Agatha Rupniewski Interview

Agatha Rupniewski aka Agatron is best known as a popper/robot/mime who has created "Waking Up" (2003, 5 min) & "Dream of A Robotic Love Story" (2008, 10 min). She started when she was 17 & has since performed for a variety of events & venues in Portland, OR, Vancouver, BC, & San Francisco, CA. Events & venues include Brooklyn Bay Theatre, Agi Fashion Show Productions, ShePeople's, Queendom, & My Heart Beats for SF. She street performs & is well connected to the street dance/strutting/popping/turfing/locking/waacking/b-boy/b-girl dance community in the Bay Area to put together group performances. 
In 2010, Agatha produced Bay Area's first DREAM COME TRUE: All Female Battle & Showcase May 22nd, at City Dance Studios, with all female hosts, judges, Dj's, MC's, musicians, dancers, & contestants. Besides female DJ's, singers & rappers, the event included crews & solos & the best of the best female poppers, lockers, breakers & housers from LA & the Bay. Hosted B-Girl Asia1, Legendary popper Granny Robotroid, & Jam Patrol's of San Jose, Aiko Shirakawa.

MQ: How long have you been dancing?
AR: I first learned about popping 10 years ago but I wouldn't say I've been dancing that long. I started performing with Susse Fusse International Folk Dance Troupe when I was 8 years old. I started tap dancing when I was 12. In 2002 when I was 17 I first learned about popping from a guy named Steve in Portland, OR. He got into a car accident around 2 months after teaching me.  I took what he taught, put it into a choreography, & performed a 5 minute piece called Waking Up (the story of a robot trapped in the lab of her own imagination) in Vancouver BC Canada, Portland, OR & eventually San Francisco, CA.  It wasn't until I moved to California in 2006 that I really started learning more about popping & popping history after going to my first Playboyz Inc Popping battle.

MQ: Is there a specific thing that made you want to start dancing?
AR: My theatre class in high school asked us to choreograph a dance piece to a song. I danced to "Johnny Was" by Bob Marley.  One day I was sitting with my best friend Mona from Germany, metal head, opposite of me, I was listening to 90's hip-hop like Warren G, Gravediggaz, Beat Junkies, The Roots, etc. She was introducing me to Prodigy's Break and Enter. As I listened to the industrial sounds & breaking glass I thought of a robot waking up & started making robotic movements. The piece I made out of it, "Waking Up", expressed the bi-cultural isolation I experienced growing up in a mixed neighborhood & traveling an hour by bus every day to my high school full of rich kids.

MQ: Is there a reason why you choose your style of dance?
AR: The feeling of popping came naturally to me. I'm a visual/aesthetic person, there was something magical about popping, I had seen Michael Jackson do it, & it appealed to me more than b-boying. I didn't know it was a male dominated dance form because I was in a deadland for the scene, Portland, OR. This is pre-internet, pre-YouTube, pre-facebook. I didn't know girls weren't into it.

MQ: What does dance mean to you?
AR: Dance is very much a social art form to me. We communicate with & meet new people when we dance. I am very much a community oriented person & love to show support & be supported by the different communities in dance that have brought us together. No matter what you look like, where you came from, bottom line: if you can kill it, you can kill it.

MQ: What do you think you would be doing if not dancing now?
AR: I love drawing & painting. I would be doing that. I would never say "Oh my God, what would I be doing if I wasn't dancing?"

MQ: Where does your inspiration come from when you dance?
AR: I am inspired by the Bay Area B.R.S. (Boogaloo, Robotting, & Strutting), popping, turfing, locking, b-boy, waacking, & house dance communities. Watching amazing dancers in each & every one of these communities influences my dance. I grew up around boys given the same creative rights & recognition as boys until I was 15 & started modeling in NY. It became more apparent that I was a girl & what that meant in our current society.  I was more praised for beauty than my sense of humor or talent. I looked over at my brother as our paths split & wondered what happened to my childhood. Popping was a way for me to reaffirm my creativity & value in the world on a real level. I'm seriously wondering what can be done about the young women prostituting on the corners of the streets what can be done. If you walked past a bunch of 15 year old boys selling themselves every night would that be a trip? Would people be outraged? How come people aren't freaking out & working hard to change what's already happening? What can we do so that seeing this isn't the norm in however long it takes? I was walking past International Boulevard & looking into the girls faces, they looked really young, looked over saw the pimp in his car, and there's nothing I can do about it. What if I walked past the tenderloin & all the strip clubs were full of young male prostitutes. Would that ever happen in this society? I'm not saying I want it to happen I'm just saying for contrast, how come it hasn't? How come what we say today is the norm? What is going on here? What's the bigger picture? How massive is this problem? How is it connected to everything we do? How am I part of the problem & what is the solution? Where does my inspiration come from when I dance?
A lot of women come up to me & say that they are inspired by what I do. That inspires me. Girls in middle schools & high schools see me stand up & do a male dominated dance in a male dominated culture. Even if I'm tired or not in the mood I always dance because I know somebody is watching & that it could mean something to them. It could be a woman, a girl, a brother, a father inspired to overcome something in their lives with the way they treat themselves or others or allow themselves to be treated. I don't have to inspire people to dance per say. I can inspire people to "dance" in their own lives in whatever it is they are already doing.

MQ: How important is it to learn the foundation of each style of hip-hop?
AR: I think you should learn the foundation of the styles of hip-hop that you are genuinely attracted to, drawn into, or interested in. Learning the foundation of each style of hip-hop to me means interacting with & really getting to know the community from which it comes from. It does not mean just learning the moves & keeping yourself at a distance from the real community & getting with people who are doing the same. Get to know the OG's, the people your age, & the young folks. Really see what's up & the bigger picture.

MQ: How do you feel about the male dominance in Hip-Hop Dance?
AR: I was at a huge All Turf All Styles battle in Oakland yesterday & there were 0 lady dancers. I got up on stage & represented because I wanted all the women in the crowd to see themselves in me as a fellow woman. It doesn't mean they have to feel inspired to dance but they could be inspired to stand up for themselves in a male dominated crowd, society, or situation.  When I go to practice on a regular basis & see a few other females there it inspires me.  It's largely because I see other women out there going to practice that inspires me to go to practice. I don't like the male dominance in hip-hop but the only way to change that is to be the change that you want to see. Even if you are the only lady in the room, spiritually you go to represent, you got to push through that male dominance so that people are aware that there is a woman's voice at the same table where decisions on culture are being made. There's some things a large movement of men have allowed that women wouldn't allow had we had more say. That's why it's important to speak up through your actions.

MQ: Do you think it is hard for women to prove their selves in the hip hop community? If so why?
AR:  When I was 17 I quit for a couple of years just to avoid awkward situations. I'm 27 & I can handle those types of guys you run into every once in a while but I don't want other women to deal with it. I make a special effort to reach out to other women interested in popping, turfing, strutting because I know you need to have some girlfriends by your side. I didn't have any growing up & the scene is different now. Post YouTube, facebook, dance studio classes, is better for women now. Other things haven't changed much when you still see a whole bunch of dudes on stage. I'm waiting for the day when the OG Poppers picnics & barbeques will be dominated by women. I'm not interested in creating Bonnie & Clyde Events until the playing field is a little bit more level & that's why I focus on women. Women need women sometimes. We can't just be hanging around guys 24/7.

MQ: When you find out about a dance event, what attracts you to it (what makes you want to go)?
AR: I've been going to every dance event I possibly can in the bay since 2006. I like events that bring communities from all ages, sexes, cultures, sexual orientation, professions, all walks of life together. I like events that also bring different communities together. A little bit of slam poetry, some singing, something different for intermission & then back to the norm for a classic straight up pure popping or b-boy battle. I like it when women are encouraged to be there, respected, & recognized & that can be done in many ways when organizing a jam. You can encourage female dancers to attend the competition or create a separate all female battle within the event. If ladies are on the flyer to battle or showcase, don't forget about them, give them that space.

MQ: Can you give me any advice on planning a dance event?
AR: Set a date at least 6 months ahead, say you're going to do it, keep a vision/dream in your mind, stay focused & even if you've never thrown an event before do whatever it takes to make it happen, discover what it takes to make it happen as you go along & let the magic unfold.

MQ: What do you and don’t you like to see at dance events?
AR: I like to see some ladies at the event there to get down. I like events that are well organized & on a time schedule. I like seeing people be honored & recognized for hard work in the community.

MQ: Do you have a favorite dance move?
AR: I don't have 1 favorite dance move.

MQ: How often do you practice/train dancing?
AR: I dance almost every day but I practice Monday nights, Tuesday nights, sometimes Wednesday nights, Friday nights, & dance/perform on the weekends. 

MQ: Who are your dance inspirations?     
AR: Playboyz Inc, Spacewalker, Granny Robotroid, Phunkee Doc, Harry Barry, A1, Bionic Man, Pandora & OG Boardman are among many of my dance inspirations. I am also inspired by the turfing community including Too Wet, Patick Porcuna, Wawa, Pop Tart & Plik Plok, bgirl Asia1, Edenia Archuleta, Diva Dava, Killa Kita, William Randolph from The Black Messengers, Jen Ay Anolin & all of the girls in my crew Mix'd Ingrdnts & Jesus.