ROLLING ON THE EAST COAST - Part 1

Posted Sept. 2002

The East Coast is a region of the United States known for its hustle, bustle, action and entertainment. When many people speak of this area, they are referring to the states ranging from Virginia on the southern end up the coast to Maine, with the main centers of attraction being New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia (Philly), and Washington, D.C.

The East Coast has become a standard setter for a number of things and other parts of the country are even termed "slow" in comparison to the fast pace the area is known for. For instance, musically an artist may release a song that is topping all the charts in New York, Baltimore and Philly but that same song will not be widely received in slower areas until six months or more later. By then, the East Coast has moved on to the freshest tune gracing Eastern airwaves.

That same pace can also be witnessed in the world of skating where on today's calendar, East Coast organizers host more skate functions than all other regions combined. This may be due to the fact that most non-East Coast organizers plan one major event per year, whereas many East Coast organizers host two-three functions per year.

East Coast skaters seem to have had a world of their own for quite some time now and are used to attending a number of state and regional events annually. Although some enjoy traveling outside their home region, many find little reason to do so since so many opportunities to skate are available and only a relatively short drive away.

But as road travel times increase, so does the number of grievances voiced from some skaters. "Many complain about the long drive and the cost to travel...but most complain about the music and the DJ. They feel the music is old and does not have enough variety," said Jay Brown, founder of the website Skate DJs, based out of Newark New Jersey. He has also heard skaters complain that there is not enough to do in some cities so a number of them stick close to the home area they are familiar with.

Not only is it rare for East Coast skaters to travel to other regions, but they in return also see a small number of visiting skaters to many of their events. "It seems that only a handful of us travel out of our city and only a handful of skaters from the West Coast make it East," said Barbara "Ms Magic" Hicks of Magic Productions based in Lanham Maryland.

She believes that a number of skaters from the Maryland, D.C. and Northern Virginia areas may choose not to attend events outside of their area because they have their own unique smooth style - and they may feel "out of their element"skating to other than the 86 BPM (beats per minute) music they are used to.

Therefore, the music selections of DJs not of their area might intimidate them even if those DJs happen to be from further up the Eastern coast. This brings up the interesting point that even within the East Coast the styles of skate vary from state to state and in some cases from city to city as witnessed in Virginia.

"Richmond [Virginia] is different from Hampton [Virginia]...they have a different style of skating and do more creativity than what we grew up on,"said Angie Satterwhite, President of the Virginia Skate connection. "We grew up trying to be creative on the outside of the rink but they do a lot of creativity in the middle with their wheels, skates and just skating as a team," she added.

From her travels to other parts of the coast she has noticed that each area within the region has its own identifying style, so there is not just one word or way to describe what the East Coast style really is.

Ms Magic has been skating 32 of her 42 years and views her area as home of "precision rollers." She uses that term to describe those who perform synchronized movements on the outer edge of the skate floor, skaters who are more interested in accurate, deliberate, choreographed steps and not just freestyling on skates.

She admits that in today's skate world freestylers have emerged and are making waves, however, many "original rollers"have chosen not to keep pace with the younger generation. "It seems that skating is in a transition period. Most of the older crowd has faded out and are not skating as much as [they] used to," she said.

Magic Productions was formed primarily to address this situation. They have hosted events designed to motivate the older, more seasoned skaters to come back out and be rejuvenated but she believes that some still have a fear of skating with the younger crowd, some of whom are not respectful enough for an original roller's taste.

Ms Magic remembers skate groups from the 1970's and 1980's like the Rolling Skulls, the Supreme Wheelers and the Midnight Rollers. She used to travel with some of these groups who were hosting skate functions years before this current trend of parties began.....

- Kim Muhammad -