to do all of this. It’s kind of egotistical, somehow selfish at first, because you have to really go and face your own fears and your own limitations and go above them.” Learning the art of breaking has allowed these young dancers to also transform how they feel about themselves. Kit and Bo B., two dancers at Artivism Dance Theatre, each pursued breaking and Hip Hop classes due to their interest in the dance styles. They both agree that while learning new moves can be tricky, the experience as a whole is incredibly rewarding and they feel they are better dancers as a result. Simone L., a dancer at Hip Hop X, began dancing as a way to help express herself. She’s currently learning a variety of styles at the studio, including breaking, and she quickly fell in love with the sharp movements and levels to the dance. Throughout her experience, Simone has seen a change in herself. “I feel way more confident and stronger. I also love how no one judges another person, because we’re all doing something similar, and you know how hard it is, so no one’s judging,” she says. A COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE These inclusive and supportive environments are created with help from
the owners, instructors, and the dancers all coming together to learn and share their knowledge. Guindo’s interest in teaching started when he was younger and practicing Capoeira, teaching himself the moves and dynamics. As he learned new moves, others wanted to learn how he did them. “When I was showing them, I discovered that I was learning more. I would master the craft I was doing more by transmitting,” he shares. The give and take of knowledge helps everyone to thrive while learning, too. Guindo shares that being a part of the breaking culture is being a part of a strong community, whether competing in a battle or participating in a cypher. A cypher is a circle in which b-boys and b-girls can take turns entering the circle to showcase their moves or test new ones. “In a battle, you improve everything that you want to do. We [also] have the principle of exchange and cypher, where you can just express yourself. The circle is different from the setting of the theatre, where the stage is over there and the audience is watching a screen, but the setting of Hip Hop is kind of like a setting of our traditional dances in Africa. You feel the energy of everybody participating–actively
and physically. That’s one of the biggest parts of the community,” Guindo says. GROWING AND THRIVING With breaking on the Olympic stage this year, interest in the dance will only continue to grow. However, to truly be successful in the dance, one must be ready to be up for the challenge. Rabinovitz explains, “[Breaking’s] physically hard, not just muscularly, but endurance wise. There’s a level of endurance that you have to be able to keep training and keep pushing through. You’re not going to learn choreography, and then you know the moves and you can repeat it. You have to drill a movement over and over and over again to get it, and that takes a certain level of maturity. As it gets more and more popularized, more mainstream, and more of an athletic activity, there are younger and younger kids who are invested in it. It just depends on the community. If you go to Houston, you can see six year olds breaking. New York, yes, for sure, LA, France, Paris, London. If you go to Houston, they have a thriving breaking community. We don’t have that as much here, but we’re working on it, you know, we’re building.” For more information, visit artivismdance.com and facebook. com/hhxperience. ■
BRPARENTS.COM | AUGUST2024
27
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online