The LXD: In the Internet age, dance evolves...

Bboy Born

I just watched another TED video about dances evolving because many of us have the opportunity to go online and watch dancers worldwide and learn from them, not just from the people around us. We are able to watch the movements of dancers tens and thousands of kilometers away! We can combine different moves from different dances and come up with something no one has ever seen before. It's just like taking the notes from music sheets and rearranging them onto another sheet.

Jon M. Chu (director of Step Up 2) came out and talked about how he got to meet "a ton of hip hop dancers, the best in the world" while he was filming the movie. I would just like to point out that I do know that he got many pioneers and amazing dancers, BUT they are not "the best in the world'. No one is the best in the world. Everyone has their own style and way to express themselves through their movements.
Director Chu really wanted some of the great dancers to be in the movie and show the world what we bboys got (even though they were basically going to show commercialized moves). But Disney wouldn't let them: A Bboy’s Take On Step Up 2 The Streets
Another thing is that even though Director Chu met some awesome dancers, he still doesn't really understand what it's all about. He said in the video that "dance has never had a better friend than technology, online videos and social networking, dancers have created a whole global lavatory online for dance". Then he goes on to say how we can take moves and just copy them and use them as they want. I just think that it's great that different kinds of dance is being spread out globally, it's not enough to just spread the moves. I don't know much about other dances, but I have been trying my best to understand bboying. I found out there are so much history behind it, stories how things came to be today. I think we have too many supposedly "dancers" who don't know the history of the dance they are dancing or combining. Too many "dancers" who don't dance to express, but to impress. Too many "dancers" affected by the media, who don't know the true meaning behind it. I just think that if we dancers want expand our culture, we really need to get people to understand the essence behind it all.

One last thing I would like to say is that I went to the Dance category on TED. I found out TED only finds Americans to dance hip hop dances. I also noticed that TED videos only have people who can speak English well enough to express themselves clearly. I really think Americans should let go of their pride and really look for the talent and creativity in the world. The dancers on this video aren't bad, but they used way too many commercialized moves to just please the crowd. It's another one of those videos which sends the wrong message that powermoves and acrobatics moves are better than beat hitting.

I just wish there will be one day, which the world will understand what real hip hop is. "Real hip hop is all cultures put together in one. It's peace, unity, love, and having fun under the wonders of God, no matter what God you pray to" - Poe1.

Here's the TED video: The LXD: In the Internet age, dance evolves ...