Press & Interviews
Dance Mogul Magazine Exclusive Interview "Carlena (CrazyCee) Gourdine"
By DANCE MOGUL MAGAZINE
05/17/2013​
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"Dance Mogul Magazine caught up with Carlena to find out about her dance history and how she has managed to survive a male dominated art form. Carlena shared her love and passion for the arts and how she transformed her passion and real world experience into helping others. Carlena is humble and thankful for the opportunity to help guide and direct others through her company.” (...)
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Carlena Gourdine of Crazy Cee Productions
By Living Life Aurora Talk Show
03/19/2013
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"Living Life Aurora celebrated Women's History Month by chatting with Carlena Gourdine, the founder of CrazyCee Productions who specializes in hip hop choreography and training. The second half was an all out tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G. with a special feature of one of his final interviews with Rap City as well as some Biggie favorite tunes.”
LISTEN HERE​
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HIP-HOP TRAINING FACILITY SET TO OPEN IN ROSEDALE
By Amy P. Lookingbill
05/25/2010
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"Do you have what it takes to be a professional hip-hop dancer? Or are you just looking for a fun way to exercise and stay in shape? Either way, CrazyCee Productions, which is opening in Rosedale next week, offers something to fulfill your dreams.
“CrazyCee” is New York City native Carlena Gourdine. Growing up, Gourdine's father worked for NBC and her mother worked as a hairstylist “to the stars.” Gourdine is also a cousin of “Little Anthony” of “Little Anthony and the Imperials.” With show business and music in her blood, Gourdine's mother told her she began “dancing in the womb.” After years of dancing and choreographing on her own and training other dancers, Gourdine eventually landed a spot dancing on the MTV show “The Grind” and appeared in numerous rap videos. After moving to Baltimore 11 years ago, Gourdine now devotes her time and talents to training and developing hip-hop dancers of the future. Although hip-hop music often gets a bad wrap due to lyrics that glorify drugs and violence and objectify women, Gourdine focuses on what she refers to as “hip-hop in its true form.” (...) READ MORE
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TEENS POP & LOCK IN OZONE HIP-HOP STUDIO
By Stephen Baron
06/28/2007
" Former MTV choreographer and president of hip-hop dance training facility CrazyCee Productions, Carlena Gourdine is very proud of the craft that she’s spent much of her life working on.
So much so, she nearly walked out of last year’s auditions to her dance academy.
Most of the 80 aspiring dancers, ranging from 7 to 26 years old, showed up out of shape, not wearing proper clothing or not knowing how to dance to hip-hop music.
“Hip-hop dance is so watered down now, it’s horrible,” the Jamaica-raised Gourdine lamented over the phone. “And we’re in New York, the birthplace of hip-hop.”
In response to the lack of respect she perceives that women receive in the hip-hop dance industry, Gourdine founded CrazyCee Productions in 1990, at only 17 years old.
“I danced as well as males, but I was never asked to dance like them,” Gourdine said. “I was told to dance sexy, but I never settled.”
Seventeen years later, business at the South Ozone Park dance training facility is booming. CrazyCee stages eight productions a year, and recently opened a dance academy in Maryland.
CrazyCee also fills a much-needed role in providing inexpensive extracurricular activities for Queens teenagers." (...) READ MORE
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TROUP DEDICATED TO HIP-HOP
By Craig Giammona
04/27/2006
" Every Saturday, dancers from CrazyCee productions gather at the Bally Total Fitness gym at 159- 26 Jamaica Avenue to practice their steps and perfect their routines. With hip-hop songs old and new blaring from two large speakers, the young dancers, dressed in camouflage pants and matching hats, set a frenetic pace, going through three- or four-minute routines, resting for about 30 seconds and starting again. There are only occasional extended water breaks.
CrazyCee, based in Jamaica, was founded by Carlena Gourdine, aka CrazyCee, 15 years ago. Gourdine, who was born in Brooklyn and attended high school in South Jamaica, is a former professional dancer who has turned her attention to training professional dancers. CrazyCee, which currently has 10 members ranging in age from 10 to 26, has been hired to perform in rap videos, special events and showcases. This summer they will perform at a car show in Atlantic City. The members pay the cost of insurance and for the use of a dance studio at Bally's and receive a cut when the troupe is hired. "We're training them to be professional," Gourdine said, as her dancers gyrated and hopped to Slick Rick's old-school classic "Mona Lisa." CrazyCee does hip-hop dancing, but Gourdine stressed that when she says hip-hop, she is referring in general to old-school aggressive street art -- not the blinged-out cars, drugs, violence and scantily clad women that have become synonymous with mainstream hip-hop in 2006. "We're doing hip-hop old school, the way it was meant to be," Gourdine said.
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Gourdine said that mainstream hip-hop objectifies women. When she was a professional dancer performing in rap videos and on MTV, she said she felt strong pressure to keep her weight down. "In the business, you have to be a (size) 1, if that," she said. "I don't want that for them."
With CrazyCee there is no such pressure, Gourdine said. The focus in on (the) dancing, not skimpy, revealing outfits.
CrazyCee currently has 10 members from around New York City, including two from Queens. St. Albans resident Tiffany Johnson, the group's oldest member at 26, agreed with Gourdine that the culture of hip-hop has gone in the wrong direction. She said CrazyCee is trying to right the ship, one dance step at a time. "The culture (of hip-hop) has been taken to a different world," Johnson said. "It used to be a way
for the oppressed to express their feelings about society. Not it has nothing to do with that at all. We're trying to take it back."
Johnson found CrazyCee randomly one day while working out at Bally's. She saw the dancers practicing and was intrigued. At first she thought it was just a class that could sign up for. When she learned it was a dance troupe, she auditioned and was accepted. Gourdine said CrazyCee will be very busy this summer, dancing at showcases and a variety of events around southeast Queens. The group has been asked to dance at Disney World, but Gourdine isn't sure if they'll make the trip. Gourdine is also planning to hold an audition in June where she hopes to find 15 talented dancers dedicated enough to withstand CrazyCee's rigorous practice schedule."
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Reach reporter Craig Giammona by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 ext. 146.
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Featured in Dance Mogul Magazine
http://dancemogul.com/news/?p=5146
Dance Mogul Magazine l Exclusive Interview l Carlena Crazy Cee Gourdine
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LIVE INTERVIEW WITH CRAZYCEE PRODUCTIONS OWN MS. CARLENA GOURDINE AKA "CRAZYCEE" ON GRAFFITI ALLEY
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Graffiti Alley Radio 02/04 by Survival Radio Network2 | Self Help (blogtalkradio.com)
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LIVE INTERVIEW ON LIFE AURORA FEATURED ON WOMENS MONTH WITH CRAZYCEE PRODUCTIONS OWN MS. CARLENA GOURDINE AKA "CRAZYCEE"
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Carlena Gourdine of CrazyCee Productions (podomatic.com)
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FEATURED IN THE AVENUE NEWSPAPER
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Hip-hop training facility set to open in Rosedale | Archives | avenuenews.com
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QUEENS CHRONICLE NEWSPAPER
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Teens Pop And Lock In Ozone Hip-Hop Studio | South Queens News | qchron.com
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