Magoo Crew rocks the house
Edmonton dance crew shakes up Nahanni Butte
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Thursday, March 24, 2016
TTHENAAGO/NAHANNI BUTTE
From the streets of Edmonton to touring across Canada, Magoo Crew frontman Blair Gladue has a message of positivity and acceptance for his audience.
Edmonton's Magoo Crew pose for a photo prior to their first Nahanni Butte show. In the back, from left, are Dallas Gladue (Choo Choo Magoo), Skylene Gladue (Mrs. Magoo) and James Jones (Crazy J). In the front, from left, are Dakota Ward (Bear Claw), Blair Gladue (Mr. Magoo) and Myles Tecomba (Crazy Rock). Not pictured is Miss Puggy Magoo, the crew's canine companion. - April Hudson/NNSL photo
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Touching on themes of anti-bullying, respect for oneself and others, importance of education and the environment, the Magoo Crew has break-danced, hoop-danced, beatboxed and rapped its way across the region over the past few weeks.
Often pulling long hours on the road to make it to their destination, with 80s music blaring on their satellite radio, the group has so far visited Fort Simpson, Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. Their next stop is Fort Providence's Bison Jamboree which runs from March 30 to April 3.
Those join a list of other NWT communities they have already visited, including Dettah, Ndilo, Yellowknife, Fort Resolution and Hay River.
Magoo Crew members Blair Gladue, Dallas Gladue, James Jones, Dakota Ward, Myles Tecomba, Skylene Gladue and their canine pal Miss Puggy Magoo have been playing shows since March 1 and don't plan to return to Edmonton until at least the first week of April.
"Coming up (to the NWT) at this time is good because of the winter roads - we have access (to communities)," Blair said. He and his crew spent Easter weekend in Nahanni Butte for the community's Spring Gathering Festival which ran from March 25 to 28.
That meant not only performing for the community but also taking part in some of the festival games and feasts that ran throughout the weekend.
On March 26, the group put on a show of break dancing, hoop and traditional dancing, rapping, comedy and motivational speech for the community.
"The message for youth is ... all about respect: respecting yourself and others, loving yourself and others. That's a big part of anti-bullying," Blair said.
"For adults, it's that you've got to teach the kids at home about love and respect. That way, when they go out into the world, to school, they will already have the respect and love and can spread the message to others."
The group has been teaching those lessons since it first formed in 1996. But prior to that, Blair learned the hard way to embrace positivity.
Growing up on the reserve at Calling Lake, Alta., Blair says he saw first-hand the effects drugs and alcohol had on people.
He moved to live with his mother in Edmonton after the grandparents who had raised him passed away. There, he says he spent a lot of time on the street.
"I was raised in kind of a rough lifestyle. I've been through a lot of good and bad," he said.
"When I was 16, I said, 'This is it. I'm going to change my life. I'm going to do everything for the positive.'"
Blair's turnaround began at Century Billiards, a 24-hour pool hall he used to frequent. He spent time helping the hall owner rack balls, who in turn would offer him coffee or something to eat.
One day, the owner offered him a job and let him play pool for free when he wasn't working.
"I worked in the pool hall and then I practised playing pool by myself for 10 hours every day," Blair said.
"The house pros started teaching me how to play ... I got taught by Tom Finstad, one of the best in the world."
He began playing pool professionally and travelled across Canada to play until he turned 20.
"When I was 20, I used to go to these dances ... and I'd see people making big circles, and somebody going in and dancing. I'd watch it and go, 'Wow, that's cool.' People were looking up to whoever was dancing," he said.
"I said, 'Well, I'm going to learn how to dance.' And I did."
At the age of 22, Blair started to take his dancing on the road. Eventually, one group of fans who frequented his shows decided to start calling him Mr. Magoo, and the moniker stuck.
He formed the Magoo Crew in August 1996 and they danced their way to 2000, when the group took a break from performing to focus on raising their families.
Just last year, they resumed performing.
Now at 42, Blair is still dancing.
