The dance for non-dancers.
I’ve been having a lot of discussions like this lately with people around my scene.
Why are there b-boys in this world that look like they don’t enjoy dancing?
I loved to dance before I even knew how. I was the little kid who would wild out to a song I liked, anytime, anywhere. I see guys out there doing it now that straight look like they don’t even LIKE dancing. They NEVER nodded their heads to the beat. They dance like it’s a chore. Jumped on the bandwagon, without knowing what they got themselves into!
You can’t just do tricks and power without knowing the dance. You can’t put on icing if you’ve got no cake. You just can’t. There are many other avenues to do that that will get you much farther whether it be olympic gymnastics, Cirque du Soleil, whatever. But why step into OUR world? Why be a b-boy? It’s not that easy if you don’t fucking dance, man.
If you miss out on DANCING, getting loose, you miss out on the meat of breaking. If ALL you do is tricks, you’re just eating the rind of the melon, and if you force your “dancing” for points, you’re choking on it. The dance is in the center, it’s hard to get to, it takes work, and it tastes sweet.
Style is both the beginning and end. Foundation is the key to creativity.
For all lovers of dance, art, music, and culture, this is a video about STYLE. Straight from the streets of ATX we present: Bleedin’ the Block volume III. Featuring myself, Rudy Rexx (HK), Wicket (Renegades/Footwork Fanatix), Gadget (Boogie Bratz), and Frostflow (Ground Illusions).
Please check it out, and if you dig it, feedback and share it!
This was an invite only 7 to smoke I ended up doing over Break Free 2011 last week featuring some of the top b-boys nationally and world-wide including Nino, Thesis, ATN, Palmer, Vicious Vic, Nasty Ray, and local H-town monster Jose. Definitely one of the best 7 to smokes I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of.
Most importantly, I’m just glad I could be a school-bound b-boy, have no time for jams, enter without any preparation at the last minute and still hang with these crazy ass fuckers. I still got tired though, haha. Mad props to everybody. HK raising hell with the flava.
Originals
Bugging out on this thought…
I love the ground-up foundation of b-boying, but some of this new-era authority shit is ridiculous. What is this about keeping the “original” bboy style? Whose original bboy style? Kenny’s style? Leg’s style? Frosty’s style? Trac’s? Spy’s? I’ll tell you this, the original pioneers who made a name for themselves were MAD original, they all did their own shit differently from each other, and they mixed and took from different styles of dance. Did breaking not straight up mix with Latin influence in it’s early days? I think people are getting it twisted, preaching on some Bronx style they just heard about 2 years ago, hating on other dance styles…
Foundation is foundation but STYLE is STYLE. You’re just doing the original pioneers’ moves, but you aren’t doing what the original pioneers DID.
Street styles.
Something about the way people interpret b-boying today makes it seem like a style that makes you forget you’re supposed to be dancing. What defect you have in that area is easily covered up by a heavy powdery layer of moves.
I can’t imagine a b-boy who is a good dancer not appreciating a good house dancer, a good locker, a good popper, or a raw hip hop dancer. Those that hate, I’m afraid that they never got it in the first place.
Take the time to explore these styles because they’re styles that constantly remind you that you are supposed to be DANCING. And apply all that is learned. Won’t hurt, I promise.
