Taking the Crip Walk To Another Level

The poor suburb of Compton in Los Angeles, often mentioned in rap lyrics, was notorious for its rapper gangs. It is also the place where the Crip walk originated. In those days, there were the rapper rival gangs, Crip and the Bloods. The crip walk or blood bounce, as it is sometimes called by the Crips or the Bloods, was initially used as feet communication signals between gang members.

It was the crip walk, which managed to enter the mainstream mainly because the dance was featured in a number of MTV videos by mostly popular Crip gang rapper members such as Snoop Dogg. As the dance was accepted by the general public, it later came to be known as the clown walk to differentiate it from its gangster origins. To further separate the dance from its gang origins, it evolved into many variations such as
the V, the Heel-Toe, the Shuffle, and the Snake and was generally classified under hip hop dances. Presently, there are signs that crip walk is becoming popular globally as music videos from Europe displayed
crip walk dance steps.

People might be doing the crip walk without their knowledge. Being generally a hip hop dance, the crip walk also has its explosive movements and rhythm, which makes it a perfect calorie burner. Fitness and health experts now have their eyes on hip hop dances to make their clients lose weight or keep their body fit. The Celebrity Fitness exercise studio, for example, blends old and new school hip hop dances
for their clients. The repertoire can include snap dance, gangsta walk and the latest dance craze, crip walk or clown walk. The next time you hit the gym, try to ask what steps are you doing and you may be surprised to know that you are actually doing the
crip walk.

From Ugly Betty To America Ferrera

America Ferrera has a number of notable movies and television shows under her belt including "Real Women Have Curves," and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". She is the latest talk-of-the-town because of her Betty Suarez character in the drama-comedy "Ugly Betty." This is adapted from the hit television soap in Colombia entitled, "Betty La Fea."

The hit drama-comedy shows
America Ferrera portraying an unattractive girl, complete with fake teeth braces, thick eyebrows, and a wig. All of these preparations were set-up just to downplay the girl whose smile was actually insured by Lloyd's of London for a staggering 10 million dollars. America Ferrera was coy about the part and even nicked the term "Bettification" every time she has to undergo the transformation
process.

Joining the drama comedy TV show proved to be a winner for America Ferrera when she won the "Best Performance by an Actress" award from Golden Globe, and the "Award for Best Female Actor" from the Screen Actors Guild. The show, Ugly Betty, went on to be nominated at the Emmy awards 11 times. Only recently,
America Ferrera also won the "Best Actress Award"
and the "Creative Achievement Award" during the 22nd Annual Imagen Awards.

After the Golden Globe award, America Ferrera was praised by the US House of Representatives as a positive influence to young Latinas. Another honor she received is becoming one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

On top of all of this, America Ferrera is about to finish her double major in theatre and International Relations at the University of Southern California. The school was also where she met her rumored beau, Ryan Piers Williams, though she consistently denied them getting engaged. With about 15 movies made since 2002, America Ferrera is set to continue her counting with a new movie titled
"Forever in Blue" for 2008.