SOC!ETY DANCE ACADEMY

RONALD “RICOCHET” THOMAS IS A SELF-TAUGHT FREESTYLER WHO BEGAN DANCING SERIOUSLY WHEN HE WAS 12-YEARS OLD AND WAS AMAZED AT THE B-BOYS HE WITNESSED PERFORMING DURING A SCHOOL ASSEMBLY. CONSEQUENTLY,  “I WENT HOME AND PRACTICED, AND THEN I TALKED TO THE OLDER KIDS, THE ONES DOING IT.  I WOULD JUST MOVE THINGS AROUND DOWNSTAIRS IN MY MOTHER’S HOUSE [WESTBURY, LONG ISLAND] AND PRACTICE ALL DAY.” 

HE STARTED DOING THE FLIPS WHEN HE WAS IN THE 9TH GRADE, “OUT IN THE FIELD. WE WOULD JUST BASICALLY CHALLENGE EACH OTHER:  ‘WHO COULD TO A FRONT FLIP BETTER THAN THE OTHER ONE?’” OF COURSE THE BOYS ADDED IN “EXTRA THINGS TO OUTDO ONE ANOTHER. THEN IT ESCALATED, AND SOME OF US STOPPED.  I JUST KEPT WITH IT.” SHORT AND EXTREMELY POWERFUL, THOMAS STARTED WEIGHT-LIFTING AND BODY-BUILDING, DISCIPLINING HIMSELF WITH ENDLESS PUSHUPS: “I CAN DO LIKE, 250 PUSHUPS STRAIGHT UP. I’M NOT TRYING TO BRAG. JUST GIVING YOU THE FACTS.”

IN PERSON, THOMAS IS SHY, WITTY, AND PLAYFUL WHEN HE DANCES, PRIZING THE GIVE-AND-TAKE DIALOGUE AND ONE-UPS-MAN-SHIP IN THE CIPHER. IN CHECK YOUR BODY AT THE DOOR HE DEMONSTRATES AMAZING STRENGTH AND FLAWLESS FORM WHEN HE EXECUTES A PERFECT FINGER STAND, THEN BURSTS INTO WHIRLWIND TURNS ON HIS HANDS (AKA, THE “TURTLE”), BODY BALANCED ON THE ELBOWS. HIS FUSIONS OF HIP-HOP AERIAL REBOUNDS WITH DYNAMIC SHIFTS COMPRISE WHAT HIS FRIENDS DUBBED “THE “MARIO BROTHERS STYLE,” NAMED AFTER THE ANIMATED, ACTION-GAME FIGURE THAT BOUNCES LIKE A BALL.

HE CHOSE HIS NICKNAME, “RICOCHET,” BECAUSE HE TOO IS A TIGHT, STRONG, AND UNSTOPPABLE REBOUNDER WHEN HE DANCES. A FATHER, HE RETIRED FROM DANCING AND CLUBBING TO CONCENTRATE ON FAMILY LIFE