The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, October 7, 2010 - 3B
Why do we dress
to impress?
The four elements of b-boying are toprock
B-BOY
From Page 1B
focuses on individual dancer
development through instruction-
al leadership and workshops for
beginners.
"We have our group out here
to show the different aspects of
it, like the actual art of b-boying,"
Kim said. "This is not simply
about fancy moves, this is not sim-
ply about impressing the crowd,
this is a dance and this is special
to oneself."
The overly bombastic depic-
tions of breakdancing in film
and media are rather different
from the ideals of breakdanc-
ing espoused in Element 1, which
seeks to spread b-boying and
other funk dance styles as true
art. At the same time, though,
increased exposure of the art
form has helped Element 1 remain
popular at the University.
"If there's something good that
comes out of that, it's that some of
the negative perspective of b-boy-
ing dies down," Kim said. "People
won't see it as an 'only people that
are up to no good' type of dance."
Kim added that flashy depic-
tions of b-boying have created a
false standard for the real thing.
"That's actually the opposite of
what b-boying is aboutthe said.
"The spinning on the head and all
that is really nice and fancy, and
if you can do it, use it. But people
mistake it. People lack that under-
standing of the art itself."
The Basics
There are four main elements to
every b-boying routine: toprock,
downrock (sometimes simply
referred to as "footwork"), freeze
and power moves.
Every b-boy's routine starts
with toprock - moves performed
standing up. Toprock is broad: It
can involve anything from foot-
work to interacting with the
crowd, but it sets up the rest of the
routine by establishing the danc-
er's style. With toprock, dancers
have a unique opportunity to dis-
play their own personality and dif-
ferentiate themselves.
"Toprock is like a way to kill
time before you go down into the
more complicated stuff," Kao said.
At the same time, toprock is the
basis behind all of b-boying. If
your toprock isn't good, usually
your footwork and your power and
your freezes aren't good. It's the
foundation that everything else
sets up on."
After toprock, the dancer drops
to the floor, and there commenc-
es downrock, a display of quick
footwork and handwork, with
the dancer's weight supported
by hands and feet at different
moments.
The dancer performs freezes at
his or her own discretion. (a well
known technique that shows off
full body strength.) Freezes are
performed to match the beat of
the music; for example, a one-sec-
ond break in a song might be met
with a one-second freeze before
the music's return sends the danc-
er back into downrock.
The fourth element, power
moves, require experience and
a mastery of the other elements.
Many power moves involve spin-
ning of some sort, whether it's a
"headspin" or a "windmill" or a
"flare." The dancer puts his or her
upper-body strength on display
while torquing with the lower
body.
Two other important forms of
dance that many b-boys explore
are popping and locking. While
not technically considered b-boy-
ing, popping and locking are often
assumed to be under the umbrella
of breakdancing, and Element 1
includes all three in its purview.
Popping involves the rapid con-
traction and relaxation of mus-
cles, which is sustained for a full
song. Locking is distinct in that
it features dancers "locking" into
downrock, freeze and power moves.
position before moving to another
position before doing the same.
Both are precise, full-body dance
styles.
Like other forms of art and
dance, b-boying has a culture sur-
rounding it - a culture clear in
environments like this past week-
end's festival.
"It's a dance, but there's defi-
nitely a subculture," said LSA
sophomore and Element 1 Vice
President Jason Do. "It's also the
type of music, the songs - the hip
hop, the rap - that we use."
B-boying attire is another part
of its subculture, but Do sees it as
more practical than anything else.
"For attire, it's really about com-
fortability and how well you can
move in it," he said.
Some of the garb worn by the
participants at Element 1 meetings
is also determined by the type of
dance they are trying to explore.
For example, Do pointed out a
few dancers wearing beanies with
specially designed padding on the
front.
"Those are headspin caps," he
said. "They're actually designed
for spinning on your head."
Those who can
do, teach
Fancy stuff aside, Element 1
starts its new members on the
basics.w
Element 1 meetings are open
to anybody - not just members
who sign up at the beginning of
the semester - and dancers from
novice to expert are welcomed.
Element 1 offers many instruc-
tional resources, including begin-
ner workshops at every meeting.
The group's leaders are quick to
mention the rewards they get from
teaching others.
"Teaching other people, you
strengthen your fundamentals,"
Do said. "It's always good to go
back to basics. I know it's also good
to give back, to get more people
involved. Bringing them into it,
they get to learn part of the cul-
ture."
"Certain b-boys, they can go in
the wrong direction," Kim said.
"They forget their foundation in
a way, and it's actually the most
important thing."
In one workshop a few weeks
ago, the dedication to develop-
ing newcomers was clear. On this
day, Kim and Do were teaching
the basics, starting with toprock,
and showing a few ways for danc-
ers to go down into downrock. Kim
demonstrates a technique called
the "knee drop," which looks far
easier than it is in practice. The
move involves jabbing one's foot
into the back of the knee before
falling down on that foot and keep-
ing one's balance on the floor. He
sent it around the circle, and some
found more success than others.
Next, Do exhibited a standing-
up hip-spin that corkscrewed his
body down to the floor and sent his
feet swinging out into downrock.
Newer dancers had trouble with
Downrock, but there was no lack
of effort or casual acceptance of
difficulty.
The last thing Kim and Do
taught the newcomers - a freeze
- seemed especially difficult with-
out prior experience. It started
with a stab, which requires the
dancer to place his or her hand flat
on the floor, and keep the forearm
perfectly perpendicular to it while
jabbing their elbow into the side.
Each dancer uses that arm to
elevate his or her body, using the
other arm to form a "platform"
while lifting both legs into the air.
Many of the beginners had a tough
time keeping their bodies elevated,
but Element l's leaders patiently
persisted until each dancer got his
or her feet up.
After going through a few work-
shops, Zaras said she was happy to
be learning the basics from other
students.
"I think they're really good,"
she said. "People volunteer them-
selves, which is really nice."
On her future with b-boying,
she wasn't quite sure how far she'd
go.
"I don't know about perfor-
mance," she said. "ButI want to get
good."
Element 1 values that self-
motivation. The group shows that
b-boying is more than a simple
crowd pleaser; it is a genuine form
of art that's just as important to
the dancer alone as to a crowded
room of spectators. With orwith-
out a stage, each b-boying routine
is an expression of personal atti-
tude and style, and a unique cre-
ation in movement.
The other day Itasked my
roommate whether she
would be happy wearing
only sweats and pajama pants
in public if
nobody would
judge her. She
thought for a
little bit, nod- y
ded her head,
then resumed
eating her
cereal like JENNIFER
nothing hap- XU
pened.
I must
admit, I was a little surprised by
her nonchalance. After all, if I
glanced into her dresser, I'd find it
overflowing with trendy choices,
none of which remotely resemble
ratty gym clothing or worn sleep-
wear. Would all that stuff really
be gone if the rest of the world
told her it was OK to dress like a
slob? And that got me thinking:
What really drives us as a society
to dress the way we do and not in
comfort-conscious loincloths and
furry hats?
It's a valid question. In fact it's,
like, the only question the fash-
ion industry rides on. How much
money are we willing to spend
on these pieces of uncomfort-
ably sewn cloth? We buy maga-
zines that tell us that military
and metallics are in this season
and that we should measure the
amount of peanut butter we put
on our sandwiches so that we can
lose those extra ten pounds off
our butts. And then there's my
favorite little gem: 80 percent
of all women are wearing the
wrong bra size. What the hell
is this even supposed to mean?
That we're too stupid to figure
out what's most comfortable on
us? Yeah, those manufacturers
at Victoria's Secret sure know
us well - much better than we
know ourselves.
So maybe it's true. Maybe the
underlying factor for all of us
wearing "fashionable clothing"
is social constraints. Take places
like New York. The main rea-
son the people there are so well
dressed is because they come
into contact with thousands of
people on the street every day.
In order to stand out - or maybe
even just to keep up - people
have to pay attention to what's
in or out. Because there are so
many people, the cut and style
of a piece of clothing, no mat-
ter how ragingly uncomfortable
it may be, ends up defining the
person underneath.
Obviously, this is not just lim-
ited to clothing. Anything we
own, whether it's furniture, elec-
tronics or bathroom supplies, has
some sort of status symbol built
into it. Take it as sign of our bur-
geoning civilization, or the wid-
ening gap between third world
countries and the richest ones -
we've just become obsessed with
buying fashionable stuff.
But this explanation still feels
incomplete. Generally, your pri-
mary criterion for buying a couch
is not how fashionable it is, but
whether you can sit comfortably
on it. In fashion, this is obviously
not the case, as my small-footed
brethren in Qing-dynasty China
can tell you. But why?
Let's try moving this to more
personal territory - Why do I
wear the stuff I do instead of
Snuggies and Uggboots? For me,
it's all about the feelings associ-
ated with the things ISwear. If I
take a reasonable amount of time
out of my day to put on clothes
that I bought and like, I'm going
to feel better about doing produc-
.tive stuff for the rest of the day.
People put on clothes the same
reason they go to the gym or eat
breakfast: It freshens up their
morning. Staying in pajamas all
day makes me feel like I'm sick
or at a sleepover, which is really
not the way I want to feel when
I'm stressfully studying for a bio-
chem exam.
Beauty is another factor. As
every psychology study has told
us a billion times, people are just
drawn to beautiful things. Babies
would rather be cuddled by big-
breasted blonde bombshells than
their own mothers. Subjects in
studies routinely dub beautiful
people nicer, smarter and all
those other awesome adjectives.
Like magpies to a gold mine, we
Comfort plays
second fiddle,
but that's fine.
just can't get enough of pretty
stuff. It's like the hidden third
law of thermodynamics or some-
thing.
And the point is, nobody
can really pinpoint why we've
evolved into fashion-mongers.
Yes, the concept of the entire
industry is completely ridiculous,
but you know what? It works.
Whether it's for pure aestheti-
cism, peer pressure or just to
start out your day, fashion has
stepped out to the forefront of
our culture with almost no expla-
nation for its phenomenon.
So the next time you run
your hands over those madden-
ingly uncomfortable, ridiculously
expensive stiletto boots, buy
them. Who cares if they're going
to make your toes bleed and
ankles break? They're awesome
and you deserve them.
Xu sleeps in high heels. To
give her a foot massage, e-mail
her at jennifxu@umich.edu.
WANT TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF
THE PILLARS OF HIP HOP?
Go to michigandaily.com/section/arts/b-side for an
explanation of the concept's origins.
The Hip-Hop Academy was created this year and joins Element 1 in teaching the art of b-boying
school of
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