Kate Mikoley - Lil Buck: Dancer and Activist

Published in 2020 by Enslow Publishing, LLC. 101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011 Copyright 2020 by Enslow Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Mikoley, Kate.

Title: Lil Buck: dancer and activist / Kate Mikoley. Description: New York: Enslow Publishing, 2020. | Series: Stars of hip-hop | Audience: 2 Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: ISBN 9781978509603 (library bound) | ISBN 9781978510340 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781978510364 (6 pack) Subjects: LCSH: Lil Buck, 1988Juvenile literature. | DancersUnited States BiographyJuvenile literature. Classification: LCC GV1785.L553 M63 2020 | DDC 792.8028092 [B]dc23 Printed in the United States of America To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all websites in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press.

However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those websites or on any websites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by email to . Photo Credits: Cover, p. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images. CONTENTS JOOKIN IN MEMPHIS L il Buck wants to bring people together. He wants to make the world a better place through dance! His real name is Charles Riley.

He was born May 25, 1988. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when he was young. He started dancing at six. By twelve, he was ! JOOKIN DOWN THE STREET Jookin started in Memphis. It began as a kind of line dance.

People added moves and toe spins. Popping is a style of dance with quick, jerky moves. Lil Buck says he learned about jookin from his sister. She learned about it at school. Lil Buck attends the opening for the 2018 movie The Nutcracker and the Four Realms . His moves are in the film.

GETTING BETTER WITH BALLET Lil Buck began dancing in groups around Memphis. At seventeen, he was practicing when a ballet teacher saw how good he was. The teacher asked him to study with the New Ballet Ensemble and School in Memphis. He thought doing ballet meant he would have to wear tights. But the teacher told him he wouldnt have to. So Lil Buck decided to do it.

He took ballet for more than three years. History of Jookin Jookin began in the 1980s in Memphis. Rap music was becoming popular, and people wanted to dance to it. Jookin started as a simple one-two step. Now this dance has many other moves. Lil Buck dances on his toes in a way that many dancers cant! Moves like this one are part of Lil Bucks special style of dance.

Lil Buck likes to tell people he took ballet. Sometimes, boys dont want to take ballet. But it can help dancers learn key skills. He said, You can still be you and take ballet. FINDING HIS GROOVE Jookin is often done as freestyle dancing. This means the dancer can come up with their own moves.

There arent many rules to it. Lil Buck joined what he learned from ballet with jookin. This gave him his own dance style. He became known all around Memphis. Some of his dances were on YouTube. He even danced in a few DVDs.

You can still be you and take ballet. MOVING ON UP L il Buck can move his feet in ways other dancers cant. Much of this skill is from practice. But it also came from accidents! Im really flexible on some spots naturally, but I do work at it. A NATURAL GIFT In fourth grade, Lil Buck hurt his ankle. When he was older, he hurt it again.

This could have harmed Lil Bucks future in dance. But it helped. His ankles felt looser. They were easy to move. Lil Buck shows off his flexibility at a 2017 Apple event in San Francisco, California. Im really Lil Buck had skill and worked hard.

It wasnt long before others saw how good he was. Soon, even people outside of Memphis would know about him. Lil Buck, shown here in 2011, is famous for both his dancing and teaching moves to others. LIL BUCKS BIG BREAK At nineteen, Lil Buck went to Los Angeles, California. Someone had asked him to dance in a music video. Lil Buck brought a friend with him.

This friend also jooked. Lil Buck then got a job in a commercial. He also wanted to dance onstage with singers. The entertainer Janelle Mone saw Lil Buck dance. She wanted him to be in the music video for her song Tightrope. Lil Buck and others did some of the fancy moves that jookin is known for in Mones music video.

He also helped make up the dance steps featured in the video. The video was for an MTV Video Music Award in 2010. The award was for the best dance steps. The video lost to a song by Lady Gaga, but it still helped Lil Buck and jookin become more known. THE JOOKIN SWAN In 2011, Lil Buck danced with another artist named Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo Ma is a cello player.

He plays classical music. He often works with different kinds of artists. Yo-Yo Ma played his cello while Lil Buck danced. The song Yo-Yo Ma played was called The Swan. Lil Buck did a jookin version of a classic ballet dance. It was called The Dying Swan.

Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma had different styles of music. But the crowd noticed how well their styles came together. And so did the world. Going Viral Going viral means something quickly becomes shared online. The famous director named Spike Jonze saw Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma perform. He filmed their show.

Then he posted it online. It went viral! Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma ( bottom left corner ) performed together at Central Park in New York City in June 2011. WORLDWIDE SUCCESS L ater in 2011, Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma went to China. They were there for an event. It showed the art and of both the United States and China. People there talked about many kinds of art.

For me to perform to classical with Yo- Yo just showed the world what we already knew was possible. This was Lil Bucks first time leaving the United States. Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma performed their piece once again. Lil Buck also danced on the Great Wall of China! In 2011, Lil Buck and Yo-Yo Ma performed for guests in China before the art event began. PERFORMING WITH THE QUEEN OF POP Lil Buck was famous. People who had never even heard of jookin before were becoming fans of him.

One fan was the entertainer Madonna. She was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and 1990s. She is often called the Queen of Pop. Madonna was set to perform in the Super Bowl halftime show in 2012. Many dancers were in Madonnas halftime show. Lil Buck was one of them! Some people have said he was one of the best parts of the show.