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The Empire Roller Rink in 2006. The Empire Roller Disco was a 30,000-square-foot roller rink located at 200 Empire Blvd., in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. [1] The birthplace of roller disco, [2] it was the first venue to showcase jammin', a skate style invented by its attendee and employee Bill "Mr. Charisma" Butler. [3] [1]
The National Museum of Roller Skating referred to Butler as "an original influencer" in jam skating, stating that "Butler’s iconic moves and styles inspired many of the popular moves and styles of today". [3] The New York Times and The City Reliquary have referred to Butler as "the Godfather of Roller Disco". [1] [2]
The inventor of jam skating and an influencer during the 1979 craze, [9] Butler is today known as the Godfather of Roller Disco. [ 8 ] In 1957, serviceman and rollerskater Bill "Mr. Charisma" Butler visited the Empire Roller Rink, where he found all-black clientele skating to organ music.
In the 1960s, Detroit skater Mr. Charisma created a new style of roller skating he called "jammin'", [8] [9] possibly at the Arcadia Roller Rink in Michigan. [10] [11] While in New York, Butler convinced skater Gloria McCarthy, whose father owned the Empire Skate Center, to start a "Bounce" night to showcase his new style of skating.
Bill Butler (skater), inventor of jam skating, "Godfather of Roller Disco", and choreographer of 2005 film Roll Bounce; Jim Bray, co-star of Roller Boogie (1979)
Lee Greenwood, known for his song "God Bless the U.S.A.," is set to take the stage at the swearing-in. "I am humbled and honored to be asked to perform for our 47th President Donald J. Trump ...
Butler was shot and killed in the line of duty while attempting to apprehend Eric Michael Fiddler, 34, of Litchfield, on outstanding warrants. Funeral services scheduled for July 3 for slain ...
In 1979, Cue magazine praised the rink as "a fabulous $2 million roller disco in a former movie theater" and "the front-runner of the roller-disco craze". [5] Similarly, in that year's ranking of various roller discos, Cue described New York's Empire Roller Disco, the birthplace of roller disco, [12] as "not as snazzy as the Roll-A-Palace". [13]