Crown prince of jookin' returns for New Ballet's 'Nut Remix'

Photo by Jim Weber // Buy this photo

Lil Buck - poster

Charles "Lil Buck" Riley was riding in the car with his ballet teacher, Katie Smythe, when she put a famous classical tune on the CD player and asked if he could dance to it.

"The Swan," a somber cello and piano composition from Camille Saint-Saëns' "Carnival of the Animals" already had a storied dance history. In 1905, the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova created the first "Dying Swan" to the music. Dressed in a white tutu, the dancer used her quivering legs and undulating arms to evoke the futile exertions of a swan in the throes of death. It has since been reinterpreted by everyone from Olympic ice skaters to drag queens in parody shows.

But Lil Buck, as he is professionally known, was none of these. That is to say, from the age of 13, he's devoted himself almost exclusively to mastering a unique form of dance invented not far from the Westwood neighborhood in Memphis where he grew up.

Photo by Jim Weber

Charles "Lil Buck" Riley

Photo by Jim Weber

Megan McCusker (left) and Steven Tate rehearse with fellow members of the New Ballet Ensemble for their upcoming production of "Nut Remix."

Photo by Jim Weber

Jayme Stokes (center) rehearses for the show, which will be performed this weekend at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre.

Jookin', choppin' and buckin' (from which Lil Buck got his nickname) are a few of the similar urban dance styles that originated in Memphis during the late 1980s and early '90s. Also called "gangsta walking," the style involves intricate footwork -- generally carried out in high-top sneakers -- and captivating upper-body gestures. Imagine Michael Jackson's moonwalk from the waist down and a cross between the funky robot and a Bollywood music video up top.

Smythe, whose Midtown dance school New Ballet Ensemble encourages both ballet and contemporary dance styles, compares Lil Buck's jookin' to the contrapuntal music of J.S. Bach: "His feet are doing one thing, and his upper body is doing another."

In practice, however, jookin' is almost exclusively danced to rap music with thick beats and fast rhythms.

The experiment, as Smythe knew, was to see if jookin' could cross over to the world of classical music.

As soon as he got to the studio, Lil Buck improvised a dance to "The Swan." Like Pavlova, he "dies" in the end, his face full of conflicting emotions. With the flexibility of a contortionist, he spends the last moments of the song wrapping his legs around his body so that he finishes almost in the shape of an egg. Unlike the ballet version, Lil Buck completes the circle of life.

No one could have anticipated the impact it would make on viewers and Lil Buck alike.

After one of New Ballet Ensemble's educational outreach performances in a West Memphis elementary school auditorium, someone posted a video of Lil Buck's dance to YouTube, which shows the audience of students in awe of his moves.

Smythe forwarded the link to friends at the New York City Ballet who happened to be working with the world-renowned classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Lil Buck hadn't even heard of Ma before he traveled to New York to perform "The Swan" with him during an outdoor concert. They have since performed together in Chicago, Los Angeles and even in China, where the dancer was praised by the country's highest-ranking female politician.

At one performance, the film director Spike Jonze ("Where the Wild Things Are" and "Adaptation") recorded the solo on his cell phone. He posted it on YouTube, and it has received more than 1.5 million views.

In The New York Times, dance critic Alastair Macaulay wrote of the dancing, "The audience rightly gasped and gasped again; so did I. ... Lil Buck has rare grace."

That was just the beginning for the dancer. Lil Buck, 23, has since moved to Burbank, Calif., where he has established himself as an expert on the Memphis style of dance.

He has appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" three times so far. He has played (via computer animation) a dancing hamster in a Kia Soul car commercial. Meryl Streep, who was part of his contingent in China, is a devotee of his footwork.

In February, he'll share the stage with Madonna during the Super Bowl.

In Burbank, Lil Buck has a "crew" of 10 jookers -- five of them from Memphis -- who all have agents for film and television work. Collectively, they perform for schools -- showing children the possibilities of talent -- and for corporate events.

"I was always an open-minded dancer," he said of his ability to adapt to different situations. "I wanted to learn different styles, like ballet. I was never scared of what other people might think about me. The way I look at it, it's made me a better dancer."

He's also determined not to let success go to his head.

When Smythe asked if he would dance a role in New Ballet Ensemble's holiday show this weekend, "Nut Remix," he jumped at the chance.

Now in its 9th year, the show is an adaptation of "The Nutcracker," set on Beale Street and featuring a wide range of dance styles.

In 2008, Lil Buck was the "hero" of the adapted story. This time, he wanted to play the villain, the Rat King. Unlike in Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker," the Rat King is not an actual rat. He's a kind of gang leader, as in "West Side Story." He also doesn't get slain in the war between mice and toy solders.

"No one perishes in our story," Smythe says with a laugh. "We are all about conflict resolution."

As such, Lil Buck will not only perform in the first act "dance battle," but he'll also be seen in the second-act divertissements, improvising his sharply honed dance style.

Smythe, who calls her former student the "Baryshnikov of jookin'," sees Lil Buck as an ambassador for Memphis culture.

"He has elevated what he's learned to a mesmerizing art form which people can appreciate from New York to China," she said. "It speaks to everybody."

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New Ballet Ensemble's "Nut Remix"

Performances at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, 1801 Exeter. Tickets are $17-$38.50. Call 751-7500.

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