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Name: David Bernal Date of Birth: 8/2/79 Location: Santa Ana, CA. Dancing Since: 1996 Meaning of "Elsewhere": 1) Reference to the state of disconnection I experience while dancing. When I focus on my movements to the point that I become oblivious to my physical setting, I am mentally elsewhere. 2) The direction I attempt to push my style. Reasons for Dancing: 1) addicted to it - it has become a compulsive habit to bust everywhere and under any circumstance 2) the feeling - physically and mentally liberating 3) artistic outlet - satisfies the innate human aspiration to be creative 4) music - some sounds are impossible not to move to 5) freaking people out - satisfies my innate aspiration to be uncanny 6) exercise - it's more fun than jogging Dance Influences (in chronological order) Squid - My long time friend Manuel was the one who originally got me interested in popping and breaking back in 1996. Since then I have continuously been influenced off his style and attitude. Salty - After about half a year of trying to both pop and break, I saw a video of this guy and was dumbfounded. At that time I had never seen a dancer as intricate and versatile as he was. I have no idea who this guy really was. The only dancing I ever saw from him were five sets he busted in a video, yet I consider him one of my biggest influences. Not only did he inspire me to shift my primary focus to popping but, his style became the basis for my foundation early on. Skywalker - After two years of dance experience my ability was decent and my style was emphasized by waves and footwork (float, glides, walks, etc). Around this time I attended a rave and was once more humbled by the skill of another dancer. Seeing the degree of Skywalker's fluidity, made me aware of how far the potential for illusionistic movement could be pushed, especially with waving. Above all Skywalker's influence resulted in my style becoming much more fluid and exaggerated. Besides the initial instance I was exposed to him, there were only a few other occasions in the succeeding years in which I saw Skywalker bust again. It has not been until relatively recent that we have corresponded with each other. Mr. Animation - After seeing him bust at Venice Beach and Radiotron, Animation swayed my concentration into areas of popping I was less practiced in, such as: hitting and animation. He also rekindled my interest in character walks. Bboying in general - Since I started dancing I have always been inspired off of Bboying. Yet it's influence did not become fully apparent in my style until after my abilities in waving, popping, etc. had significantly matured. My constant stimulation to Bboying influenced me into adopting many Bboy ideas and elements into my style. The primary ideology that has attracted me about the Bboy scene is how originality is held in such high regard. More specifically breaking has influenced me to integrate ground moves into my style. Comments on Solo in "Detours" My First scene is a collection of footage of me dancing in a variety of urban, desolate settings. These scenes are complimented with montage like sequences with abstract and ambiguous imagery. There is no intended meaning for this scene as a whole, yet much of the images I chose for the collage sequences have some personal significance to me. The main point of this scene is to simply show me dancing elsewhere, away of the traditional context of the circle and in more provocative environments. My Second Scene is a collection of performance and battle footage from over the years. In this scene I show more of my battle moves and ground moves. The scene starts off with me in a club/event like setting, then transitions over into an array of barren landscapes and eventually into my dance footage. The contrast of these settings is an attempt to illustrate the mental wanderings I experience while under the influence of movement. My Third scene is entitled "The Floor is my canvas" and it's meaning is self-explanatory. In this scene I wanted to manifest the fact that dancing is art by showing the similarity between the marks of a paintbrush and movements of the human body. More specifically I wanted to parallel abstract art with abstract dancing, for this reason I chose what I consider my more abstract type movements. "The Floor is my canvas" includes practice footage from 1998 to the present. Practices and Philosophies Over the years I have tallied up a variety of practices and philosophies that I believe have significantly helped myself towards being a better and more original dancer. By no means do I expect everything on this list to work for everybody. I simply want to let it be known what I believe has worked for me. You can take it or leave it. Being myself - as corny as this might sound I think that being myself has been one of the most important attitudes that I have maintained. By "being myself" I mean dancing the way I sincerely want to dance, regardless of what others think or what the latest trend is. Being myself, has kept me motivated because I am doing what I truly want to do. Trusting my own judgment - This is very much related to "Being Myself", because being your true self requires some degree of trust in your own judgment. By "trusting my own judgment" I mean having the faith and confidence in my own taste and creativity to determine how I want to dance. Listening to feedback is helpful to me; yet ultimately I try to always trust my own judgment. Dancing habitually - I've got in the habit of busting out whenever my body and mind are not occupied. While I'm waiting for my lunch to heat up in the microwave or when I'm browsing through the aisles at the supermarket I'll usually be practicing something. By making a habit of dancing wherever and whenever possible makes the whole day a practice session. Experimenting - Even though dancing is an art, trying to come up with your own moves and style makes it seem more like a science due to the amount of trial and error that is involved. For every decent move that I add to my repertoire there are usually dozens that are too lame to use. My experience has proven that the more moves I attempt to create, the more likely I am of creating moves worth keeping. Writing moves down - In attempt to remember all the moves, sets, routines and styles that I think of, I catalog everything, even ideas for moves. I always try to have my move-list with me for reference when practicing. Practicing by repeating - Whenever I make up a new move, set, routine or style that is worth keeping, I won't actually use it (performing) until I know it by heart; am able to execute it unconsciously. In order to get it down, I practice the particular thing I'm trying to learn over and over and over again. Exploring where others haven't - In dancing I have found that particular areas are easier to be original in than others. I think that certain styles are less explored than others and this leaves more room for innovation. From the artistic perspective, the less traveled path is usually always the more rewarding one and the one I have tried to stay on. Looking for influence beyond dancing - Dancing is an Art form that is based on movement. Beyond the scope of dancing there is a world of movement to be inspired by: machines, nature, kangaroos, etc. Mixing Styles - Anything that is seemingly original is only an original mixture of preexisting elements. Bboying is the perfect example of this principle and the Detours Parallel scene illustrates it. In light of this premise, I feel that an efficient way to achieve originality is to mix-n-match moves, styles, and influences until you create a concoction that you can call your own. Ignoring labels - Labels can hinder one's aim of being original because they devise implicit boundaries. For example someone might say: To be a Bboy you have to do this, but you can't do that, because if you do, you're not a true Bboy. Of course my own intention was never to fit into a particular conventional criteria but to be a unique hybrid. As Benny Golson has said, "When new things are discovered they have no name&they defy description." Using my influences to realize my own potential - There is a natural tendency to imitate what influences you. I think some degree of imitation is expected and even necessary for an individual to learn, especially for beginners. Speaking from my own experience, I became more original when I began using my influences as insight for realizing my own potential. I realized that I could alter and even improve upon the moves and styles that influenced me into something that was distinctly my own. One of the most important things that has helped me do this, has been... Relying on my memory and not videos for reference - Like most people I have the natural tendency to subconsciously imitate movements I am frequently exposed to. I feel videos have the potential of doing more harm than good because multiple viewings make me more disposed to mimicry. Seeing Skywalker and Animation bust only on a few occasions prevented me from directly imitating them because all I had to go by was the memories in my head. Using memory alone as reference allows my creativity to manipulate external influence into something that is more of my own innovation. Practicing Alone - I have found that it is more productive to practice alone than with people. This is partly because I feel like I am performing more than practicing when I have eyes looking at me. Practicing with people doesn't give me the full opportunity to experiment because I become too self-conscious. Using a Mirror - I have found that using a mirror is extremely helpful when practicing because it gives instantaneous feedback. I know exactly how my moves look and can immediately critique myself. The only thing I would advise against would be getting so used to the mirror that you can't perform well without one. To prevent this I try to practice just as much without a mirror. Videotaping myself - I try videotaping myself once and in a while. It is just as helpful as using a mirror to me. The only drawback is that it's not instantaneous feedback; you don't see what you're doing when you're doing it. Videotaping has several advantages over a mirror. You don't have to pay attention to your reflection thus allowing your mind to concentrate on just dancing. By recording yourself you, are able to observe things that are difficult to see in the mirror, like spins and ground moves. Videotaping yourself also gives you the opportunity to see what your moves look like from a variety of angles. Music Influences The particular type of music that interests and influences me is difficult to categorize as one genre. It is a kind of electronic music that is commonly called Intelligent Dance Music or IDM. This kind of music encompasses a wide range of styles: Jungle/Drum-n-Bass, Techno, Break Beats, Electro Breaks, Ambient, Trance, Trip Hop, noise and more. It is more than one specific genre of music but a movement of artists that share a similar mindset and approach in creating music. It's debatable what is and isn't IDM, but some of the more consistent characteristics of IDM are: 1) it's electronic music (even though it might not always sound electronic, it is usually produced electronically) 2) it is music that is intended for listening, even though it is dance music as well 3) it often has a sophisticated musical structure; complicated melodies and/or beats usually more so than common forms of electronic dance music 4) it's eclectic by nature; does not commit to one specific style but explores numerous genres and styles 5) it tends to be very experimental. It seems in IDM there is little concern with categories and labels. IDM artists are truly liberated in their expression because everything goes. Mixing styles and blurring genre boundaries is not only accepted, it is sought after and celebrated. In my opinion, this type of thinking has spawned some of the most inventive electronic music. Intelligent Dance Music is a major inspiration for my dancing. Beyond the fact that it motivates me to move, the innovative sounds of IDM has unfailingly stimulated my imagination and helped me actualize my potential for new movement. Here are some of the artists that interest and/or influence me: Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Jega, Andrea Parker, DJ Shadow, Kraftwerk, LTJ Bukem, Funkstorung, Amon Tobin, Future Sound of London, Autechre and Mu-ziq. IDM Links Film/Video Influences I feel obligated give recognition to the influences that got me interested in film/video/editing because they were a huge inspiration and motivation for the making of Detours. Stanley Kubrick - Stanley has always been my favorite director. What really intrigues me about his style is his ability to tell a story through purely visual means (no words needed). This aspect of his style inspired me to make Detours primarily a visual work. Kujo's solo video "Kujo, the Flying Water Buffalo" created by Chronos, Bike and Kujo - This video changed the way I thought about dance videos. The whole video is dope and edited better than most Bboy videos. What really inspired me was the final Free Willy scene. This scene was groundbreaking in my eyes because it was the first time in a Bboy video that I saw editing used artistically to compliment dancing. For me, this scene crossed the boundaries between dancing and video art and made me realize the potential of what video could do for dancing.
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VW GTI Golf Commercial, Featuring Bboy Crumbs, Jay Walker and Elsewhere as Gene Kelly
Slurpee Commercial.mov (offline)