‘The world lost a legend today’

Dance pioneer Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quiñones died at age 65.

Musician Toni Basil, who was his close friend and collaborator, broke the sad news on Wednesday, which Yahoo Entertainment independently confirmed. Basil did not reveal the cause of death. Quiñones’ team has not yet responded to Yahoo’s request for comment.

Quiñones and Basil were two of the original members of the Lockers, the influential dance group of the 70s who created and popularized the lockers dance style. They performed everywhere Saturday Night Live to Disneyland to Soul Train.

But Quiñones was perhaps best known for his performances in the 1984 dance hit film Amansar ‘ and its sequel, Breakin ‘2: Electric Boogaloo.

In June, the influential dancer was one of the few cast members in these films to get together and look back and look back at the legacy of cult classics that have long been loved by audiences, though not so much by critics.

“I didn’t particularly care about Breakin ‘2”, Quiñones said at the virtual event organized by Yahoo Entertainment (watch below). He explained that he thought the story was “going more from a cartoon point of view”. He also hinted that a third film was in progress. “I’ve been in negotiations with people who can help make the film,” he said, outlining the basic premise: “In today’s world, the king of street dancing must be a woman, first of all. (…) We hope not to recover what we did before, but to do something much bigger ”.

Quiñones was also a respected choreographer who collaborated and danced alongside names like Lionel Richie and Madonna.

He started dancing very young “just at parties and stuff,” he told his hometown newspaper, Chicago Tribune, in August 1987. “My mom used to throw me out there like a fighting chicken. ‘Go there and dance for mommy,’ she says. And they would give me a glass of wine to cheer me up. That’s how it started. “

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Quiñones explained that he felt as if he had become a good dancer in his early teens.

“I wasn’t very good at sports or anything, and I wasn’t good at basketball, but I could cut a rug at a ball,” he said. “I knew bop and we used to bop in Chicago back then.”

Earlier this month, when it was announced that breakdance would become an Olympic sport, Quiñones spoke to Yahoo about his mixed feelings. “Street dancing is a personal journey for most of us,” he said. “How are you going to make these judges judge this?”

He said he feared that “what we had to overcome to reach this Olympic moment” would be lost, as well as “the flavor, personality and spontaneity” of the break. “This is just another version of gymnastics,” he says, “unless there are people there who understand and understand very clearly the balance that needs to occur”.

The day before he died, the artist told his followers on social media that he was feeling better after catching a cold. He also shared his relief after having tested negative for COVID-19.

After Quiñones’ death, his famous friends and others paid tribute.

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