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Friday, December 4, 2009,9:12 AM
Out In The Streets : Spotlight Boogie !!!
Yo people! Marzipan says eat chocolate coated marzipan daily for an euphoric experience. Sure to help in your dance. haha. Ok ignore the above if you are NOT a fan of almonds, of which i am dearly fond of. Go almonds! Go nuts on it!
Alright, enough about nuts. Lets leave them out of the spotlight; And speaking of spotlights, lets turn the attention out towards the streets...Or malls...or wherever la.
Just last week we had Spotlight Boogie over the Hari Raya weekend. It was a blast seeing all those people get down! THANKS again to all those who made Spotlight Boogie a success! Not forgetting you audiences too :)
For those of you who did not catch it, too bad! And for those who are wondering what in the world is spotlight boogie? Check out http://spotlightboogie.wordpress.com for more details including the winning team. Don't be lazy, go check the site. Anyway, it is Singapore's first 3 vs 3 popping battle! Shiok.
So here is my little review about the event. Before i start let me say again that i am reviewing purely as a third party perspective and please do not take offence to anything i say if i do, in any case, offend you. In short, i dont mean to upset anyone la!
First lets start with the hiccups, the not so good stuff. I felt that technical problems with the sound really made the event 30% less "happening". Not only wasnt there any sound technician to help, the speakers were rather crappy. Or the mics...or both...Cant really make out what people are saying even with no music in the background. In addition to the sound problem, there were some issues about song looping and music changing at the wrong time. Maybe it was a bad day for the ears. lol
The next thing that bugged me was that i didnt see enough TEAM ACTION!! Dont get me wrong, the dancers were great, but it felt more like 1v1v1v1v1v1 more than 3v3. I feel the thing that seperates a 2v2,3v3 or crew battle from a 1 vs 1, is the synergy and teamwork. If not, just join a 1v1. I feel its really important to show your teamwork by doing good tags, commando routines, and other interesting stuff that you cant do solo. So people! Go create some synergy!!!
Lastly my only other complain was that, there should be cyphers going on during such dance events!!! Thats what makes it part of the street culture !
Alright now on to the awesomeness things! Ok now i cant be let off if i dont say that the Poppers are crazy man, you guys are growing at such a sick rate. Everyone really leveled up, and some impressed me alot! Keep workin guys, and Singapore will be international soon yeah. WHOOT. Lets take South East Asia first..wahhaah
The other thing that i liked was that the crowd gave their support! At least people of all ages sat, or stood through the whole thing! Thats a start aint it ? :)
Also, thanks to the various sponsors for the awesomeness prizes...damn i wished i couldve taken part lol.. Doc Martens, Walux Caps, Heeren vouchers, ODM watches...what the hell!!
Lastly, thanks Studio Wu and Poppers Action Party for organizing ! Do keep a lookout for the next Spotlight Boogie, till then, its WTF every month for you funkateers.
Hey guys, it’s Jasmine and Ben aka pSyk again. This week, it’s about Style Talk. Every dancer should know their history regardless of what style you are dancing to. Be it Hip Hop, Ballet, Jazz, Breaking, Locking, Popping, Social Dancing, anything. We need to make the effort in reading up on our history, or by watching videos.
Today, we will be covering on the history of Hip Hop.
In the early aspects of the Bronx before and during the creation of Hip Hop (the late 60s and 70s), there was a drastic change going on in the streets of NYC. A gang is like family members, and by that, it means that your family is your complete neighbourhood.
In Hip Hop culture, there is always an association of gang influence. There were many instances where Hip Hop heads were gang members themselves. DJ Kool Herc earned his respect from gangs by giving shoutouts to them while spinning on the wheels of steel, and he kept peace in the jams.
From South Bronx, the biggest gang leader who changed his gang into the biggest Hip Hop motion in the streets of New York and ultimately, the world, is Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation.
The first forms of Hip Hop music was born in the African Americans New Yokers block parties in the Bronx during the 1970s. In the first Hip Hop hits, performers began rapping when the music (especially funk and soul music) played. They were originally called MCs.
In the early 1970s, breaking began as part of the block parties as b-boys, and b-girls had cyphers (jams) and they danced to the drumbeats with footwork, toprocks, freezes and powermoves.
Freestyle Hip Hop came around ’84 as the overexposure of Funk and Bboying reached it's peak, with the release of movies like “Breakin”, “Breakin2/Electric Boogaloo”, and “Beatstreet” as well as other various commercials and videos. In ’85, the dance forms died down and it stayed dead til about ’86.
A club called UNION Square, gave birth to was what is known today as Freestyle Hip Hop. Buddha Stretch’s friend, Tron, prepared a show together with some bboys and poppers, to perform one night. On the night of the performance, the dancers decided not to perform due to the rowdy crowds but instead, they jammed. It was after that night that the club wanted them to perform every week.
Buddha Stretch was the choreographer along with Michele Ann Travis’s help who did the promotion for the club. It was the beginning of Freestyle Hip Hop dance as he incorporated all the dances he knew or just learned into their routines. From there onwards, he went on to dance for the famous group WHODINI, in the summer of 87'.
MOPTOP was officially formed in formed in ’91 and Elite Force did not officially come together as a crew until ’93.
Hip Hop dance is basically, as Buddha Stretched said, an "Urban Social Organised Dance".
Why? Hip Hop dance was inspired by the music. The music gave birth to the movement. And each song gave birth to a certain move. Everyone knew the song, everyone knew the move and they would do it together. It didn't matter who you were or where you were from. It didn't matter what dance background you had, or even if you had any. You could have been a popper, a locker, a breaker. No one cared. Everyone just wanted to have fun. If you went to The Monastery in St. Louis, you would be doing the move named after the club. We use this move so often in our choreographies these days but I think, only 10% of those who know the move actually know the history behind it.
Why is knowing your history so important?
Easy: If you don't know where you came from, you won't be able to move forward. Know your foundations, and understand them. Knowing your history helps you understand the foundations even more. And only by truly understanding your foundations, are you able to create something brand new out of it.
Hey guys! Marzipan is this month's food for thought. But please don't head over to your nearest Candy empire and buy a box of it to eat ok? Might turn you into a rounder you! Haha. Hope everyone's been doing good, this month has been really hectic for me.
Caught the flu on my last day in Korea( yeah i know, scary huh. Its red alert there for H1N1). Spent the first weekend home down n out of action. Thankfully its just a normal flu. But flu wasnt the only thing that caught up with me. Had to prepare choreographies for show, performances and prepare workshop/class choreo as well. Hectic man! Oh and do support us for Spotlight Boogie ok? Its a poppin 3 on 3 event this Fri!!!! hooray... ALL YOU POPPERS BETTER COME
Ok i realized this is turning into a too personal post :) Now onto the article proper
Before i start let me say this again that any reference i make is mostly based on my own learnings and heavily referenced on the style : Popping. :)
Now the beef about this month's article is on understanding the various learning resources/channels available to you
Sounds cheem? Let me break it down.
First you need to know what you can learn from, and this comes mainly in the following forms:
1)Workshops
2)Classes
3)Courses
4)Sessions
5)Performances/Competitions/Battles
I can tell you without a doubt that all the above are essential to maximizing your learning potential. There are alot of people who say that "Sessioning is the best to learn" or "Taking classes is the only way to go" but i say, "DO IT ALL"
Why? you say.
1)Workshops
Workshops are a good one-off learning opportunity. They are useful for giving an introduction to something new, or like an update of something old. Think of it like an advertisement. Going for workshops will most of the time open your mind and open yourself up. You never know, a workshop might change your direction completely. Its also a nice way to test what you like (If you are a new dancer).
2)Classes
Classes to me, is learning about Inspiration, or rather, getting inspired. You do learn when you go for classes but the main thing is getting inspired by the instructor's style. When you go for a class, you learn how the INSTRUCTOR learnt it. You take home a part of the instructor. And when you do choreography, in some way you BECOME the instructor. You cant learn all these in a session, you SHOULDN'T!
3)Courses
Courses are the best way to get started once you know what you like. Think of it as primary+secondary school. It will be like a compulsory period to learn all your foundations. Open classes are too random to really learn foundation in a logical flow. So courses are your best bet in getting a set of basics down and ready to rumble!!! Courses can also achieve the same aim as workshops, but it lasts for a waaaaaay longer period. :P workshops are good for updating things as well.
4)Sessions
Ok....this is like probably the only thing we Poppers look forward to. I admit its a good place to "learn" but it is not the only thing you should do.I repeat its not the ONLY thing you should do to improve. Now what are you supposed to learn during a session? And how is it different from taking a class? Well to me, a session is learning about YOURSELF. It is discovering your own style and understanding how music manipulates your body. KEYWORD : DISCOVERY. It is like a mini journey of discovery in every session.
So how is it different from a class? As i said previously, in class you learn about OTHERS(Your instructor), but in a session you learn about YOURSELF. So please dont make a session like an informal class. Dont keep asking questions about techniques, but rather, just go dance and explore yourself. Keep the learning and stuff for classes. Moderation people!
5)Performances/Competitions/Battles
Ok the last bit is basically learning about the non-technical parts of dance. When you take part in competitions or do performances, you learn how to handle stress, handle other people, expectations, make-up, competitor stress, peer pressure, wardrobe malfunctions, Jittery nerves, etc etc...there are like a hundred of factors out there that you might not learn through class/sessions/workshops.
Yeap so to sum it up, your learning is never ever completely just through ONE source. Go find as many ways to learn as possible. Do not restrict yourself, give yourself the potential that you deserve. LEARN BABY!!! WHOOOOO!
Sup everyone it's me, back again to hit you up with whatever's in my mind.
First of all, WELCOME BACK, MARZIPAN & ZHIMING!
and I wanna share this video with all of you... to me, it's one of the greatest locking showcases (and it was supposed to be a judge move) EVER.
Lockin' Khan from Korea.
So now, to the main story!
I was having a long talk with Marzipan yesterday, together with Rachel (AKA Chio), Alex (Poppin' AC), Kie Loong, Keiths, and I can't really remember who else.
Marzipan was sharing with us about his experience in Korea, and I started bombing him questions like "who did you learn from" / "where did you go" / "what did so-and-so say" / "teach me!" / "show me!" and stuff like that.
Personally I got inspired by Marzipan's rendition of what he picked up from Zero, but the thing that stuck in my head was when he was talking about the "Hard Training" he had with, I think, Crazy Kyo. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)
There was this part about a "flow of foundations" and it really struck me hard. Basically it was about knowing your foundation moves, and then understanding your foundation and realising that there is a "core" for every move.
I'll use a move that everyone will be familiar with for an example. the "RUNNING MAN".
If you don't know what the running man is... then time for you to do some research. hahah. so basically the "core" of the Running Man is the leg action of looking like you're striding / running on the spot. That's the "core". It means you can freely variate your arms, your head, your upper torso, and you can even variate the timing or number of steps of your legs.
In another sense, you're kinda "creating" a new move out of the original Running Man.
What about you? What about the foundation moves that you know? Do you understand the "core" of your foundation moves?
I'll be real honest and upfront here. I've been dancing for 9 years now. And no, I don't fully understand all of the foundation moves I've picked up. Not even popping, and definitely not hip hop. I know my basics, I know my foundations, but I don't truly understand them.
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