“I am 10 years old and my favorite thing to do is dance.”
Bailey “Bailrok” Munoz is the youngest famous person I know. He lives with his mother, his father, and little sister in Las Vegas Nevada. His grandmother will tell you that Bailey is exactly like his deceased Grandfather who was nicknamed ‘Long Play’ after an LP record because he could dance forever. When I asked Bailey about his family, his answer was so heartwarming. You may want to grab a tissue or two-“I feel so blessed because my parents support me and love me. Without them I couldn’t do any of this. I do all of this for my family. They are my inspiration. Thank you mommy and Daddy. Thank you for doing everything for me. I LOVE YOU! “
At the age of 10, “Bailrok” is the youngest member of the world famous ‘Rock Steady Crew’. He is also in ‘Future Funk’, a hip hop dancing duo that made their way onto the televised competition show” America’s Got Talent” with his 5 year old partner, Baby Boogaloo. In addition, he is part of a Las Vegas Hip Hop crew called ‘Prodigy’ that has competed in many competitions including World Hip Hop International. With just a decade of life under his belt, Bailrok is already taking the dancing scene by storm and isn’t slowing down. His potential and possibilities are limitless and his future is blindingly bright. But it wasn’t always clear skies and easy streets for this small superstar. He is a miracle child, in more ways than one.
Bailey’s mother had 4 miscarriages before giving birth to this BBoy. With her prior pregnancies, they never made it past the 1st trimester. With Bailey, the pregnancy was considered a high risk, and after her 1st trimester she was fearfully ordered to bed rest. After 7 months, she gave birth to a 4lbs. premature baby boy. But the high risks didn’t end there. Bailey was in and out of the hospital and received multiple surgeries. They finally found a microscopic hole in his kidney that caused numerous infections and created a lot of health problems for Bailey during the first 5 years of his life. With constant health issues and struggle for survival, his parents will forever think of Bailey as their miracle baby boy.
Bailey’s parents, Barbra and Ferdie, are kind, honest and personable people. The two of them met at the age of 13 and fell madly in love. Over dinner, we got to hear stories of them as teenagers sneaking off to make out and constantly get into trouble with their parents. Looking over at Baileys grandmother, she can’t help but smile as she is thankful that her daughter has been blessed with such a wonderful husband and loving family. To this day, the couple shows constant love and respect to each other and to their children. As a result, they have created a very special, loving and caring family, which they should be very proud of.
When Bailey turned 6 years old, the doctors told the Munoz family that he was completely better. But to his family, he will always be very fragile and delicate. Never the less, they wanted a normal life for Bailey and encouraged him to try out for sports. Around the time of ABDC, Step Up, and You Got Served, Bailey loved watching and mimicking the dancers moves, only leaving him wanting to learn more. For 10 months, Bailey’s parents searched for a good Hip Hop class but could only find cheer and choreo dancing. Until they came across Studio One in Las Vegas.
Studio One offered a Hip Hop and Breakdancing class, which Baileys signed up for both. He tells me all about his first breaking class, which was taught by Artson of Rock Steady Crew- “I started dancing when I was eight years old. I didn’t even know what dancing was! My teacher Artson taught me the basics like Top Rock and Six Step, and I just kept moving on. I started getting good at it and started to add my own flavor. My style is hype, crazy and hunch” Hunch? When I asked Bailrok what Hunch was, he showed me a hunched over stylistic way of making his Top Rock look different and with animated hands. This is a word that Bailrok made up to describe his own style and groove, ‘Hunch’. So if you don’t know, now you know.
Bailrok and Artson’s friendship blossomed. They started hanging out more than just during class, as his mother describes it, “They just clicked”. Bailrok speaks so highly about Artson, showing his obvious admiration, but I could tell that he considers Artson as a homie and a friend. He gets all excited talking about those first few months of learning to break and entering the world of Hip Hop, which was only a year ago- “Artsen and I hung out all the time. He took me to my first BBoy Jam. Artsen also gave me my hairstyle.” Bailrok frequently rocks the funky Mohawk, and when paired up with his sensce of fashion makes him that much more adorable and fresh.
After his photoshoot, we continued taking photos in Bailroks room, which was also as a dance studio with hardwood floors and mirrors from floor to ceiling. His mother Barbra talked about how at their Filipino family reunions, Bailrok would sing and dance in front of everyone. But these were no normal family reunions! Their reunions would gather hundreds of family members together and Bailrok would get to perform on stage giving him a great audience to practice in front of. His mother knew early on that Bailrok was something special and liked being in the spotlight. She talks about how they will always support their kids in whatever they want to do 100%. I can slightly see the tears in her eyes from remembering the difficult years that have past, but her smile brings me back to the present place where they are blessed beyond belief. Blessed with success and the miracles in life: Family, Health, and Love.
Q&A
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? “I want to be a successful dancer and go to college and become a teacher. I want to teach kids how to dance like people taught me hen I was learning. I want to get a Masters Degree in college in Math. I like math a lot. I get all A’s in Math.”
HOW DID YOU GET INTO ROCK STEADY CREW? “I got into Rock Steady Crew when I was in San Francisco. It was at a Mighty 4 jam in Oakland last year in 2009. I had to battle Smerk the Jerk from Rock Steady. He is pretty good. He is a dope BBoy. They have to battle you in. Artson was on the side holding a RSC shirt waving it all around to help get me hyped. I went three round with Smerk and afterwards, I got inducted. I didn’t win, it was more of an induction than a battle.”
OTHER THAN DANCING WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO? “Sports. I love sports. My favorite sports are Basketball, Football and Soccer. And of course dancing.”
DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN ATHLETE OR AN ARTIST? “I consider myself both. In breaking, you gotta have flexibility, strength and you have to be able to control yourself. I’m an artist because you have to get creative with your style. My style has a lot of flavor and hunch. So I am both and athlete and an artist.”
IF YOU COULD GIVE ADVICE TO KIDS WHO WANT TO BREAK? “ Some advise I could give to other kids out there is just keep on training, work hard. Stay in school. Education first and just be yourself. Don’t be anybody else, just be you Did you get that? That’s what I said!
WHO IS YOUR HERO? “My parents.”
WHO WOULD YOU LOVE TO MEET? “He died already. But I would have loved to have met Michael Jackson. I love Michael Jackson”
WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED SO FAR? “I like a challenge. Even if I fail I get bigger and bigger and it makes me stronger. My biggest challenge is dealing with TV because its live. There are lots of people watching you and I really don’t want to mess up. But if I do mess up, then I just forget about it and keep going.”
-WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT FOR 2011? ”My school is a major priority . I’m super excited from graduating elementary. I want to continue to dance and hopefully inspire other kids. This year, I hope that I will be able to travel more, to visit new places and meeting new friends.
FOR MORE INFO ON BBOY BAILROK VISIT: www.bailrok.com
