Dance in DC: Crazy Legz @ Ben's Chili Bowl

Premieres Monday, November 30 at 7pm ET

We’re pleased to unveil a new series in our Mars Arts DC: Virtual programming: Dance in DC. Throughout these six short films, we celebrate the dynamic creativity of the local dance scene alongside the entrepreneurial spirit of local businesses. Curated and co-directed by dancer/choreographer C. Lorenzo Evans III—who also serves as Washington Performing Arts’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of Finance—each Dance in DC film pairs a dance artist with a signature DC business. Award-winning Chilean-born local filmmaker and music-video director, Francisco Campos-Lopez, filmed and co-directed the pairings on location. Each production features a site-specific work, along with conversations between dancers and business owners who speak about their community in these critical times.

We launch Dance in DC with “The King of Beat Ya Feet,” Crazy Legz, performing at one of the mainstays of the U Street Corridor, Ben’s Chili Bowl. This online event will premiere free of charge on Monday, November 30 at 7pm ET on this page.

About the Artist

Born and raised in Southeast Washington, DC, John Pearson III aka Crazy Legz “The King of Beat Ya Feet” has been pushing the Go-go rooted dance, Beat Ya Feet, for over a decade through DMV communities. He first became popular for the signature footwork and style named after him, which is credited with evolving the dance style at a time when the Beat Ya Feet dance was at its peak. He was one of the original members and leader of the popular DC dance group, the Beat Ya Feet Kings. His hard work paid off when it caught attention internationally through his travels to Warsaw, Poland and Ghana, West Africa. Now he not only pushes to influence the DC culture for generations to come, but to also spread it around the world by using the Beat Ya Feet dance to introduce Go-go music and culture to the masses in a way where the music genre is fully accepted and appreciated. He is the Owner of Pearson & Company LLC, a company that utilizes the Beat Ya Feet dance as a base to entertain and educate through events, workshops, competitions, and production.

About the Business

Established in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, Ben’s Chili Bowl is a landmark restaurant located in the U Street Corridor of Washington, DC. It is known for its chili dogs, half-smokes, and milkshakes. Through the decades, the eatery has been there for its immediate community and the hard times they have faced, as well as the celebrities who stop by on their way through the nation’s capital.

Mars Arts DC is a partnership of Mars, Incorporated and Washington Performing Arts, with support from Jacqueline Badger Mars.

Mars Arts DC: Virtual—Dance in DC is made possible in part through the support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Events DC, a Small Business Recovery Microgrant from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development administered by the Latino Economic Development Center, and the HMF Beaudoin Family Foundation.

In addition, WPA thanks the Royal Norwegian Embassy, ChasenBoscolo, Encompass Supply/Rudy Burwell and Mona Mohib, and Washington Gas for their support of WPA’s innovative virtual community programming in 2020.