My Dance Team - Dynamic

Hello again fellow hip-hoppers! I have chosen to keep a bi-weekly log about the progress of the current dance crew that I am on, for those of you who are interested. The team name was originally “Dyversity”, but we found out that a dance crew with the same name already exists. For this reason, we have changed our crew name to “Dynamic”.

It has been around 2 weeks now since we originally formed the group, and I am proud to say that we have already made a lot of progress. We have already found two competitive events that we can participate in for the upcoming year and have started our choreographed performance for each.

In my last blog post about Dynamic, I explained that our choreography would be done to Walking on the Moon by “the Dream”. Personally, I liked the feel of this song and I thought that the choreography had great potential. However, the rest of the crew preferred a “harder” beat, so we switched our song to Forever by “Drake” and have started a whole new routine. So far, we have completed 4 counts of eight (around an eighth of the entire routine), which is outstanding for only one week of practice.

Judging from these first four counts of eight, I think that the routine is going to be astounding. The only problem is that the choreography is pretty complex and it might take a while to perfect it. Also, this year our first competition is earlier than usual (in January), so we are going to have practice a whole lot in the next few months. Wish us luck!

Dr. Phil Assignment Overview

A few days ago, all the students in my English class participated in an exciting assignment for the novel that we are currently reading called Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. The assignment was done in groups of four and our task was to choose three students to take on the roles of certain characters in the story while the last student takes on the role of Dr. Phil. The students who took on the roles of the characters of the book were to communicate their issues with each other and try to resolve them while Dr. Phil acts as a mediator and an advisor. In this way, the assignment greatly resembled an actual episode of Dr. Phil.

This was a very enjoyable assignment, as each of the characters in the novel are passionate in their feelings and each have deep-seated conflicts with one another. For anyone who has read the novel, you know what I’m talking about. For this reason, it was very entertaining to act these characters out. I was assigned the role of Victor Frankenstein, the protagonist in the story. Dr. Frankenstein is the man who creates the monster of the novel and ends up miserable because of it. This character was particularly fun to act out as he passionately hated the monster. It was fun to express this feeling of deep loathing while in character.

All in all, I believe that this assignment was very effective, as it allowed us to show our creative side and was actually fun to do. We all know how rare it is to come across an assignment that helps us to learn while having fun at the same time, and I can honestly say that this was one of those assignments.

My Very Own Guide to Performing

There are many different factors that affect how well a hip hop dancer performs. Some of these factors include: energy, articulation, facial and body expression, and synchronization. These aspects of dance can either make or break your performance. Judges base their decisions on these very factors, and if even one is not used properly, the performance will be considered amateurish. The most simple of dances can look much better than a highly complex dance if these factors are utilized properly.

Energy: Hip Hop is known to be a dance based on high-energy. If the dance is not done energetically, then it is not done properly. Without energy the performance looks dull and unattractive. This factor is arguably the most important factor that affects a performance.

Articulation: This factor is also very important to a performance. Without proper articulation, the dance looks sloppy and unprofessional. Proper articulation includes good posture, definitive movements, and smooth transitions between moves. Furthermore, for a performance to look dynamic and interesting, the dancer should work on proper levelling. Judges really take this factor into consideration when marking.

Expression: Facial and body expression add flavour to any performance. Without an expression to match the song and mood of the dance, the performance may look awkward or again, dull. (This has always been a challenge to me. Many people have informed me that this is the area in which I have to work on most). Dancers must be careful to look straight while they dance, not up or at the floor.

Synchronization: This factor addresses two separate aspects of dance: synchronization with the music, and synchronization with each other. Team synchronization is very crucial to a performance where there is more than one dancer. It involves the dancers all moving at a uniform tempo and articulating each movement at the same time. The more dancers there are, the more important team synchronization becomes.

Synchronization with the music affects both a team performance, and a solo performance. Rhythm synchronization involves dancing on the beat and staying in tune with the steady tempo of the song. It mainly helps to emphasize each technique, and makes the performance look flashy and distinct. If this factor is utilized correctly, it will give the competing dancer(s) that extra edge to win the hearts of their judges.

Other factors that affect the look and style of a performance include the costumes chosen, the music chosen, props, and so on.

So, follow these criteria and you will be sure to have a memorable performance. Readers, if you see something that I have missed, please feel free to comment below.

Tribute to M.J

In my opinion, Michael Jackson was one of the greatest dancers of all time. Even before his untimely death he was an inspiration to me. I remember back when I was 7 years old I would spend countless hours practicing his signature move, the moonwalk. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched online tutorials just to master the move. I have always thought that his style of dancing was exceptionally unique. He created his own style of dance that will be practiced for years, which is an outstanding achievement. The energy and passion that he put into his dancing made each and every one of his performances exceptionally entertaining. All in all, I truly believe that he was one of the greatest dancers of all time.

The thing that I really like about Michael Jackson’s dancing is that its style cannot be labelled. It is not hip hop, jazz, lyrical, tap, ballet, or any other type of dance. It is simply unique and on its own. Nevertheless, over the years hip hop has adopted several of his moves. His style is incorporated in many of the hip hop routines that we see today. In fact, my dance team, Dyversity, is planning on orienting our choreographed performance towards M.J’s style. Each of us have been inspired by his dancing and consider this year’s performance to be our very own tribute to his life.

Congratz to Me!

Today, I am very proud to say that I have made the cut on my high school dance team. The team is called “Dyversity” and this is the second year that I have been a part of it. Last year, we were extremely successful in the two competitions that we performed in, taking first place in our category and scoring the top marks during the entire event for both competitions. We also won scholarship money for the school’s dance program due to our exceptional performance. This year I hope to be just as successful as last year, and possibly expand on my styles of dancing.

Last year, I really enjoyed dancing with Dyversity. I have learned more about dance from the other members of team than I have learned from the 3 years I spent at a professional dance studio. The members of the team are extremely skilled individuals and they have helped me to learn new styles of dancing with ease. Over the course of the year, these dancers have become like a family to me. We have all dealt with the stress of competition and celebrated our victories as a team, which has brought us all together. For this reason, I am really excited to be a part of the team for the second year in a row. I have high hopes for Dyversity. For anyone reading this, wish us luck!

Music That I Like to Dance To

The music that a person dances to greatly affects the performance. Personally I like to dance to upbeat, fast tunes. I find that my dynamic style greatly benefits from fast rhythms. Furthermore, I enjoying dancing to songs that have distinctive sound effects that clearly mark the tempo of the song, so that it is easy for me to stay synchronized with the music and possible for me to emphasize my movements on certain beats to match the rhythm.

A list of songs that I have performed a hip hop routine to, or that I would like to perform to, include:

ü Walking on the Moon – by The Dream

ü Freeze – by T-Pain

ü Nobody – by Ne-Yo

ü Potion – by Ludacris

ü Yeah – by Usher

ü Forever – by Drake

ü I Can Transform You – by Lil Wayne

ü You’ll Find a Way Remix – by Santigold

ü Sugar – by Keri Hilson

ü On to the Next One – by Jay-Z

Preferences...

Throughout my blog, I have mostly written about the styles of hip hop that intrigue me. However, after recently witnessing certain dances that makes me question the future of hip hop, it inspired me to write a blog post about the styles or trends of hip hop that I absolutely abhor. Feel free to comment if you disagree.

Jerking – this new style of hip hop that has come to life in the last few months deeply disturbs me. Frankly, I don’t think it can even be called a dance. It simply involves one repetitive and overused dance step, which gets extremely tedious after a while. This dance was invented by “the New Boyz”, and was first introduced to the public through the music video of their hit single, You’re a Jerk. Click here to see what it looks like.

The "Souljaboy Dance" – Most people are already familiar with this dance, and as it was such a popular phenomenon, I understand that I will not receive much support on my opinion. Nevertheless, I am not afraid to say that I absolutely despise this dance. Invented by “Souljaboy Tellem’” and introduced to the public through his hit song Crank Dat, it is an unattractive style that disgraces hip hop, in my opinion. To get an idea of what the “Souljaboy Dance” is, click here.

Yes, I have often claimed to share an interest in all forms of hip hop, however these two dances are my exceptions. I believe that dances like these are the reason that hip hop is not taken as seriously as the other forms of dance. Again, for the viewers of my blog, feel free to leave a comment if you believe that I am mistaken. I value your opinion.