Music with Minnesotans: B-Boy J-Sun

ST. PAUL, Minn. — My friends all know - and I have a tendency to mention it on air kind of a lot - that I dance.

And I take lessons, classes really, over at Zenon in Minneapolis. Not ballet or jazz like one might expect of a classical DJ, but Hip Hop and House.

Surprise, surprise, I am not the oldest in the class, though maybe the least "cool." But the whole endeavor, besides being a good workout, allows me to get completely outside myself and pretend - for just a moment - I might be rocking out in an award winning music video, that I'm a back up dancer for Rhianna or Lady Gaga. My fabulous teacher is Arturo Miles and he dances professionally with one the best in The Cities, Jason Noer, B-Boy J-Sun.

I popped over to the Cowles last season to see my teacher dance and was absolutely electrified by J-Sun's ensemble - and J-Sun himself. His work is anticipates the rhythm, is absolutely natural and organic, and it takes this urban, clubbing, kind of dance form and turns it into an art form fit for the stage.

Of course what blew me away the most was when J-Sun and Dancin' Dave performed to music from my world - Beethoven's Fifth. Sure, there was an underlying beat and it wasn't purely classical, but they revealed the poise, the inner rhythm, and the stunning revolution of this music in a whole new way. You can see for yourself.

B-Boy J-Sun performs this weekend and I asked him to swing by for a little classical playlist and to enlighten us on how music informs and inspires his work.

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B-Boy J-Sun's playlist:

Johann Sebastian Bach, Toccata and Fugue in d minor - Hans Fagius

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 - Minnesota Orchestra/Vanska

Antonio Vivaldi, La Stravaganza, Concerto No. 11 - Arte dei Suonatori/Rachel Podger

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Next week we visit with an educational psychologist from the University of Minnesota, Bob Jorczak. He likes to stump his friends on musical trivia, including this classical host!