Kids Freestyle Krumping

It's apparent that the class as a whole is very fond of krumping, clowning, and break dancing. This afternoon I happened to stumble upon a video that shows young boys krumping and I just had to share it with you! I know we discussed that krumping is more of a dance battle, but these three young boys seem to be working with each other while battling at the same time by showcasing their moves one by one. Enjoy this video!

Clown Dancing in Music Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ3NwD8qnDg

This is an interesting video that talks about using clown dance in music videos. I find it unique that clown dance, a dance that is part of the underground hip hop culture, finds a place within commercialized music and music videos. Does an account from MTV News give exposure to this form of dance for others to imitate and study? I think it does, and allows for other musicians and rappers to use this form of dance in more commercialized settings. After all, a few years ago, So You Think You Can Dance did do a portion on krumping, and now has a regular place within the competition show. Will this dance culture evolve to get away from a place in music videos, or will they embrace the expansion and exposure of their dance style?

"Rize" article

http://www.bboy.org/forums/interviews-articles/64333-krumping-rize-captures-exuberant-dance-genre.html

-Just interesting... check it out. It's an article from a BBoy blog. A lot about the director as well as the relationship between the dancing seen in "Rize" and how it effects the lifestyle in the areas where that dance is present. Helped me out a bit on the last question of the worksheet.

Krumping in Korea

Hey all,
So going off of what we heard/learned about krumping yesterday, here's a clip of krumping in a different region: Korea. It's a tad long, so perhaps just watch a few minutes of it. After hearing what our guests had to say about breakdancing being different in various geographic regions yesterday (i.e. Brooklyn being more focused on footwork), do you see any stylistic differences and/or similarities in the clip compared to the couple examples that we saw in class yesterday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfgZuNeYAeY

Thanks!

Get Ready to Krump

Tomorrow in class I will present the article: The Multiringed Cosmos of Krumping By Christina Zanfagna. Before reading the article, I had little knowledge of Krumping past the routines I saw on So You Think You Can Dance. After reading the article, I learned that Krumping has much more meaning than I ever expected. The dancers who Krump dance with a purpose and it allows them to escape reality for a second. In addition, Krumping tells a story, challenges dancers, and creates contained battles between crews. I will teach you all this and more tomorrow, but in the meantime, I thought I would share a little Krumping preview with you: Check out this video from SYTYCD!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6THP9YHh6Q

What is your reaction to the dancing you see in this video? What emotions are the dancers expressing?

Thanks!

Alex

Meaning of Hip Hop

After reading the article for this week about the culture of Hip Hop, it reminded me of topics I'm discussing in my pop culture class. In this class, we are discussing what pop culture is and how it is created. Institutions create the ideas we see in everyday life that we recognize as "popular" because they are dominant. In these terms, hip hop dancers are almost a subordinate culture, fighting against the norm. They are constantly reinventing and adding to their styles with their groups and dance moves. Since they have some historical connection to gangs, hip hop dance is "looked down upon" by society in some ways, but the B-boys are constantly fighting and proving themselves capable; they are in a constant struggle and battle for survival. I thought it was powerful when the dance was described in the article as telling a story. While the dance may be improvised and seem like a random set of moves, the B-boys are actually making "clear statements about who they are and their relationship to the world"; there is a purpose and meaning behind every move they make, and it is up to the viewer to interpret the text of dance (Aesthetics, 91). I have to give B-boys a lot of credit for constantly fighting and wanting to prove their identity, even when higher powers are against them.

Evolution of Dance video

Hey everyone, so I guess I'll start this blog off. I found this video of a comedian dancing through the decades. It's an interesting approach to dance in our culture. Throughout the semester (by looking at the syllabus) it seems we will be talking about different types of dances throughout various subcultures. In this video, the comedian goes through the decades using songs that were very big in pop culture for the time. All of these dances are seen as somewhat "American" from the "Twist" to the "Cotton Eyed Joe" in a different way from the "Square Dance" to the "Hula," which are most based on subcultures. Each song he dances to has its own dance, that basically everyone (who was alive at the time in this country) knows. I found this a different way to study and look at Dance in American Culture. Dances often are the result of songs as is the case here. Many of these dances came from the artist's music video such as N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye." Here's the link, it's really funny and you can all dance along.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg&feature=bf_play&playnext=1&list=QL&index=1