Lil Buck & Jookin Are an Artist & Art Form You Should Know About

As my young daughter gets more into dance, adding aspects of jazz and hip-hop and ballet and tap and even gymnastics into her routines, I am ever entertained by the beauty and art of dance. So, I was fascinated to learn last week about a performance of a unfamiliar style of hip-hop dance called Jookin that originated on the streets of Memphis. Lil Buck is a professional dancer who teamed with Yo-Yo Ma at a conference in a beautiful melding of music and movement, and the moment was caught on cell phone camera by none other than director Spike Jonze.

The continuous evolution of dance is a source of beauty and poetry in motion. And Lil Buck is an artist who challenges our conventional wisdom about talent and education and, well, dance. Going from the streets of Memphis and dancing at a performing arts school, Lil Buck has developed his craft to a point where he has merged the world of ballet and hip-hop, dancing with the New York City Ballet. The performing arts never cease to amaze me, and I could watch people like Lil Buck all day long.