"This ain't a battle, it's a war"
If I were to ask you what type of film that line came from, would you say an action flick or a war movie? In fact, it's actually taken from a new dance movie that was released this week in the US, Battlefield America.
The premise, as in most dance movies, is pretty simple - a rag-tag group of under-privileged youth are pulled together into a lean, mean dancing machine by an young lawyer (sounds a little like The Mighty Ducks, but that's another story).
The structure of the plot revolves around the kids winning the big competition at the end, the Hip-Hop battle, hence the war metaphors. Whilst I don't have problem with the movie per say, it did get me thinking about battling.
Hip-Hop battling began with the birth of breaking, when breakers formed crews and the crews would 'battle' each other. The idea was that the neighborhood kids would be so invested in their breaking and their crews, that they would be less likely to get involved in the violence and criminal activity so often found the lower socio-economic areas of the inner-cities.
Over the last 30 years, battling moved out of the inner-cities and into the suburbs. Crews now battle each other on stage, in organized Hip-Hop competitions for the right to call themselves the best crew. There's even America's best dance crew, a TV show dedicated to crews battling each other with choreographed dance routines.
Whilst I love that Hip-Hop culture, it's four elements and the spirit of the streets has branched out into a world-wide phenomenon, I feel that there's also many ways in which that same spirit is being interpreted incorrectly. Whilst the visual impact of Graffiti, MCing, Breaking etc, is easy to translate, the spirit of the culture isn't one that's easy to understand and appreciate, and it's even harder to embody.
When we 'battle' in the Australian sense, it's less metaphorical and more real. It's seems that movies with the good and evil protagonists have shaped in our minds a version of battling where 'our team' is on one side, and 'your team' is on the other.
This 'us vs them' mindset divides communities, and dance communities especially. Whilst dance school owners and teachers may be a part of that larger dance community, their students aren't yet, and the worry I have for the future is that as the next generation of teachers and owners comes through, the 'battle scars' will leave the local dance community fractured and scattered.
The key thing to remember and to promote among your pupils, is the spirit of Hip-Hop, and I'm not talking about some swagger they might've purchased in the way of some new kicks off from Eastbay.
I'm talking about the spirit that creates something from nothing, that requires us to come together to celebrate and share our creations.
We all love dance, we all love the music, lets enjoy the culture together and not let our 'battles' define our identities.
1 comment:
2 months ago, as you know, I started dancing. I was looking for away to get fit but to also build my confidence and find another way to express myself. Through the teachers and people that attend Pure Funk, I found not only these things in such a short time, but I have also found a place that I can almost call home. When I walk up those stairs I feel like I've come to a safe and happy environment. Which is an amazing feeling.
Dance to me, like music, should never be used to breed negative feelings. Dance to me is expression, it's passion and it's freedom....as well as something that can be shared. I feel like dance battles should be treated almost like a sport. You go, you dance and at the end, you shake hands and share that buzz and atmosphere.
Sorry for the long-winded response and thank you for this post. :)
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