Dance Collaboration Captures Elm City Vibes

Armando Muñoz, a.k.a. Decoy, danced at the top of East Rock, popping and locking, the city of New Haven unfurling behind and beneath him all the way to the Long Island Sound. In front of him, armed with a tiny handheld camera, cinematographer Mike Pollack moved with Muñoz, following the arcs of Muños’s steps, the bending of arms, the fluttering of fingers.

A few families were at the top of East Rock at the same time, and one of them drifted close to watch.

“You’re so good!” one of the family members exclaimed.

The filming of the video on East Rock was just another stop in a week-long collaboration between the Arizona-based Muñoz and the New Haven-based Pollack, who started talking about making short films together a few months ago. On Saturday, they were immersed in a process that would find them churning out videos by the dozen, in New York, Bridgeport, and New Haven — especially a perfect evening in Wooster Square, in which the sun’s light, the falling cherry blossoms, the right song, and just the right vibe all lined up to create a short film that Pollack thinks may be the best piece of art he has made.

“I do cinematography for a living and he’s a great dancer, and we connected online,” Pollack said. ​“From a production standpoint, all we need is a speaker and a good backdrop. We got to Wooster Square at just the right time.”

Muñoz is a member of Funny Bones Crew and performed in the third season of America’s Got Talent Season, the Arizona Lowrider Super Show, and HYPE (Helping Young People Excel), hosted by Stuart Smith. He has opened up festival concerts for Ice Cube, Future, T.I. Jordan Sparks, Kirko Bangz, MC Magic, DJ Richie Rich, and others. What put him on the road to dancing full-time, however, was winning first place as All Styles Champion in the 2018 World of Dance Championship of Arizona, hosted by Paul Mitchell, Neyo, and Jennifer Lopez. Since then, he said, he has been able to make a living performing and teaching.

“A lot of people know me in Japan and India,” he said, humbly. ​“The internet is a powerful thing.”

Muñoz started dancing as a kid in Pacoima, Ca., in the greater Los Angeles area, learning moves at five years old from his cousins. ​“I picked up my craft from them,” he said. His cousins did a lot of ground moves and b‑boy-ing. His immediate family moved to Phoenix, Ariz., and Muñoz figured out how to do headstands and the worm. ​“Every year I’d come back and show them” what he had learned. ​“They always called me a little sponge,” as he continued to learn and integrate new moves into his repertoire. ​“Hip hop is with all the elements,” he said, and ​“you have to pick up your own style.”

He considers himself a hip hop dancer who does pop locking, ​“straight from the street culture,” but in recent years he has found himself sharing programs with contemporary dancers as well. He has done car and soda commercials and done a little acting.

Pollack was taken with the range of Muñoz’s ability as a dancer just by watching clips of him online. ​“His core style is West Coast funk and soul kinds of beats,” he said of Muñoz, ​“but you never see a dancer dance to 20 different genres of beats.”

For his part, Muñoz relishes the chances to step outside of and push what he knows. ​“I like being uncomfortable when I dance, because I know my body can move to different beats,” he said. ​“I can get down to Beethoven.”

When Muñoz and Pollack decided to collaborate, the only problem was that Muñoz lived in Phoenix and Pollack in New Haven.

“I love New Haven,” Pollack said. ​“I was born here and love everything about it.” He dropped out of college to become a filmmaker and, in time, got into commercial work, where he’s been making his living ever since. As he and Muñoz discussed short film possibilities, they hit on the idea of using a car spinner — like the platform one sees in car showrooms — and cast about for where in Phoenix they might go to make it happen. ​“But if he came here,” to New Haven, Pollack thought, ​“this is my area, and I have connections.”

They put together the money to fly Muñoz to the Elm City. Pollack took Muñoz to Sally’s, which Muñoz declared ​“the best pizza anywhere I’ve been.” Then they immediately began shooting. In a couple days they have already made dozens of videos, with Pollack crediting Muñoz’s sheer ability as a dancer for their success.

“Literally every take is usable,” Pollack said. ​“There is not one hiccup.” Every video so far has been improvised. Pollack and Muñoz find a location. They think of a song they might like to see Muñoz dance to ​“in the moment,” and ​“he does his freestyle interpretation of the song,” Pollack said. For Muñoz, it was ​“us just bringing it from whatever street we were on.” Including that street in Wooster Square. It was evening and the cherry blossoms were falling in the air, and they decided on the song ​“Ylang Ylang” by FKJ.

“We got super-lucky with the light and the timing,” Pollack said. ​“It’s the best piece I’ve shot and it’s just one clip.”

On the top of East Rock, as Muñoz danced and Pollack filmed, the pair moved through several songs and several moods, with Muñoz endless inventing new movements and combinations of movements and Pollack capturing it all through dynamic movements. In his movements, Muñoz made sure to pay homage to the West Coast styles he started with. ​“Always got to keep it in there, where you grew up,” Muñoz said. ​“A lot of people forget that.”

That lesson wasn’t lost on Pollack as he looked out over the city below. ​“This is New Haven,” he said. ​“I wish everyone could go to a spot and look over where they live like this.”