“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.” - Angela Monet
When I was in elementary school, I used to dance all the time in my room with my sister. We would close the door, turn up the music, and go wild. Though my fun from dancing died as I entered middle school, it captivated me again in high school. From “Visions of Vietnam” to Homecoming to Fantatics, I would stay for countless hours everyday after school and practiced each choreographed piece, until it was imprinted into my brain. One dance after another, new intricate moves challenged me every time, but I did it because I wanted to look the best.
Dancing is not simple, and I know that. It takes a huge amount of exertion, concentration, and dedication to be able to make your moves look crisp, clean, and most of all, effortless. I had always thought dancing was an easy thing to learn; I mean it’s just moving parts of your body around to the rhythm of the music, right? Wrong. America’s Best Dance Crew exhibits dance crews from across the nation to compete against each other to show their ability in the technique of hip-hop dancing. There are broad ranges of styles when it comes to hip-hop, such as popping, locking, and the ever-so-common breakdancing. These styles do not take seconds to master, but months of hard work, dedication and practice.
But where does these individuals’ devotion come from? Do they dance because their parents have told them to, or do they dance because it is their dream and they have something motivating them every step of the way? Their passion: where did it come from and why? Well, that is what I hope to find out.
As I began my research, I did not know where to start.
Should I go to the library or Barnes and Nobles? You can’t find books on how dancers acquire their passion and dedication because most books are on how to dance or the origin of dancing. I situated myself on my red swivel chair at my smooth wooden table and spun around, not knowing what to do. My spins began to slow down and I realized that I was focusing a little too much on my essential question when I didn’t know the basics of hip-hop. A drop of sweat went down my forehead, as it was a little too late to go to the library. The Internet it was.
Let the investigation commence!
I discovered that all the moves of hip-hop are connected to two cultural groups: African Americans and Hispanics. Hip-hop is a type of street dance that was created from folk art traditions and new styles tend to be discovered when people form a circle that around dancers performing on the floor. A circle is formed usually when people are intrigued by a dancer’s freestyling, meaning improvisational dance, or when two dancers battle each other to establish who’s superior. These certain types of events often take place on the streets, schoolyards, and nightclubs. The history of hip-hop is united with the history of hip-hop music no matter how you look at it. A Jamaican-American began developing the sound that hip-hop dancers have utilized as break beats. These beats and moves allow dancers to create dance moves which are changed into a dance piece. Break beats have allowed countless moves such as breaking, popping, locking, waving, sliding, and krumping. Majority of these moves are the basis to hip-hop dancing and are a need to know in order to begin.
One of most popular move is popping, which is where one pops a certain part of the body – majority of the times people use their arms. On an instructional video that I found, to begin, one must have their hand flat (like a karate chop). First drop their middle knuckles so that it makes a 90-degree angle, then drop the rest of their fingers to their real knuckles and drop straight down their hand to their wrist. One’s elbow should be below their wrist and their hand should be pointing down, so that the arm makes a slight triangle. Now raise both fingertips and elbow and drop the wrist. I began to follow the video and it was entirely confusing for my brain to comprehend. I wasn’t used to learning things off videos, as an instructor in person seemed more helpful.
Like all topics, hip-hop has its own history, which may be one of the key essentials that draw in people to become hip-hop dancers. My research did not lead me very far in finding the answers that I needed, but it was very helpful as I created my discussion questions. The essential question was still left unanswered, which led me to my next step: the interview.
I started to create letters for requesting an interview. Whom would I interview though? I asked four interviewees. Some rejected me automatically while others accepted, then rejected. The negative responses seemed endless. I rapidly rushed to my computer and logged on to Facebook to find a dancer among my friends that could lend me a hand in such a critical time. My eyes were as big as an owl's, scrolling through my friend list, and I spotted the name, Melfred Ignacio. Melfred used to be the "dancer" of Wilcox High School, but now since he had graduated, he has been in various dance crews around the Bay Area. I decided not to waste any time and instant messaged him with my request for an interview. I hit success.
It was a cold Thursday night as I stood outside the Infinity Dance Studio waiting for Melfred to show up. It was just a regular ordinary place with shops aligned with it, such as Jack-In-The-Box, a convenience store, and a small Chinese fast food place. As I took out my aqua, Juke phone, the time hit 9:40 pm.
Ten minutes late. Maybe he is inside already. I looked through the door. The other dancers began stretching and gave me weird looks as I stood outside. A middle-aged man – maybe late thirties – wearing a black hat, jacket, and basketball shorts with a red t-shirt and a pair of black and red Nikes, approached me from my left and asked me if I was Melfred's friend. I nodded my head and he introduced himself as Jeffro, the dance director. We began to chat for a bit when I decided to ask him my essential question. I asked him where does your passion and commitment for dancing come from? "It's about art and expression. One thing that I love that it keeps you away from trouble. Many of these kids that I have here are still in their teens and it's better for them to be here and dance rather them being on the streets and getting into trouble with drugs or whatever." He invited me into the studio and told me that I could stay as long as I needed to complete my I-Search.
An interview and a site observation? Ms. Courey would say that's killing two birds with one stone, haha.
Melfred arrived at the studio and we began the interview immediately. He sported a somewhat long hairstyle while wearing a simple blue sweater with black basketball shorts and a pair of brown Nike shoes. As I started plowing through each question, I could tell that he was a little nervous since he was fidgeting and his tone of voice was slightly shaky. Dancing caught his interest when he fell in love with the creation process and started to pick up choreographed moves from YouTube. “I dance because simply, I love it and there’s nothing I really rather do. Some people say don’t let dance take over your life, but there’s not one day that goes by that I don’t think about dancing. So pretty much, it’s my passion.”
Bingo! Right on the spot.As I continued, we finally hit the most important question of all. “Where does my passion and commitment come from?” Initially he wants to get really good at it and be all that he can be and he loves performing on stage. “Uh, I really don’t know how to explain it. It’s just there, it comes from the heart and it’s like ah, like fire.”
I understood where Melfred was coming from. Passion is one of those feelings you could not put into words, but you can show. Everyone has a different story about what motivates him or her to dance, and it is inspiring to hear such stories, such as Jeffro’s. From growing up and watching people you know dance or finding your talent, what I have learned is that it starts from the beginning, and carries on until the end. The interview was truly a success, but I wasn’t done here. I wanted to know does the environment where they practice affect their dancing? There was only one way to find out.
Melfred and I headed back into the studio so he could begin exercise with the other dancers. The Infinity Dance Studio is pretty much a simple four-wall room with a simple smooth teal tiled floor for easy dancing. One wall consists of the full-length mirror while the other wall holds the trophies and awards won through sweat and months of hard work. The moment I walked into that room, I felt a little intimidated by all the other dancers with their deceitful and sharp glances. I was introduced as Melfred’s friend and a few gave me a friendly smile while others brushed me off. I sat in the corner and started my observations.
Watching the dancers exercise was like watching one of those workout videos. The music was turned loud so you could hear the beats, and everyone was doing the same movements for a period of time. “Ready? 1, 2, 3,” someone shouted. The room had a sudden shift in mood as it went from pumped to awkward as everyone started doing pelvic thrusts in the air as I was sitting there, just examining. Time went by slowly as if one was sitting in class waiting for the period to end. At the end of the workout, the dancers were told that they had to perform their homework, which was to create eight eight-counts to a song of their choice. Finally, some dancing.
Each dancer began to perform their piece – or homework – one by one in front of the director and classmates. First a dancer danced their piece, showing little effort by sticking an arm out here and there and making small movements, and I thought, that’s it? But as life likes to prove me wrong, the dancer went a second time with full force, captivating me into their dance with their precise moves, spins, and slides across the floor. What I found fascinating was that you could tell what a person was like by their song choice and the way they moved. It was like they were showing me who they were in just a few seconds of movements. Also the way they danced set the mood in the room. A guy named John Asilo went up and changed the room into laughter with his funny moves by jumping into the air while making facial expressions such as, bobbing his head back and forth while sticking his tongue out in his dance and upbeat song. As Layne Bloom came right after him, the room was completely calm as her song was slow and soothing to the ears and her movements were graceful and meaningful as she made each turn and spin, or an extension of her arms creating wings.
My experience at the dance studio was utterly breathtaking since I was taken to a whole new level. I experienced something challenging to describe into words as I felt the emotions from each dance and dancer. They must know how to control the room according to how they feel so that the audience can grasp the same emotions. Leaving the studio, I never believed dancing could affect my soul and inspire me. I wanted to know how they were able to create such power? Sadly, my I-Search was coming to and end.
Throughout the whole I-Search process, I honestly have to say I enjoyed the journey. My essential question led me all over the place, from the beginning of dance to current modern dancers. I have learned there is not one answer to why dancers are dedicated to dancing, but thousands of them. Each person holds something different that fuels the fire of passion, as corny as that may sound. Before the research all I did, I danced without thinking, but now meeting new people who had such a strong passion for dancing makes me wonder if I can do it too?
There were a lot of difficulties and challenges in trying to research and write in my I-Search. During the research, I did not know where exactly to start or what information I was looking for. Obviously my main question could not be answered through books. I had a hard time selecting which piece of information should be entered into my I-Search, but nothing was as hard as trying to describe each dancer’s move to match the feeling that they gave off during the site observation. Nevertheless, I loved how I was able to use my own voice for this style of writing as it opened more options for me. Plus, it was exciting to meet professional dancers and having the opportunity to watch them dance although it lasted until one in the morning.
In the end, hip-hop dancing has caught my interest and may be a potential path in my life. I want to take my whole dancing ability to another level. Can I create this passion for dancing? Can I make people feel my emotions as I dance? Who knows, that is something I have to try out on my own. Now I have the knowledge to explore, discover, and become a dancer.
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WilcoxVSA & Santa Clara VSA
