Ethos

 

In my workshops I aim to challenge people's traditional view of what they already know and understand of breaking. I do this in order for the people participating to take apart what they already understand and force themselves to think harder with regards to how they approach being creative. Once stripped of the idea that moving a certain way is correct or incorrect we can start to base our response towards poetry and feeling, telling our own story, rather than a narrative that has been pre-set by others or force feed. Of course it is important to have set foundations in breaking but we plan to go beyond that and use this blue print as a frame of reference only, just as a painter would use base paints to start colouring in his canvas. We use the tools of foundation in the faith that we can sculpt our own paths away from the standard by remaining true to ourselves and Hip Hop, we aim to express who we really are through this dance.
 

I cannot teach you how to move (you must find that out for yourself) but I can give you a set of keys in the hope that you will unlock the doors yourself.

My workshop is not aimed at complete beginners. Some previous understanding of dance would put you at a better advantage, having said that it is open to all and although challenging I hope everyone can take something away from the sessions.

Practical Warm Up & Knowledge

My warm-up will be in depth and involve my own personal stretching patterns that may help you or may not. The idea is to try new things, get into your body and find stretching patterns that suit you, it is important to consider how we warm up and what makes us loose before we begin to throw-down. Although these warm ups work for me and are personalised you can feel free to keep the ones that work and discard the rest. I can't know how you warm up best and won't have the time to understand every individual body, it is up to you to get to know your body and be aware of your limits. These set warm ups have worked best for me after a process of evolution over the past fifteen years.

I hope as much as to show people dance but also to talk and get people listening to me and each other, we will also discover and respect the conversations in our body when we cypher, using both spoken language and movement. I will tell people clearly about myself and what they can expect during the work shop but also let them know that this may not be traditionally what they are used to but to go with it and be brave by try new things (that way they can pull themselves and stretch in new directions for a more enriching experience and in the hope that they can improve their overall style). There is no point me just teaching basics that they can learn anywhere, I want them to gain a unique experience that challenges and opens them up to making steps to understand themselves and the potential they have to be original.

We will also do some top-rock, stand up steps to get us free on our feet and loose. Following on from this I will do some short travelling exercises across the space to get people moving in different ways making them think about how they use space, direction and levels (so not just the standard going around in circles we often see in breaking).
 

Games

This section of my workshop is based around two main games to produce a more organic area of interest and exploration.

The first game is Flip the Script. We make a cypher and then I go in and demonstrate a move or small phrase then the idea is whoever comes in after me has to flip the move into something different and follow a new path. The idea should be to encourage complete creation with no right or wrongs, we just keep the cypher moving and see what happens, we get lost in the game and try not to 'think' to hard (in my years of dancing often my best moves come from accidence). I will talk about why this is important in Hip Hop and give people the ideas that help them to do things totally out of their comfort zone that they don't often feel like trying or putting together.

The second game is Add On. Again set in the cypher (I will explain the importance of this circle during my session) one at a time we begin to add one move each, then by the end we have a complete routine from tops, a get down, foot work/floor work, freeze/move to finish. After this we take a small break and I set something using elements of the work created in the session to make a short routine.

Routine and Freestyle

I want to take material we all created in the session and base a simple routine using it. It is important that nothing was set before by me and we have made something within the session that is personal and that we developed. The routine once learnt doesn't need to be perfect (I will stress this) but is a way of transitioning into their own ideas. They use the routine as a way of helping them to add their own material, at the end or at the beginning or however they choose to mix it, so they can take it apart and go with a feeling and use it. They then have a short time to practice it on their own, plus adding a small section on to it, we will have a small showing of some of the pieces in front of the group and I will add choreographic type notes, of things to change or go with more, in terms of dynamics, levels, textures, etc.

Warm Down and Questions

I would like to do a warm down but if we don't have time I will at least stress its importance and doing it in their own time so they can keep on dancing till they are old by looking after their bodies. But the warm up is definitely vital.

If we have time then they can also feel free to ask me questions, either in front of the group or they can ask me personally and I'll be happy to help.