Bruno Falcon, the trailblazing hip-hop dancer and choreographer known as “Pop N Taco,” died Saturday at his Long Beach, California home. He was 58.
The pop-and-lock legend of the early ’80s cult film “Breakin’ ” passed away of natural causes, his sister Diana Wolgamott confirmed to local news outlets. Not official cause of death has been confirmed but she said she believes he might have died of a heart attack.
The East LA native was a mainstay in the street dance scene throughout the ’80s and ’90s.
“People couldn’t believe there was a Mexican who could pop,” Falcon once told Soc!ety Dance Academy magazine. “They would challenge me in front of the school or a party or a high school dance. They’d come out, right at you, right in front of your face.”
He got his big mainstream break as Electro Rock 1 in the 1984 breakdancing hit “Breakin,’” starring alongside rapper and future “Law & Order: SVU” star Ice-T and dancer Adolfo Adolfo ‘Shabba Doo’ Quinones, who proceeded Falcon in death at 65 in 2020.
“Yep, just got a text,” Ice-T, 64, tweeted when fans asked him if he’d heard the news. “He was way to [sic] young. Smh.”
Falcon also collaborated with Michael Jackson and danced in the King of Pop’s classic “Smooth Criminal” music video, for which he reportedly choreographed the now-signature, “anti-gravity lean” move.
In addition to dancing for Janet Jackson, Lionel Richie and Chaka Khan, Falco also appeared in a pair of Jackson’s short film projects: “Captain EO,” directed by “Godfather” Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola in 1986, followed by 1988’s “Moonwalker.”
After co-starring in the lackluster sequel “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” Falcon appeared in 1991’s “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” opposite Keanu Reeves and he choreographed live action sequences for Don Bluth’s “Thumbelina” in 1994.
Veteran actress-singer-choreographer Toni Basil, — who starred alongside Jack Nicholson in “Easy Rider,” choreographed “The Rose” and belted out the iconic ’80s dance track “Mickey!” — also shared her condolences via social media.
“Rest In Peace My long time dear beautiful friend and collaborator over many years — the legendary ground breaking brilliant dancer Pop-n-Taco Bruno Falcon,” Basil, 78, tweeted along with a classic clip. “June 10, 1964-July 2, 2022.”