dance DEMON

YOU can see the passion in their eyes when they’re busting their hip-hop moves. While these boys (and girls) may be local, they have taken to a kind of lifestyle that is as foreign to Malaysia as well, snow.
Hip-hop culture, born in the neighbourhoods of the Bronx in New York City, has evolved into something so much bigger, and internationally, too. From music and fashion to language and attitude, hip-hop is a lifestyle culture with many influences.
In urban Malaysia, street dancing is one of the most popular aspects of hip-hop that young people indulge in.Even then, street dancing by itself is not a genre. Instead, it takes on many different forms like breakdance (or b-boying), popping and locking, shuffling, hip-hop and freestyle.
Often you can find youths performing impressive stunts and routines along Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the city, but thanks to the availability of community halls and the mushrooming of numerous dance studios, youths no longer have to take to the streets to show off their skills.

Hip-hop has seriously infiltrated youth culture on this side of the world.

Just last yrs, many young people flooded e@Curve mall in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, for a hip-hop event called Strictly Street. It featured b-boying workshops and Floor Combat 2009, a b-boying championship that saw 46 teams pitting again one another to claim dance honours.
Dance fans
Winner of the best b-boy title, Mohd Zain Md Rani, has been b-boying since he was in secondary school, and refers to the art as his life’s passion.
“It’s the adrenaline of being there on the floor, and having your crew and friends cheer for you, that keeps me hooked on to this art,” said Zain, 21.
From b-boying on the streets with his friends to watching videos to gain inspiration and ideas for better routines, Zain has now graduated to being a regular performer at events and competitions.
“You get lost in the music and the cheering of the crowd and there’s no feeling like that in the world,” he added. “All the anger or stress of everyday life just disappears when I start to dance.”

Hip-hop is a culture that is foreign to Malaysia, but many youths are fast embracing it.

For many street dancers, starting out is tough especially when they have to worry about what their parents’ disapproval of their new hobby.Student Alex Ng Vei Shen, 19, one of the ambassadors (or “Heroes”) for the F&N Freestylz Show Ur Moves competition, hid his passion from his parents until he could prove to them that he could balance his dancing and schoolwork.
“I practise my breakdancing around two to four hours a day, two days a week, and make sure my work is always completed,” said Alex with a grin.
His moves don’t come out of nowhere – he learns most of his stunts and routines from watching videos online, and putting his own spin on some of the moves.
“When there are workshops with instructors, I attend those to learn faster.”
Alex performs whenever he can, mostly to help change people’s perceptions on the art.

Mohd Zain Md Rani

“Sometimes it’s related to rebellion, delinquency and so on, but I want people to understand that it’s a form of expressing yourself that is just as safe as any other kind of dancing.”
Lately, girls too, have broken the stereotype and are getting into the street dance and hip-hop culture.
Phang Pook Kyan (or Seven), 18, and Tracy Yong Swee Theng, 17, are both dancers but with different styles.
Seven won the title of “best b-girl” at the Floor Combat competition, after three years of chillin’ with the boys and learning the art of b-boying, or in her case, b-girling. “It’s a bit tough for girls, because it’s not very common and you have to try harder to prove yourself,” said Seven as b-boys came by to congratulate her.
“Also, you have to be physically strong and work hard at achieving that, because doing hand-stands and head-spins are not easy,” she added.
Tracy has been learning “LA hip-hop”, a style that involves more footwork than anything else.
“It’s smooth, lyrical, and sticks strictly to the music beat. Where there are more stunts in breakdancing or b-boying, my style of dancing is more precise and sharp,” said Tracy, who goes to dance classes.
The dancing has boosted Tracy’s confidence and increased her fitness level, as well as given her something to look forward to every few days when she attends classes.

Phang Pook Khyan, or Seven, won the B-girl championship at the Strictly Street event recently.

Another dance style which is part of hip-hop culture and street dancing is “popping and locking”, a dance practised by Teh Jin Shi. “It’s more to the ‘robot dance’ type or movements – it’s not as fancy as breakdancing but has a funky edge to it,” said the 20-year-old sales executive.
This type of dance involves a lot of jerking – a move achieved by quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk, which is referred to as a pop or a hit.
“Dancing takes your mind off things that are bugging you, and even getting light injuries doesn’t stop you from wanting to dance more,” said Jin Shi.

                                                                     posted by ; Nadya Nabiela =)