Roger Martinez Oral History

Roger Martinez Oral History

Popping (Dance)

Powwow songs

Roger Martinez was born in 1974 at the Lemore Tachioka Native American reservation and moved out around nine years of age and slowly made his way to Fresno. He settled in apartments on G Street and Maple. He loved the popping culture that hit California in the 1980s. Roger started out as a fancy dancer and transitioned into popping around twelve years of age. He went to Tehipitte for middle school, Hoover and Fresno High for him high school years. For him hip hop was about friendship and connections, where he claims that he lost a lot of the connections that he built up over time because the landscape and scene of Fresno changed once popping stopped being popular around 1988. Some memorable places for him during the dancing scene were Roeding Park, the Masquetta Center, or Dickies Playground. Dance battles were always fun and non-violent means of competition and self-expression. Some of his big musical inspirations are LL Cool J, Houdini, Zap, or EZ Music. Him and some of his dancing friends performed at many school events and even performed for the mayor of Fresno in 1986. Work became more important to him and providing for his wife and kids, so that is why he stopped dancing. Also felt like breakdancing beat out popping because the moves they were doing were complicated and hard to perform.

Oral history interview, 1 digitized recording, Straight Outta Fresno, Fresno State University

Digital publisher: Claremont Graduate University

The Valley Public History Initiative: Preserving our Stories holds all rights, title, and interest, including literary rights and copyright, to the oral histories and documents collected as part of Straight Outta Fresno: From Popping to B-boys and B-girls project. Oral history narrators retain the non-exclusive right to copy, use, and publish their oral histories during their lifetimes.

MP3

English

Sound

sof_0161

Fresno (Calif.)

Mosqueda Community Center (Fresno, Calif.)

Roeding Park (Fresno, Calif.)

Dicky Playground (Fresno, Calif.)

Fresno High School (Fresno, Calif.)

Hoover High School (Fresno, Calif.)

West Fresno (Calif.)