Interview with Wild Zappers founding members

Alex: The Wild Zappers were founded in 1989. Can you explain what inspired the idea of this dance group and its name? How did that happen?

[Image of Wild Zappers performance]

Irvine Stewart: I found out about Gallaudet company, and I went in and they accepted me for who I am. Even though I had no dance skills, they said don’t worry about that. Even though I can’t hear, they said don’t worry about that. I felt accepted and loved. The person I looked up to was Sue Gill-Doleac.

[Image of Sue Gill-Doleac]

She taught me how to dance. She actually taught me how to dance. Awesome, but as time went on… It was all ballet, ballet, ballet, ballet. We needed that foundation. My problem was, I wanted to do more. I wanted to dance with my culture. I saw dances on MTV like MIchael Jackson, Jesse Jackson, Madonna, and all of those big names. I wanted to dance like that. I can dance like that. I copied them, and people said I was good.

Warren “Wawa” Snipe: In ‘89, you know, music was like MTV, VH1, Yo! MTV Raps. Those old TV shows. There were many music videos and songs in the 90s, so we wanted… Irvine wanted something different from Gallaudet Dance Company and their ballet, jazz, and modern dance and do something more related to rap, hip hop, and more. Plus he wanted to have it be all men..

Irvine: I asked Sue and told her how I felt. She said if you want to create dance, go for it. Go for it. Do what you want. From there, I started dancing and me and my friends… Oh, I started in ‘87 and Warren started in ‘88, so I was alone. My friends and I would dance at Gallaudet and different activities and parties. I’d just dance, and people would ask me when I’d dance next. Oh. Interesting. Then Wawa joined the Gallaudet Dance Company in 1988, anad Wawa and I killed it every time.

Wawa: At a party on the Gallaudet campus, we saw people’s synchronized dances. Cool. So, I ended up copying them. They looked at me and said “Have you tried out for Gallaudet Dance Company?” and I asked what that was. They explained it to me, and I remembered my teacher told me that if any opportunity arrives, grab it. You never know. So, that was an opportunity, and I tried that.

Fred Beam: Wawa’s famous move is the jump split. Irvine, and Lionel said they wanted him to join. I remember that story. Now, we’ve been performing for years and that jump stands out. That’s his signature.

[Image of three Wild Zappers members doing a jump split.]

Wawa: That was in the fall, and then I think I met Fred later in October after the pep rally.

Fred: Irvine and Wawa… I was in awe of them. Wow. I was motivated and wanted to meet them after the show, and at Rathskeller… After we finished the show, I wanted to meet these guys. Finally, African-American guys who dance like me! Finally! I met them, and we introduced each other. Then we instantly connected and so many things happened, and that’s what started the company and the name, The Wild Zappers.

[Video clip of Wild Zappers performance]

Irvine: The Zappers is because we had a lot of banter. I think… I’m better than you! You know? Oh, your momma! You’re playing with me? Come on!

Fred: Yes, we’d challenge each other in a fun way!

Ravine: We didn’t sit around. No! We’d play around!

[Image of Wild Zappers raising their fists.]

Irvine: I think the first dance video, the first one, that ‘s where I got the idea for Wild Zappers because of Michael Jackson’s Beat It.

[Clip of Michael Jackson’s music video.]

Irvine: The music and video gave me the idea of all the men dancing. That gave me the idea, because it was cool! And it was more of… Come on. That’s Black culture! Toughen up! We had to be tough, with oppression. So, I wanted that in dance.

[Image of Wild Zappers with a woman in the middle.]

Wawa: We just started on campus, that’s it, and then it became local, national, then global. It started with three guys, and it blew up. Wow.

Alex: How often did you practice and what did practice look like?

Wawa: We were already members of Gallaudet Dance Company. Irvine had permission from the director at the time to allow us to use the old dance studio to practice. It had to be after the Gallaudet Dance Company rehearsals.

Fred: We were young back then, but we didn’t think it would be serious. But Irvine wanted to do it on Saturdays and Sundays. Wawa said we needed sleep! But we went for it. And we decided to do it at eight or nine in the morning. I lived on campus and drove over. Wawa, we’d have to bang on his door to take him to rehearsal! Sometimes we had to go to the basement of the dorm.. Sometimes we’d practice outside. We shared a lot. It took more time, because the demand increased so we practiced more.

Irvine: I think the first training was Sue's belief that it's important to warm up and stretch. She always says it doesn’t matter if you're deaf or not, you have to be on time with the music. Show up. Be committed. If you don’t commit, you can't improve because people will see that you haven’t practiced and obviously haven’t had rehearsal, so we had to practice and look good. We didn’t want to embarrass ourselves in front of the deaf community. So, rehearsal was an important part but the best part was our relationship with each other. We had so much fun.

[Image of the Wild Zappers dancing.]

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Alex: Wild Zappers had outstanding performances, from Gallaudet campus but you really rose. You performed at places like Apollo Theater and the Kennedy Center… Wow. Can you share one story or memory that touched you deeply and impacted you to be performing there?

Wawa: For me, it was Japan. That’s when it was like… Is this really happening? It was the moment where we thought, wow. Global. We must be that good to get the attention from the world. I remember we were all behind the curtains and ready, and excited, and when they opened, we were ready with our poses. The audience were staring at us. When the music started and we performed, the audience stared at us and then the curtains closed at the end. What did we do wrong? Why didn’t they enjoy us? We were scared. (Our coordinator) laughed. That’s how Japanese people are, she said. They’re quiet. Yes, it’s ok. They can clap if they enjoy it, it’s ok. They were very reserved, so they explained it and our dancers felt like we didn’t want to insult them. In the second number, it changed. They all laughed. That terrified the crap out of us at first, and that almost put us off. After that, that was it. That became my home.

Fred: The next show was a younger audience, and there were signs everywhere. They were outside waiting for us. We thought, we’re celebrities in Japan giving signatures and everything. We were deaf stars there. We went back more than maybe 12, 14 times to perform. Every year.

Wawa: We went there every year. Wow. It was our second home.

[Image of the Wild Zappers performing.]

Fred: Looking back, what amazes me is performing at the Apollo. Why do I say that? We wanted to get to the hearing community, not just the deaf community, and at Apollo after we arrived... You know how it works at Apollo. After that, what shook us was that… There were five of us, and the host said “the team that gets the loudest claps will win.” Fine. There were some claps for the first two, and a lot for the third. When it was our turn, the audience waved their hands. Me and Wawa were like, no, clap your hands! There was no sound! We were the second runner up. But why I remember that dearly is that we were so scared, and we had to perform for our lives. We didn’t want to be booed off the stage by the clown! I felt the energy, and the audience reacted very well. But at the end, we were second runner up. Deaf people have been to Apollo.

[Video of the Wild Zappers’ performance.]

Irvine: Deaf Way II. That memory of performing with a huge audience. I remember.. I will never forget. I was standing looking down, and when I looked up, the audience was huge! It was like, the audience would go for miles and miles! All these people on the stage were coming to us - I was shaking. So many people, so many, that I could see their faces. Normally when you perform, you’re supposed to not see people and the audience, but the problem with Deaf Way II was that the stage was right here, and people were right there. That was one of the most exciting moments performing with the Wild Zappers.

Alex: Really, from the idea in college and Fred meeting each other to being famous in Japan to Harlem to meeting the queen of Sweden, wow. That shows coordination, commitment, hard work, compassion, performance… that can take you to places. And you’re still… Wawa just performed at the Super Bowl. You’re still keeping it up.

Fred: I want to mention that I’m proud and humbled and honored that Wawa, a member of the Wild Zappers, performed at the Super Bowl. Kriston Pumphrey was also a Wild Zappers member, and Aarron Loggins was a Wild Zappers member. And before that, Alexandria Wailes was a National Deaf Dance Theater member and would perform alongside us. Yes! We paved the way from the beginning. Really, that’s not the only thing. We have the talent of many theater projects, music, and shows in one. But that it so happened that they were members of the Wild Zappers is an honor.

Alex: People sometimes have no idea about that about you.

Wawa: We’re humble.

Fred: And that’s why we need to tell others about our history, because when we were young we thought everyone knew us but we realized that it faded, and we can’t do that. We have to expose each other.

Irvine: I have the passion. I have the natural skill to dance, just like Fred. Fred has a natural movement and dance, and passion. He works hard no matter what. Same with Wawa, who has a gymnastics background and lots of different abilities. Each of us come together with our unique talents.

Text: Thank you, Fred, Wawa, and Irvine!

http://www.invisiblehands.com/wildzappers.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kxKq5Z52LQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_JZfxbX-xY&t=132s