Easy Rider

Photo Courtesy Of Toni Basil 

Toni Basil is in London. She’s the choreographer of Bette Midler’s “Divine Intervention” tour, a show that evolves with every performance. On a rare day between her otherwise hectic commitments, we play phone tag.

“Our relationship is double-edged. Dinner, shopping then we turn around and it’s work focused,” says Basil about her longtime friend, Bette, adding, “Her work ethic is wonderful, intensive and different.”

Basil is accustomed to virtuosity, having worked with the best of them. She describes David Bowie as another genius: “You have to do homework to face him the next day.”

In the 80’s Basil was a recording artist herself, enjoying a run that produced two albums and three Hot 100 charting singles. Yet the cover of Racey’s “Kitty,” retitled “Mickey,” is arguably, actually, factually, the most infectious and widely known song in her catalogue. Just as memorable is the tricolour Americana cheerleading uniform Basil wore in the video.

Born to a theatrical and musical family in Philadelphia on September 22, 1943, Basil grew up moving between cities, spending time in Chicago and Las Vegas, where she saw everything. “Everything,” included watching Frank Sinatra take the stage, an artist she would eventually open for with The Lockers, a dance group she formed with Don Campbell in 1971.

Even before the 70's, strands of Basil’s different careers had already begun to intertwine. Also an actress, Basil appeared in the film “Easy Rider” (1969), directed by Dennis Hopper, who co-wrote the script and starred alongside Peter Fonda.

“Easy Rider” is an odyssey, an ode to Harley-Davidson, that documents the social landscape of the United States in the 1960’s, “such as the rise and fall of the hippie movement, drug use, and communal lifestyle.” Basil’s appearance as a New Orleans–based prostitute is brief but noteworthy; so is Jack Nicholson’s as a less-than-sober small-time lawyer.

“Easy Rider” was both a critical and box-office success, leading Basil and Hopper to collaborate again in “The Last Movie” (1971). Still, despite Basil’s fortune as an artist of the cinema, dance remained her most constant courtesan.

Basil, a classically trained dancer, is credited with bringing “the street” to television. Yet what part of the audience saw for the first time on “Soul Train” had already been unfolding in the hood or el barrio for years.

Created by Campbell, locking is a style of dance that essentially means freezing after a rapid movement and "locking" into a certain position. Not to be confused with breaking (break dancing), where dancers combat and face one another, the Campbellock, as it was originally called, is about communicating with the spectator and telling a story.

A story that, at the time, was predominantly testosterone-fueled and racially segregated.

“I had no problem being a girl or white. It was always about the quality of my dancing. It’s the sport, the show off and battle element which makes it more male. You don’t see women out there fighting with ISIS,” Basil said, and added after we’re interrupted, “I'll call you in a couple of days or when I get back to L.A.”