Trendsurfing: Jamskating (The Times)
By David Rowan
How does a new skating craze emerge? It's not as if some central authority determines when inline skates should replace rollerskates, or kiteboards become the new skateboards. Yet somehow over the past year, an obscure dance style called jamskating has created a definite buzz. What made a high-energy combination of breakdancing, gymnastics and rollerskating tip over into urban cool?
Professional trend-forecasters have been watching the wheels roll for months. There was the ueberhip iPod commercial, with three jamskaters dancing to the Gorillaz tune Feel Good Inc., as well as Coca-Cola's North American TV spot for Diet Coke, in which a blonde roller-girl twists along the shoreline to Paul Oakenfold's Starry Eyed Surprise. Last month, Fox Searchlight ran a large-scale "skate-off" contest to promote its new Seventies roller-disco film, Roll Bounce. Yes, this is still largely a US trend. But you know how quickly these things travel. When jamskating hits Britain in a few months, remember where you read about it first.
In fact, this is not a new idea at all. Freestyle dance skating, on four-wheeled quad skates rather than inlines, goes back around 30 years, having been called everything from "shuffle skating" to "rubber legging". It faded away once the disco boom began to look embarrassing, to be revived briefly when some Eighties breakdancers skated along to hip-hop.
Jump forward to present-day America, and jamskating is an increasingly popular team sport, with official national tournaments and, since last year, even Jamskating Magazine. Its editor, Jennifer Leslie, has a clear idea of why things took off. Leslie, 25, also manages Team Riedell, a group of semi-professional Florida skaters who spend much of their time performing at basketball games, theme parks and in competitive tournaments. "Riedell", by the way, refers to the team's main sponsor, a manufacturer of skates and accessories. It was Riedell's marketing people who four years ago suggested that a jamskating revival might just boost their brand.
"They pitched the idea of a team to us, and things just grew after that," says Leslie. A rival team, Breaksk8, meanwhile attracted its own funding from skate retailers and manufacturers. "There's now a couple of sponsored teams who have performed in plenty of places," Leslie explains. "Interest has slowly built up over the last couple of years, but in 2005 things have kind of exploded. The movie will be a big help."
So for all its cred, this is a trend born of a few corporate marketing departments' wish to sell more product. That's not to deny how captivating the performances can be: you cannot fail to be impressed when Team Riedell jams energetically along to a hip-hop soundtrack. Yet within the skating community, there has been open hostility to this commercialisation of an inner-city dance style. The controversy prompted a furious editorial in a recent edition of Roller Skating Today: like Bill Haley and Elvis, the magazine suggested, the predominantly white jamskating teams were cynically "co-opting" a black artform for their own financial ends.
Jennifer Leslie can't see the problem. "This sport's open to anyone, black or white," she replies. "Yes, it involves elements from breakdancing, hip-hop and R&B, but there's also gymnastics and skate moves that we've made up. Jamskating is new school."
(The Times Magazine, October 1 2005)
. . . AND READ MORE TRENDSURFING COLUMNS HERE . . .
How does a new skating craze emerge? It's not as if some central authority determines when inline skates should replace rollerskates, or kiteboards become the new skateboards. Yet somehow over the past year, an obscure dance style called jamskating has created a definite buzz. What made a high-energy combination of breakdancing, gymnastics and rollerskating tip over into urban cool?
Professional trend-forecasters have been watching the wheels roll for months. There was the ueberhip iPod commercial, with three jamskaters dancing to the Gorillaz tune Feel Good Inc., as well as Coca-Cola's North American TV spot for Diet Coke, in which a blonde roller-girl twists along the shoreline to Paul Oakenfold's Starry Eyed Surprise. Last month, Fox Searchlight ran a large-scale "skate-off" contest to promote its new Seventies roller-disco film, Roll Bounce. Yes, this is still largely a US trend. But you know how quickly these things travel. When jamskating hits Britain in a few months, remember where you read about it first.
In fact, this is not a new idea at all. Freestyle dance skating, on four-wheeled quad skates rather than inlines, goes back around 30 years, having been called everything from "shuffle skating" to "rubber legging". It faded away once the disco boom began to look embarrassing, to be revived briefly when some Eighties breakdancers skated along to hip-hop.
Jump forward to present-day America, and jamskating is an increasingly popular team sport, with official national tournaments and, since last year, even Jamskating Magazine. Its editor, Jennifer Leslie, has a clear idea of why things took off. Leslie, 25, also manages Team Riedell, a group of semi-professional Florida skaters who spend much of their time performing at basketball games, theme parks and in competitive tournaments. "Riedell", by the way, refers to the team's main sponsor, a manufacturer of skates and accessories. It was Riedell's marketing people who four years ago suggested that a jamskating revival might just boost their brand.
"They pitched the idea of a team to us, and things just grew after that," says Leslie. A rival team, Breaksk8, meanwhile attracted its own funding from skate retailers and manufacturers. "There's now a couple of sponsored teams who have performed in plenty of places," Leslie explains. "Interest has slowly built up over the last couple of years, but in 2005 things have kind of exploded. The movie will be a big help."
So for all its cred, this is a trend born of a few corporate marketing departments' wish to sell more product. That's not to deny how captivating the performances can be: you cannot fail to be impressed when Team Riedell jams energetically along to a hip-hop soundtrack. Yet within the skating community, there has been open hostility to this commercialisation of an inner-city dance style. The controversy prompted a furious editorial in a recent edition of Roller Skating Today: like Bill Haley and Elvis, the magazine suggested, the predominantly white jamskating teams were cynically "co-opting" a black artform for their own financial ends.
Jennifer Leslie can't see the problem. "This sport's open to anyone, black or white," she replies. "Yes, it involves elements from breakdancing, hip-hop and R&B, but there's also gymnastics and skate moves that we've made up. Jamskating is new school."
(The Times Magazine, October 1 2005)
. . . AND READ MORE TRENDSURFING COLUMNS HERE . . .
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