Just thought id share something before floor the love :) We ( as in the regular ppl ive been practicing with) have begun to really stress alot about feel these days. Now as i posted earlier, i feel that when you have rhythm, it makes you seem like you are dancing, but feel is what makes you dance. So feeling is important to cultivate. Well ive been thinking and while finishing my exams the other day(yay!) , i thought essay writing was a good analogy for battling.
It might be a little long and i dont really have time to edit now, but hope you guys can get some inspiration from it
Ok here goes :
Lets say you were to write a composition, and you had a theme or topic to write about. And you choose to write it in english. You write the essay, using your own style of writing. You write with a good flow and end well.
Yup thats the scenario. So let me break it down into dance terminology.
Firstly the music is the topic. It is the thing that gives direction and goal in your dance.
Then, language is the style. Like for example, writing a very similiar in meaning compo but one using english while the other using chinese, have very different structure, although sharing same meaning. The way vocab is used, sentence structure, forms of expression are all different yet convey the same meaning. That to me is like hip hop, popping, breaking, locking, etc Where we all learn to express the music, but using different methods/styles.
Ok so for me i would write this from a poppers point of view, so lets say popping is english. So im writing now in english.
Then next would come the actual writing stage. How do you want to write your essay? Do you want to start with a bang and then end low? Build up the climax? Start funny end serious? Start with a mystery? a twist?? Etc... this is how your freestyle battle will look like. You can choose the way you want to tell your story while u dance. And just like some stories, certain combinations are ideal but not essential. Take for example funny stories, It is effective to start out with a bang and hold readers attention and end nicely. For horror stories its good to build suspense and end with a climax. Translate those into dancing example and itll be : For a fast funky song, it may be good to start feeling high and then end nicely. For a heavy repetitive song, it may be good to slowly buildup ure set and end with a climax.
Thats just like ideal methods for certain situations, but of course you are free to find your own way as that is your own style of writing. we can always start or end however we want it to cuz ultimately it is our OWN freedom of expression.
Which brings me to the next part, post analysis.
Like compo, a good flow is essential to convey the story perfectly. It is weird if you write your intro paragraph and then suddenly out of nowhere throw in a twist, then climax, then suddenly jump to the end and back into present. It is too complex for people to understand at first read ( which is what happens during a battle. There is no way for judges or people to rewind the battle over n over again before judging) . So thats why EVEN THOUGH you really feel the story and express it in your OWN way, it might not be enough. Because in this world, everyone has certain norms or certain unspoken rules to things. So even though we do have our right to 100% freedom of expression, if we want to be judged well by others, we need to stick to certain norms. Thats why flow structure and the way you structure your freestyle is important. You cant just go out there and let loose, hoping itll be good. Sure u will feel the music n all but then there is a chance most people wont be able to "read" your dance well. So having a good idea of how u want to structure different song types is a good training topic as well :) keep in mind!
There is one more point id like to bring up as well. That is "Biting". You all know that biting means stealing/copying something and using it. Well that can be translated to essay writing too. Lets say you read a very well done novel that is based on romance. You really like the way the person structures the story or maybe u just like the way he starts or ends. You then remember it and then when next time you write on a romantic topic you write the exact same thing for your start or end or whatever part u copied n pasted. If the person who marks your paper doesnt know you, he would read it and feel yeah that is a really good paper and he would give you good marks. But if he has read the romance novel before, he would recognize the exact same style and he will penalize you. Not only that, if you do get away with it and get high marks, in the future, you wouldnt be able to write your own essay because you are so dependant on other people for help. You need to "bite" to come out with "new" things. But in truth u are just 1 step behind the person you bite always.
Some lessons to be learnt here. For one, if you like something you see/read, take the essence of it not the whole thing. Take some time to think or study it. Dont just copy wholesale. Ask yourself how did this person think of this? or why this person does it. Or maybe it makes sense to link it that way? Or maybe its just a random thing? Yeah and take that lesson and apply to your own thinking n freestyle. Not COPY. That way it is yours and still you make use of something you like, and make ure ownself grow. If you rely on biting or videos always for inspiration, that is not very healthy because you will always be a follower. Without those videos you will never GROW on your own. Whats the point?
*Added on : When you are helping someone out, you cant say whats wrong or whats right when it comes to feel or freestyle. Only technique can be more fairly judged wrong or right. Feel can only be commented on. So when you see someone freestyle, you should guide and comment on them rather than teach and tell them dont do this or do this. Techniques can be taught but feel can only be guided. Everyone is unique so we cant teach our own uniqueness. We can only guide them from your perspective and give suggestions. Look at it this way, if you were to mark someone else's essay, youd definitely be able to see whether grammer is wrong, or spelling is wrong (technique) but how can you say his storyline is wrong??? its his own story. Not yours.
So please start watching videos with a proper mindset and you will be amazed at what you can come up with YOURSELF. Not by biting. Inspiration is important, but dont be a thief.
-^_^arC
