Kid n' Play Discuss How “House Party”’s Iconic Dance Battle Has Become a ‘Piece of Art’ They're Proud of (Exclusive)
- - Kid n' Play Discuss How “House Party”’s Iconic Dance Battle Has Become a ‘Piece of Art’ They're Proud of (Exclusive)
Angela AndaloroFebruary 6, 2026 at 1:30 AM
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Tisha Campbell, A.J. Johnson, Christopher Reid, Christopher Martin in "House Party"
New Line Cinema/courtesy Everett
Reginald Hudlin first started House Party as a student film and continued to work at the concept until the release of the movie with New Line Cinema
Hudlin, along with Kid n' Play, discuss some of the film's most memorable moments with PEOPLE
House Party, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in March 2025, has entered The Criterion Collection, which has released it in 4K Ultra HD
House Party still has a special place in viewers' hearts after 35 years, and the talented individuals who made it possible couldn't be more grateful.
Christopher 'Kid' Reid and Christopher 'Play' Martin recently sat down with PEOPLE to discuss House Party's induction into the Criterion Collection, during which they talked about how the dance battle changed the game for them and started a true legacy.
"It's kind of amazing that it does kind of get recreated and reintroduced from generation to generation. It's almost like a piece of art that's being lovingly handed down," Kid tells PEOPLE.
"And to me, it's still amazing when you come across it on social media, young people that weren't even born when the original House Party came out, just kind of recreating it. It's really nothing that we can do about it at this point."
Kid, who recently disclosed that he is recovering from a heart transplant at 61, has a deep appreciation for how fans have kept the film's legacy alive.
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"The movie as a whole, and then just segments of it intertwined, the dance battle being one of them that has really cemented their place within not just the hip-hop culture, but the culture at large," he noted.
Play adds, "When we saw that in the script, basically what we did was a copy and paste situation because from our music video. It was the very first one, being 'Do This My Way,' all the way up to our concerts. As Kid would say as a joke, 'If we ever did a show and don't do that dance, people are going to burn the house down and want their money back.' "
As for how the dance has lived on, Play continued, "I sent him a clip that I filmed the other night, one of my insomniac nights where I was watching an old episode of The Steve Harvey Show, and it just so happens in that episode, him and Cedric the Entertainer says our names and does the Kid 'n Play kickstep in the episode."
"I was like, 'Man, no matter what we do, we ain't getting away from that dance and that moment.' It's not like prior to the movie, we said, 'What kind of dance can we come up with that's going to live forever?' It was something that was very organic and impromptu, matter-of-fact, birthed out of desperation."
"House Party" film poster
Everett
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Everett
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Everett
It was important to the duo that they were able to duplicate the experience on tour, "Because when it was time for us to do touring, we wanted to bring our dancers with us for eye candy and making things exciting on the stage. But at that time, we weren't that established where the promoters was willing to pay for dancers to come on the road with us," Play noted.
"So we had to dance and rap together to hopefully keep the audiences engaged. So that's how that dance came about."
Writer-director Reginald Hudlin told PEOPLE that shooting the scene was "one of the most fun days of my life."
"Tisha and AJ are amazing dancers and they worked out their choreography and, of course, Kid 'n Play, they knew what they do. It just came together so magically and we're shooting it and the music's playing, we're having so much fun. And I didn't want to stop shooting because everybody was just... you knew this was the magic. But we're on such a tight budget, we're like, 'Okay, we've spent a half day on this. Moving on to the next scene.' I'm like, 'No!' "
Hudlin, too, appreciates seeing how generations have embraced the moves from the film.
"I love that on social media, suddenly that scene will pop up. Clips of it will certainly pop up in my feed or young people who are recreating the number, they've learned all the dances, they made their own costumes and they do their version of it. To stand the test of time, to impact not just the people that saw it when it came out, but over generations, it's the best feeling in the world."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
