roller boogie
So we went to this rink in Camden, NJ to check it out last night. Millenium Skate World. HOLY MAMA!!! It was like stepping inside the set of the movie Roller Boogie, or the video for De La Soul's "A Rollerskating Jam Called Saturdays" ... Kind of makes me wish I hadn't stopped skating for a few years and spent more time shooting the shit and learning some tricks like my cousin Bob.
The rink had three main sections ... in the very center were groups of people line dancing on their skates, people practicing their moves and tricks, couples doing spins and dance moves (like Roller Boogie). In the inner ovals were the people who wanted to weave in and out, people who were backwards skating, people who just wanted to skate and dance without going super fast. In the outer ring by the very edge, packs of skaters went around together, shuffle skating together, all in the same groove... some backwards, some forwards. Everyone was so good, they made it look so seamless. If you watched from the snack bar, it looked like people were just dancing around the rink their moves were so smooth! But then I found out they have a SKATE CLUB and travel around to different rinks to skate there, meet new people/see old friends from other towns, and learn new moves.
At the end of the night, the DJ announced that it was Freestyle Skate, and people just went crazy! There were people breakdancing on skates, couples spinning each other around, people doing spins, and one guy who would pose on the ground in a weird position, and then two other guys would take turns jumping over him. Really amazing and cool stuff.
I have been practicing my backwards skating, but I still don't have a great hang of it. I'm getting more comfortable, and now instead of falling, I'm more likely to tip up on my stoppers or spin around when I start to lose balance. It's that left leg of mine, doesn't have the full amount of strength that my right leg does, even though I could skate on just my left leg ... It's harder to weave with the left leg, that's for sure. So this is something I need to practice.
Also, here are some rollerskating links I heard about through talking to people at Millenium or some of the derby folks.
Skate Groove
Roll Bounce - skating movie coming out this summer.
JiveBiscuit.com
Roller Skating Forum
QuadSkating.com - dedicated to care of skates, and cool skating tips & videos
The rink had three main sections ... in the very center were groups of people line dancing on their skates, people practicing their moves and tricks, couples doing spins and dance moves (like Roller Boogie). In the inner ovals were the people who wanted to weave in and out, people who were backwards skating, people who just wanted to skate and dance without going super fast. In the outer ring by the very edge, packs of skaters went around together, shuffle skating together, all in the same groove... some backwards, some forwards. Everyone was so good, they made it look so seamless. If you watched from the snack bar, it looked like people were just dancing around the rink their moves were so smooth! But then I found out they have a SKATE CLUB and travel around to different rinks to skate there, meet new people/see old friends from other towns, and learn new moves.
At the end of the night, the DJ announced that it was Freestyle Skate, and people just went crazy! There were people breakdancing on skates, couples spinning each other around, people doing spins, and one guy who would pose on the ground in a weird position, and then two other guys would take turns jumping over him. Really amazing and cool stuff.
I have been practicing my backwards skating, but I still don't have a great hang of it. I'm getting more comfortable, and now instead of falling, I'm more likely to tip up on my stoppers or spin around when I start to lose balance. It's that left leg of mine, doesn't have the full amount of strength that my right leg does, even though I could skate on just my left leg ... It's harder to weave with the left leg, that's for sure. So this is something I need to practice.
Also, here are some rollerskating links I heard about through talking to people at Millenium or some of the derby folks.
Skate Groove
Roll Bounce - skating movie coming out this summer.
JiveBiscuit.com
Roller Skating Forum
QuadSkating.com - dedicated to care of skates, and cool skating tips & videos