TWIS Asks: Lil Buck

At the age of 19, Charles Riley, now better known as Lil Buck, moved to Los Angeles with dreams of making it big as a dancer. Raised in Memphis, he adopted the local style of gangsta-walk-inspired street dance, called jookin. Soon after his move out west, Riley had put the dance on the map, performing with acts like Janelle Monáe, Madonna and others. But, it was his collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma that put him in the national spotlight.

We caught up with Riley to talk about his preferred dance style, the now-viral collaboration and his upcoming performance at Sarasota International Dance Festival's "Lifted" — a celebration of contemporary dance at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, at the Sarasota Opera House. Tickets are priced from $25 to $95. 

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How did you first get started dancing?

I first started when I was a little kid, just moving around. When I was 12, I started dancing in the style I use now, called jookin. I picked it up from watching my friends in Memphis. My sister came home, and she was doing some moves in the living room. I saw it, and I knew it was something I wanted to do.

Who were some of your biggest influences?

We would go down to this skating rink called Crystal Palace, where we'd watch a dancer named BoBo dancing. He was a big influence on me. He made me want to get into it seriously.

What about the style appealed to you?

It's a native dance style, and it's like nothing you've ever seen before. It looks like magic — like you're floating. It's just always been magical to me, and I wanted to be able to move like that. I've seen all styles of dance, but that was the one that made me say "wow."

When did you start to pursue dancing seriously?

When I was 19, I moved to Los Angeles, and that's when my career really started. Dancing was always just something I loved to do, and I'd do it all day, every day, after school. The one job I tried to hold down, I was just thinking about jookin the whole time. I dedicated most of my time to it, and I realized I needed to do something with it, or I would end up doing nothing for the rest of my life. So, I decided to get serious with it — I took ballet for two years leading up to my move to Los Angeles, and I had met two friends out there on a video shoot, and they offered me a one-way ticket out there. I decided to risk it all and try to make something happen.

Since then, you've had a lot of success, but your collaboration with Yo-Yo Ma really put you in the spotlight — how did that come about?

That was definitely one of my biggest ones — it really skyrocketed me. I met him in L.A. through Damian Woetzel, who was the principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. At the time, I didn't know anything about Yo-Yo Ma or "The Swan" — I didn't even know who composed it, but I had heard and and thought it could be something cool to jook to.

Damian was working with Yo-Yo, and  saw me do that, and he thought it was interesting, so he wanted us to meet. He took me to see him perform, and before the show, when we met, Yo-Yo said, "I want to try something with you." He pulled out his cello and just started playing, and I started dancing, and the magic just happened right there. The next day, he was performing, and he brought me out, and that's the video you see on YouTube. Spike Joneze uploaded it, and it went viral.

What's it like for you to marry classical music with this modern, street style of dancing?

Most jookin is done to the music that helped mold the dance in Memphis — underground rap. Not a lot of people do it to different styles, but I like all kinds of music. I always danced to different genres, and I thought, "What if I combined those two? Wouldn't that be crazy?" I think it's beautiful done to any genre. I just want the world to see and appreciate jookin, but I also want them to see it in its natural form.

What can people expect if they come to "Lifted?"

They can expect to see things they'e never seen, and they can expect to see a very happy dancer on stage. It's a great show, and I hope it can be an inspiration to all the kids that watch. Inspiration is contagious. For anyone who is in the world of arts, I would say keep going and don't stop — I know I won't.