Redder than Red
The Story of the first UK B-Girl

While working on the We B*Girlz book, we searched for names and photos of pioneering B*Girlz from the early days of Hip Hop. These proved surprisingly difficult to find. Although breaking had been going strong since 1980 and had spread around the world, until recently, very few girls had seriously participated in the scene. After hearing about the legendary Hanifa Queen aka Bubbles we invited her to the b-girl edition of the Gimme a Break jam in Rotterdam. After meeting her, we were drawn to her personality and her unique history and felt that she would be the perfect woman for a documentary—and thus the idea for Redder than Red was born.

 



Cover of We B*Girlz



Bubbles as represented in our book We B*Girlz


is a 17 minute documentary about Hanifa Queen Hudson aka Bubbles, the legendary first UK female breakdancer. Hanifa Queen danced with a renowned Wolverhampton crew called The B-Boys in the early 80’. The B-Boys rose to fame with appearances on TV and in the landmark Hip Hop films Electro Rock and Bombin’. Bubbles was the first girl worldwide to break and compete on the same level as the guys.

Bubbles became famous through a line in Electro Rock when the host says: “Check out the one in red—it’s a girl!” Since she is Jamaican-British, we took the title from the old Bob Marley song Redder than Red.

Combining vintage and recent footage, our film explores the life history of a talented, now 37 year old, Jamaican-British girl who got caught up in the excitement of Hip Hop in the early 80’s, attained a measure of fame, was virtually forgotten, but has recently re-entered the scene. The film captures the excitement of the early days of Hip Hop as it arrived fresh from the Bronx to England in the 80's.

Contemporary footage includes interviews with people from Hanifa's past and present and shows how her involvement in African dance, drumming, kick boxing, and her Jamaican community in Wolverhampton influenced her dancing.

The film’s highlight is a reunion of Bubbles’ crew, the B-Boys in the local community center where they dance together for the first time in nearly 20 years. An interview with Bubbles describing her life and her feelings about it, weaves the segments together.

The B-Boys (second generation)

© Martha Cooper
1986 The B-Boys (first and second generation) 2005

Redder than Red – The Crew

Martha Cooper aka SupaSnapZ
was born in Baltimore, Maryland, graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa and spent two years teaching English in the Peace Corps before studying at Oxford University, Cambridge, where she received a Diploma in Ethnology. In 1977, Cooper moved to New York and worked as a staff photographer for the New York Post until she left in 1980 to follow the emerging hip hop scene. In 1984, in collaboration with Henry Chalfant, she published Subway Art (Thames and Hudson/Henry Holt, 1984), the classic book showcasing the best painted trains of the era that has been dubbed "The Bible" by graffiti writers. Cooper's other books of photographs include R.I.P.: Memorial Wall Art (Thames and Hudson/Henry Holt, 1994) with text by folklorist Joseph Sciorra, and Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984 (From Here to Fame, 2004), a collaboration with Akim Walta. The Director of Photography at City Lore, the New York Center for Urban Folk Culture. Cooper, who lives and works in New York City has participated in many film projects and has been producer/director of Redder than Red – The Story of B-Girl Bubbles.

Nika Kramer aka Nawtee Neek, writer, translator, and businesswoman, grew up in Germany. Kramer was the text editor and German translator of Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979–1984 (From Here to Fame, 2004) and the text editor of We B*Girlz Kramer’s fluent command of English, Spanish, and German is invaluable as she lives and works in Berlin and New York. She is producer/director and first camera of Redder than Red – The Story of B-Girl Bubbles.

Amanda Mulderry aka No.1 from Ireland studied Film Production for two years in Colasite Dhulaigh in Dublin before doing the final year of her degree at the University of Wolverhampton. Worked as production assistant on feature films, TV broadcast documentaries, short films, TV adverts and music videos. Co-directed/edited/produced an award winning TV broadcast short Larry the Bastard that screened in festivals in Ireland and England. Amanda is the editor of Redder than Red – The Story of B-Girl Bubbles.


Marty, Nika, Amanda, and Bubbles

www.bgirlz.com
www.hiphopfiles.de
www.light-house.co.uk
bgirlz@web.de

 

Credits

Producers / Directors
We B*Girlz Productionz! - Martha Cooper & Nika Kramer

Camera
Nika Kramer

Editor
Amanda Mulderry aka No. 1
THANK YOU & major props to No.1!!!

Assistant-Editor
Sai Smith aka Bad-Boy Saizki 1a
Big Up to 1a!

Online Editor
Mr. Lee Mason aka Lee Ma Son

Still Photographer
Martha Cooper

Old Skool Photography
Martin Jones
Freestyle
Kiddo
The Hudson Family

Old Skool Footage (rights yet to be acquired)
Dick Fontaine – Bombin’
Electro Rock
BBC
Chanel 4

B-Boys Reunion
Directors
Kimberly Forlini-Softley
Katie Goodwin Self

Camera
Oz Ali
Kimberly Forlini-Softley
Katie Goodwin Self
Marc Jeavons
Nika Kramer

Sound & Lighting
Oz Ali
Kimberly Forlini-Softley
Mark Jeavons

Make-up
Shona Hunt

Suburban Day Out Camera & Sound
Paul Fogg


Transportation Coordinator
Lee Ramsey

Dolly Grip
Keiado Anderson

The cast as themselves
Renegade – London based DJ
Hanifa Queen Hudson aka Bubbles– Breaker The B-Boys
Smiley – Captain of The B-Boys, Wolverhampton
H – B-Girl Wolverhampton
Aruna – Breaker from Rotterdam
Kirk Walker – 5 times World Champion Thai Boxing
Pruma, Brian – Bubbles’ brother and member of The B-Boys
Junk – Old Skool breaker, Second to None Crew
Birdie – Bubbles’ uncle and member of The B-Boys
Kiddo – DJ and member of The B-Boys
Freestyle – member of The B-Boys
Crash – member of The B-Boys
Jasmin – member of The B-Boys
Rooney – member of The B-Boys
Lazy B – member of The B-Boys
Temper – Graffiti artist
Abdullaah Campbell aka Abby – Bubbles’ son
Laura – Bubbles’ grandma
Sharni – African dancer, Bubbles’ aunt
Sharni’s daughter & family - at Jamaica Day
Flozaic Crew- Sun Sun, Angel, Rowdy & DCypha
Niya – young b-girl in red

We want to thank Kelly Jeffs, Frank Challenger, Roger Bellingham, Raj Chahal, John Turner, & the rest of the Light House staff in Wolverhampton for their generous support.

Our sincere appreciation to the Ford Foundation, NYC for travel and training funds.

Thanks to Bubbles, the B-Boys Crew, their families and friends and the hospitable people of Wolverhampton.

And a shout-out to all B*Girlz worldwide - you rule!