I meant to do this as a brief introduction to breakdancing at the end of todays lecture but the lecture on the economy of Africa ran a bit long. Anyways, this is going to be the gist of what I wanted to say. Breakdancing (nowadays more commonly known as Bboying) originated from, you guessed it, New York City. It originally consisted of using powerful gymnastics moves such as the flare in street dances. As time went on, more moves began to enter the art of breakdancing. Before the 2000s, breakdancing was commonly associated with gang violence. However, the stereotype, though believed by many who I consider old school hardly exists. Though apparel and certain languages may reflect certain gang behaviors, today dance crews dance for the sake of self expression. How developed has this once gang related activity become you may ask? Well for one, Red Bull (yes the energy drink) sponsors an annual international competition inviting the greatest dancers from around the world. The competition, known as Red Bull BC One has guest starred global celebrities such as Rihanna and staged the competition in a variety of stadiums including the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. I will talk more about the structure of bboying itself on Wednesday, but I would like to emphasize the bboying is in simple terms, a form of self expression. There are categories and names for different types of moves but in the end they are just names to give the art some form structure. Bboying is quite comparable to painting. We understand colors, brushstrokes and shapes, and based on their organization, we call the art abstract, or surreal, or finger painting. But in the end, it doesnt matter what the painting is categorized as. What is important is that we understand that every artist has his or her individual style, and that in the bboying community, and the dance community itself, we respect and appreciate that individuality. Below is a video battle hosted by Red Bull displaying the representatives of Brazil and Morocco participating in the BC One competition in Seoul. You do not need to watch past the first round (unless you want to) but what I want you to pick up on is the style of each Bboy. Mounir (Brazil representative, black tank top) utilizes a lot of Capoeira (a Brazilian form of gymnastics) in his style of dance while Lil Zoo (Morocco Representative with the luscious hair and blue sweatshirt) has an equally energetic style but is a bit more wild as he dances. This will show you the differences between the styles of bboying and how the dance is much more dependent on the individuals preferred style. https://youtube/watch?v=kTXtKF0RI-k If you made it to the bottom and read through the whole thing, you deserve a gold star. I hope you look forward to the dance workshop as much as I do and remember to meet in the Sadler Center Chesapeake C on Wednesday instead of Ewell. See ya then!
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 21:19:10 +0000
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