Known for performing various forms of dance from hip hop, mime, popping, robotics and creative dance all over the world, identical twins Billy and Bobby McClain have been entertaining audiences since they were children.
Influenced by the dancers on Soul Train, they would dance at family barbecues and receive quarters from family members for their performances. As children, they attended Boston’s annual Kite Festival and were so transfixed by the dance competitions that they vowed that they would one day enter the dance contest. And, it was at the age of ten that they made their dream happen. They entered the contest and “we ended up winning” says Billy.
Soon after they were asked to be a part of Boston’s first professional street dance crew called The Funk Affects. They performed “a lot of extravagant shows at the Joseph Lee School,” says Bobby. At that time, they were already supporting acts behind rap artists Run DMC, KRS One, LL Cool J, EPMD and Slick Rick. The twins were with The Funk Affects for seven years before going out on their own as The Wondertwins.
During their formative years growing up in Boston, it was all about basketball and dance for Billy and Bobby. They were all-star basketball players at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School and were being sought after by Division I schools. But the universe had other plans for the brothers. In 1989, they received a call from Bobby Brown asking them to go on his 1989 United Kingdom and U.S. Don’t Be Cruel tour.
It was a huge moment of decision in deciding their future, and so they chose dance. “It was really that call that pushed us” to dance professionally agreed both McClains.
Self-taught
The six-time winners of the Apollo Theatre’s “Amateur Night” competition, Billy and Bobby never received any formal dance training. They were self-taught and they also learned from their Funk Affects teacher who wouldn’t tell them what style of dance they were performing at the time. So they soaked in various movements from ballet and jazz to hip hop. “We love ballet and jazz,” says Billy of the dance styles they learned growing up.
The duo also has branched out to include tap and other forms of rhythm-based movement in their shows.
“Our show just keeps changing,” says Bobby. “We’re doing spiritual songs. So, when we’re doing a hip hop show they hear spiritual music and they wonder why it’s there. We see hip hop as something spiritual. We know the connection. It’s just trying to get people to see how it’s all connected.”
Studying dancers from the past has been important in their development. They’ve studied dancers such as The Nicholas Brothers, The Hines Brothers, Ben Vereen, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. You’ll see elements from dancers of the past in their shows.
“It’s real important to pay homage to the past,” says Bobby. “A lot of dancers don’t see that as important, especially in so-called hip hop. Their idea of old is somebody who is 30 years old. We really think that you’re at your best as you age. We don’t think your best is at the age of 20. You should be at your best at the age of 60, not 20.”
In addition to dancing professionally, the two believe in giving back to the community. They’ve been directors of Project RISE, a nonprofit organization located in Braintree, Mass., for almost 20 years. Their brother-in-law Robert Dixon founded the organization in 1993 because he wanted to give back, according to Bobby. Initially, it was an enrichment program for athletes, specifically for basketball players, but has since morphed into a summer enrichment and performing arts camp for inner city children and teens.
The two are busy year-round with dance and teaching. During the day they work in both the Josiah Quincy middle and upper schools in Boston. Bobby is a dance teacher and Billy works in the Operations and Discipline department. By night, they both work and divide duties booking and producing their shows as well as networking.
In 2014, The Wondertwins were invited to perform as headliners at Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, considered the “hub and mecca of dancing” by Time magazine. They were honored to be included at the prestigious festival and premiered a piece called “Broadway to Hip-Hop,” which is one third of their show “To Hip-Hop, With Love.” The show is made up of three separate pieces: “Broadway to Hip-Hop,” “Sounds of Movement” and “L.O.V.E.,” and includes an eclectic soundtrack featuring rappers Busta Rhymes, KRS One and Sammy Davis, Jr. with poetry from Maya Angelou sprinkled in. This past February, they premiered the full
show “To Hip-Hop, With Love” at the Oberon Theater in Cambridge. For the twins, they’ve long considered “hip-hop as an elegant dance.”
In the coming months, The Wondertwins will be traveling heavily. They’re preparing for performances in June at the Regent Theater in Arlington, Mass., at The Music Hall Loft in Portsmouth, N.H. in July and a Labor Day weekend show at the Detroit Jazz Festival. They’re also getting ready for an international tour to begin sometime this summer with the tour running through 2016.
