The '80s threw breakdancers at Broadway and somehow it's not a disaster.
STREET DANCERS: They're bold and they're bad; they're breakers — freestyle dancers who know a mean beat as well as a mean street. STAGE DANCERS: Grand and graceful gypsies — polished performers who are passionate about their art and the theater. When the choreographer of a troubled Broadway-bound musical brings the two groups together to energize his show, the results are less than successful. The professional dancers rebel when the street-wise breakers invade their turf — the theater. Tempers explode and the opening of the show is threatened. The exciting dance sequences, including the grand finale, were choreographed by Beat Street's Lester Wilson.
Practical Effects
Real breakdancers doing real power moves, no doubles.
Costume
Peak '85 fashion: parachute pants, headbands, the works.
Direction
Peter Medak keeps the dance coherent despite TV budget limits.
Director
Peter Medak
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lester Wilson also choreographed 'Beat Street' and died tragically young in 1993, making this a rare capture of his street-to-screen vision.
This aired on TV in 1985, right when breakdancing peaked in suburban living rooms — it's essentially a time capsule of hip-hop's brief mainstream moment before gangsta rap took over.
US
