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BBoying is an artform no matter how much we try to deny it BBoying is an artform no matter how much we try to deny it, and the key to art is self-expression. So what everyone is really arguing about is exactly how much of yourself you should be expressing, and how much of someone else you should be expressing, and finding a balance between those two. That "someone else" would be any old pioneer from the '70s Bronx. Do we really want to look like someone else? To my knowledge, those pioneers were expressing themselves and no one else. They all happened to do similar movements because those particular movements were "cool" at the time. Everyone started doing those movements because, if you don't want to get laughed at (or if you want to get laid) you do what everyone else does, and you do it well. But before looking cool and getting laid came into the picture, those very first BBoys, who were just mixing up the Goodfoot with some kung fu and hoofin' (a la Nicholas Brothers), it was about self-expression. Doing what felt good, and filtering that feel-good attitude through a specific medium. And if it looked good too, then dammit, you were gonna do that shit at a club and get laid. If there's one thing that I've noticed about BBoying (and Hip Hop in general, not to mention its predecessors), it's that people love to add other dimensions to whatever foundation they started with, based on whatever happens to be influencing them at the time. BBoys like to take a particular influence and "funkdafy" it, put their little twist on it, and throw it in their footwork (or whatever else). If you study martial arts in addition to breaking, then sooner or later, almost by default, you're going to incorporate a few kicks and flips into your footwork or toprock or power...but you're going to filter it. It won't be done exactly as your sensei taught you...it'll be "funkdafied"...twisted by your own sick mind and turned into a legitimate BBoy move. This has been happening for years, and is only being intensified by continuous exposure to other mediums of self-expression...other artforms. Capoeira has its influence, as does Kung Fu, Jazz, Modern Dance, Gymnastics...you name it, we funkdafy it. So back to self-expression. The meat-and-potatoes of BBoying are basically what the Nigga Twins were doing in the early-to-mid '70s, and what they were doing was their funkdafied blend of what they saw James Brown doing, what they saw Bruce Lee doing, and what they saw the Nicholas Brothers doing. That was what THEY felt like doing at that particular time in their lives, based on their particular influences and the particular forms of music that were in existence at that time. They did toprock-drop-footwork-freeze to the break in this song called Apache because it just felt right (and it got them laid). Essentially, it was a reaction to their environment, filtered through their personalities and influences into a form of self-expression that caught on pretty quickly, because it looked good, it felt good, and the ladies loved it. They had no idea that what they were doing would one day change the world. They were just buggin' out and having fun. But lo and behold...throughout the years, thousands upon thousands of young people around the world have jumped onto what they started (monkey see, monkey do, because monkey wants girl monkey). It looks good, it feels good, and it's fun. But so many people are forgetting the funk aspect. Just like most BBoys do not incorporate martial arts moves into their dancing without twisting those moves around, many BBoys are forgetting that you do not need to dance EXACTLY like the Nigga Twins (but of course you can if you want to). So the pattern becomes this: look at the original style of BBoying and filter that through your own personality and your own influences, based on what feels right to you, and the end result will be your own sick creation. And if it looks good, then you just might get laid. Whoopee. What Chronos and I often talk about is subtracting superficiality from BBoying. How would I dance if I didn't care about looking good? Or if I didn't care what the crowd thought of me? What would my moves look like if I only did them because they were fun, and not because other people enjoyed watching them? How would I dance if I expressed what I TRULY feel inside? Essentially, I would be naked. You would see who I REALLY am, and not what I want you to see. You would see right through the front I put up. You would see right through my mask of self-confidence. You would see right through my impenetrable armor, and you would see ME. This is what we see in art. Painters, musicians, singers, dancers...all are baring their Souls before our very eyes. Picasso didn't care about perfect technique in his painting, which is why he painted the twisted versions of reality we admire so much today. We see his Soul in those paintings. Charlie Parker did a LOT of heroin. Why? Because he knew, as all Jazz aficionados know, that when you play that music, your Soul is on display for public viewing. That is fucking SCARY. The heroin took away all of Charlie Parker's inhibitions, and to this day, we can listen to his records and admire just how beautiful his Soul really was. Can you imagine a crowd of people staring at your true self? Not you with your Hip Hop Regalia, but YOU. The naked, vulnerable, and very afraid YOU. I don't think you can. I can't. That's a pinnacle of self-expression that few people will ever reach, simply because we're all so ashamed of who we really are. This is the level of self-expression I'm looking at: How would I dance without my Buffalo Disguise? How would people perceive it? Who cares? Do I really want to be able to express my true self and share it with everyone, or would I rather remain in my cozy little world where you only see what I let you see? I completely understand that most BBoys are not interested in this type of thing, but it's my hobby and passion. I like to apply abstract art and philosophy to dancing. Pay no heed. |
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