Mover and shaker: Dance ambassador inspires with his ‘Jookin’ style

Innovative dancer Lil Buck, born Charles Riley and who has been paired with Madonna for Super Bowl XLVI and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, first learned of “Jookin” after watching his older sister dance in their Memphis living room when he was 11. He soon devoted all of his energy to developing his own dance style, strengthening his core moves through two years of classical ballet training. When he was 19, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue dance as a career, initially performing on the street to make ends meet.

Jookin’ is actually a dance style that was born on the streets of Memphis … It’s predominantly footwork. It evolved from line dance called Gangsta walk.

Lil Buck

Now, the 26-year-old dancer and former New York City Ballet dancer Damian Woetzel have teamed up to meet and share with school-age children their craft. His motive is to inspire young kids to get into the arts.

I truly believe we can change the world with dance and with investing in the future, which are the children.

Lil Buck

Arts @lilbuckdalegend