as Johnson, who doubled for Bow Wow in the movie and was one of the skaters to perform the spin on screen.
 
 
 

At eleven years old, Christopher Reese was the youngest participant in the class and said he learned many things that he intended to keep practicing in the future.  While he was busy learning the fundamentals of the smooth spin his mother, Bennice Reese was across the rink in the women's menopause clinic led by Genuine Ruby.  Mrs. Reese later said she received a lot of good information that opened her mind up to the benefits mature women can gain from roller skating.  The wife and mother of two started back skating last year and continues to roll each week with her family.

The next morning, Butler held his more technical and theory-based clinics which were very informative for participants who were appreciative of the knowledge that was shared.  Still, some wished they had more time to put the theories they learned into practice.  “Bill Butler's class was very good but I would have preferred more time   walking us through techniques and basic drills which is my preferred learning modality,” Abdul-Haqq said.

The Skaters -vs- The Haters

Although there were many individuals who came to the weekend event for their love of skating, there were others sprinkled throughout the late skate sessions who were more interested in complaining, spreading negativity and, in other words, “hating.”  One skater commented that she could feel the hate as soon as she came in the rink the night of Saturday, May 26.  This “hate” is nothing new when it comes to the limited Denver skate scene and those affiliated with the longest running adult, soul session in the area.

Larger cities may take for granted that two or more adult sessions per week are the norm, offering dedicated rollers a variety of options to choose from, however in Denver, there has only been one such session (of note) which has been hosted by the same group for more than  a decade.  Attendance has fluctuated over the years but is no where near what it used to be due to skater dissatisfaction.  In spite of that, faithful diehards continue to roll each Sunday and in many cases because no other options exist.

This seems to cause Sunday night organizers to assume they have a lock on local adult skating as William Palmer found out a few years ago when he hosted a well-attended Saturday night adult skate but did not rely on the involvement of the weekly adult session organizers.  He was confronted and told that he would not be successful because he “did not have any skaters” and so when he received a large turnout for his event, he witnessed – in disbelief – how some Sunday night supporters completely “sabotaged” the night.

“The night of the event was a fiasco because those same people who had doubts about this event being successful sabotaged my DJ, thus causing [him] to pack up and leave the skating rink right in the middle of the event,” Palmer told RST. “It was awful.”  He went on to add that he later found out the identity of others who were behind the 'hating'.  “It seems to me that there's a set of folks who, no matter what you do and when you do it, if it's outside of what they're accustomed to,  they're hating.”

Unfortunately, if it wasn't the 'hating' going on, it was complaints about the music with some failing to recognize that skaters aged 18 to 70+ were in attendance and therefore, R&B music from classic soul to current was to be heard in efforts to give each age group a taste of skate music they most could relate to.  Some, however, were turned off by hip hop and asked for “grown folks” music while hip hop fans complained about there being too much old school music.  Some even were unsettled about an old Michael Jackson classic being played and felt the deejay needed to “get out of the 70s.” Others  were offended that only clean edits of songs were played as opposed to the club edits which contain explicit language.

Such grievances are par for the course according to Rob “Showtime” Hunter of Cincinnati Ohio.  He deejays each week at Skatetown USA and also has been featured at extravaganzas in North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia and Georgia as well as his yearly 'Nati Skate Train events which fell on the first weekend in August  from 1997 to 2005.  In a phone interview, he told RST that over the past 10 years, he has been cussed out, booed and even threatened while in the deejay booth.

He advises skaters that there are  better ways to handle their musical concerns.  “If you have a song that you really want to hear or think is nice, bring it to the deejay and tell him to check it out,” he said, adding that it eases a lot of tension if skaters come to the rink with an idea of what they want to skate to and thus can request certain songs rather than complaining and then being unable to give an answer when asked, “What would you like to hear?”

  When it came to the “For the Love of Skating” late skates, whether they were enjoyable or not was in the eyes of the beholder.  Many were seen with smiles on their faces, and unlike the few critics, truly had a good time.    Local skaters like Janet Glenn, who no longer regularly skates at the Sunday session, said she would return to weekly skating if she could hear the sounds Big Mike provided. Another local, Greg Allen, was most impressed by the skills of visiting skaters. "Watching the people from other states was exceptional. The style, the freedom, the love and passion that was displayed was equal to my love of skating. Having shared a night of skating with those people made it a fantastic night," he said.

Jammin' Weekend 2008

Regardless of the highs and lows, the ups and downs of the weekend, Butler and company enjoyed their first visit to Denver and the hospitality and reception they received from several skaters and also Palmer and his wife, Darcell, who graciously opened their Highlands Ranch home to host small dinner gatherings for CSDC.   Meals were catered by Gwen Muhammad who found the way to many hearts with her smothered chicken and fixings and also tasty vegetarian dishes.

Butler is looking forward to “For the Love of Skating 2008,” a weekend which will offer even more workshops along with special and unique skate activities to help serious skaters improve their skating skills.  “I don't think anything like this is just a one shot deal,” he explained.  “I think we have to come at least one more time because we just found out the lay of the land so now that we know [it], we can work it.”

Stay tuned to rollerskatingtoday.com for updates on Jammin Weekend 2008; seasonal family-skate fundraisers for DCCV, and/or join the email list to stay abreast of future events.

Photographs by Lens of Ansar, Robert Bolden (robdedob.com), and RST.