Nelson “El Cacique Sesenta Nueve” “Chief69” Seda, 22, is a Brooklyn born, Bronx based bboy, emcee, graffiti artist and community organizer.
Seda has been offering free dance classes for several months now, and it’s not too late to participate.
But don’t come expecting a physical workout a mental one. His teachings go far beyond dance moves. The classes involve hip hop history, theory and philosophy. His main objective: “MAKE SURE YOU WALK AWAY WITH KNOWLEDGE AND A SENSE OF IDENTITY.”
He grew up in a Nuyorican home and was exposed to salsa, freestyle, reggae and hip hop. Some of his family members and friends were involved in the early days of the hip hop culture, bboys, emcees and graffiti artists. At the age of 16, he witnessed two kids bboy dancing in the hallways of Arts and Technology High School in Manhattan. 
He was instantly captivated, and puzzled, by the way their bodies elastically moved. He convinced them to teach him the dance.
Seda explains “Bboy or Bgirl is “Bronx” or “Break” as in Bronx boy and Break girl. The “Break” stands for “Breakbeat”, the part of a song in most band composed songs where the percussion section has its solo and vocals fall out. This is also the part of the song where our dance has its most fluent vocabulary.’’
Seda provides free classes in the hopes of promoting arts to all, especially inner city youth. “No child deserves to be told they can’t dance, create art or make music because it won’t pay the bills.”
His vision is to bring more cultural expression back to the people of the Bronx.
The free dance classes are being held on Monday and Tuesdays, between 4pm – 5:30pm at the Bronx Music Heritage Center located at 1303 Louis Nine Blvd. The venue is accessible by 2/5 train to Freeman St or the BX19 bus to Freeman St and Southern Blvd.
Seda’s first publication is set to be available in 2014.
For more information, visit www.chief69frc.blogspot.com
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