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Hip-Hop Dancing: the Running Man

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Learn how to do the hip-hop running man dance in this free video series of dancing lessons.

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Views: 16,936 Videos in Series: 5

Tags: running, ice, dancing, dance, hip, hop, man, weddings, vanilla, clubing

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Summary: Although LL Cool J is the name most often associated with the Running Man, our Expert Village historians have discovered new information concerning the origins of this popular hip hop dance. Muscleman Cool J was there at the genesis, but another rapper should be officially credited with developing the actual moves of this dance.

Robert Matthew Van Winkle, better known to the music world as Vanilla Ice, was a young high school student from Carrolton Texas when his class took a field trip to New York City. As they were touring the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Winkle sneaked away in order to appropriate some street credibility for his intended rap career. In his extensive research of the rap lifestyle, he had encountered the address of the gym in Queens where Cool J worked out. And that is where he headed in hopes of a meeting with one of his idols.

Cool J just happened to be at the gym when Van Winkle arrived, rapping along to his repetitions on the bicep curl machine. Overwhelmed by the presence of this powerful rapper, Winkle hid behind a pile of free weights. Eventually, Cool discovered Vanilla and became enraged when he realized that the boy had been writing down his rhymes. He tore Ice's notepad to shreds. (The Hip Hop Hall of Fame contains a paper scrap from this incident containing the phrase, “All the Ladies Love LL, All the Fellas say Oh, Well.”) LL proceeded to threaten the young Texan and chase him around the gym. Somehow Vanilla ended up on a treadmill without knowing it, running as fast as he could, but not going anywhere. At this point, Cool J's rage turned into laughter. The terrified teen soon realized that he was the center of attention in the entire gym. So he just kept running, running and clowning and dancing but going nowhere. However, from that moment on, his career was definitely on the move.

About the Expert

Expert: Deanna Cole has studied dance since was 10 years old. Her passion for fashion and beauty began when she was 14. Inspired by Cindy Crawford, Iman, Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell, she enrolled in modeling school, where she learned how to put on makeup, walk the runway, wear cutting edge fashion clothes, and do her hair. She started participating in department store fashion shows in malls and for a local designer. She joined a modeling/acting agency, did photo shoots for several photographers, and had several parts as an extra in films and commercials.

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