Showtime is a type of performance litefeet/pole dancing done as a busking routine using hand holds installed inside New York City Subway cars. Showtime includes acrobatic flips, hat and shoe tricks, and pole tricks. [1] Estimates have placed the number of Showtime dancers in the low hundreds. [2]
Litefeet, a type of dance that emerged from Harlem and the Bronx, succeeds breakdancing / b-boying emerging in the 1980s. It is often done to 100-BPM tracks. Some hip-hop dancers on the subway have looked down on the common litefeet moves used by other buskers. [3]
In March 2014, New York City Police Department (NYPD) commissioner Bill Bratton announced that the NYPD would, under the broken windows theory philosophy, prosecute quality of life crimes against Showtime and subway dancers for breaking the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s policy against performing and panhandling on the trains, citing that performances have been on the upswing since 2008. Performers have been arrested for reckless endangerment. [2] In January 2015, the TA launched a publicity campaign, Courtesy Counts, Manners Make a Better Ride, including the anti-Showtime slogan "Poles Are For Your Safety, Not Your Latest Routine", alongside other advertisements against manspreading, "pole hogging", and public nail clipping. [4]
One collective, "WAFFLE (We are Family for Life Entertainment)", has been repeatedly profiled by media, including one of its members appearing on Season 8 of America's Got Talent .
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the most-used, and the one with the most stations, with 472 stations in operation.
Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic.
Lip sync or lip synch, short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Musical canine freestyle, also known as musical freestyle, freestyle dance, and canine freestyle, is a modern dog sport that is a mixture of obedience training, tricks, and dance that allows for creative interaction between dogs and their owners. The sport has developed into competition forms in several countries around the world.
Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop dance mainstream exposure.
Crime rates in New York City have been recorded since at least the 1800s. The highest crime totals were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged, and then declined continuously since the mid-1990s and throughout the 2000s. As of 2023, New York City has significantly lower rates of gun violence than many other large cities. Its 2022 homicide rate of 6.0 per 100,000 residents compares favorably to the rate in the United States as a whole and to rates in much more violent cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans.
Madonna: Truth or Dare is a 1991 American documentary film by director Alek Keshishian chronicling the life of entertainer Madonna during her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour. Madonna approached Keshishian to do an HBO special on the tour after watching his Harvard senior project. Initially planned to be a traditional concert film, Keshishian was so impressed with the backstage life that he persuaded Madonna to make it the focus of the film. Madonna funded the project and served as executive producer. The film was edited to be in black-and-white, in order to emulate cinéma vérité, while the performance scenes are in color.
Double Dutch is a game in which two long jump ropes turning in opposite directions are jumped by one or more players jumping simultaneously. It is believed to have originated among Dutch immigrants in New York City, although it has been a popular school playground game for much longer than that in the Netherlands, and is now popular worldwide. While it had long been a popular street activity for African American girls in New York City, the modern sport of Double Dutch originated in the early 1970s with NYPD officers Ulysses Williams and David Walker, who formalized the rules for competition. The first official competition was held in 1974. Competitions in Double Dutch range from block parties to the world level. During the spring of 2009, Double Dutch became a varsity sport in New York City public high schools.
References to the New York City Subway in popular culture are prevalent, as it is a common element in many New Yorkers' lives.
Eric Leroy Adams is an American politician and former police officer, currently serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. An ideologically moderate member of the Democratic Party, Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for more than 20 years, retiring at the rank of captain. He served in the New York State Senate from 2006 to 2013, representing the 20th Senate district in Brooklyn. In November 2013, Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President, the first African-American to hold the position, and reelected in November 2017.
Acro dance is a style of dance that combines classical dance technique with acrobatic elements. It is defined by its athletic character, its unique choreography, which blends dance and acrobatics, and its use of acrobatics in a dance context. It is a popular dance style in amateur competitive dance as well as in professional dance theater and in contemporary circus productions such as those by Cirque du Soleil. This is in contrast to acrobatic, artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, which are sports that employ dance elements in a gymnastics context under the auspices of a governing gymnastics organization and subject to a Code of Points. Acro dance is known by various other names including acrobatic dance and gymnastic dance, though it is most commonly referred to simply as acro by dancers and dance professionals.
CPDRC Dancing Inmates or the CPDRC dancers is a collective of prison inmates in Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison in Cebu, in Cebu Province, Philippines where the prisoners perform dance routines as part of their daily exercise and rehabilitation, and many of their performances are filmed and released online, making them a popular feature among fans and veritable online celebrities.
Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. The origins of pole dancing can be traced back to the sport of mallakhamb. This performance art form takes place not only in gentleman's clubs as erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated dance studios. Pole dancing enthusiasts are of all ages; although many who perform this dance and acrobatic form are adults, that does not stop younger children from learning and performing in competitions. Amateur and professional pole dancing competitions are held in countries around the world.
Tabitha A. D'umo and Napoleon Buddy D'umo, known together as Nappytabs, are Emmy Award-winning married choreographers. They are best known for their choreography on the television show So You Think You Can Dance and for being supervising choreographers and executive producers of America's Best Dance Crew. Since being with the former, their choreography has received both praise and criticism. They own Nappytabs urban dancewear and have been working in the dance industry since 1996.
Emma Sulkowicz is best known as a political activist and performance artist. While still a college student, Sulkowicz developed a national reputation with the performance artwork Mattress Performance (2014–2015). In 2019, they said they had stopped making art and began a master's program in traditional Chinese medicine.
Litefeet, also referred to as "getting lite," is a type of street dance/vernacular dance that emerged from Harlem, New York in the early 2000s.
Stiletto Dance is a dance form that emerged and evolved in the United States and Europe in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It is named after the women's shoe style, since one of its distinguishing features is the wearing of high-heeled shoes during performance.
The Slipper Room is a variety theatre and house of burlesque, comedy and neo-vaudeville, located in the Lower East Side district of Manhattan, New York City.
The New York Police Department's Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a unit of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) formed in 2015 for counter-terrorism and the policing of political protests. They maintain a bike squadron and are outfitted with anti-riot gear, rifles, and body armor. The unit has been criticized for its use of excessive force and mass arrests against political demonstrators protected under the First Amendment, disproportionately high numbers of complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and the killing of unarmed men, among other things. Activists, the New York City Council, the New York City Department of Investigation, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the New York Civil Liberties Union, among others, have called for its regulation or disbandment.
Ian Bassin is an American lawyer, writer, and activist who serves as executive director of Protect Democracy. He previously served as Associate White House Counsel under President Obama.