Why hello there! Yes it has been a little while. If you look in the top right corner its been since October to be frank. No the UI Breakers haven’t been missing in action, if anything it’s been me, the writer of this article that has been. Which is as good any segue into our fourth in the ongoing UI Breakers Newsletter: So You Wanna Learn to Break?
Vol 4
Peaks and Valleys
In any creative endeavor you will have ups and downs, that’s what makes us human. In Breaking we readily acknowledge the downs; off days, not feeling it, etc. We’ll get to the downs in a bit but what about the ‘ups’? The on days where you are feeling it, sticking your moves and coming up with creative moves, seemingly out of nowhere.
In order to create and to continue to create effectively you as a Breaker need to dissect your ‘on’ days. Think back on the when and the why. When was the last time you had a really great session? What were the circumstances? Was it at the first practice back from a long break? Was it in a circle? Was it at a different practice spot? Think about when you danced and really felt it, then think about the circumstances surrounding it. Within these musings you’ll eventually stumble upon some ‘whys’. First off, be open to any ‘why’ that your mind comes across even if it seems stupid. I’ll tell you straight up if I get a new pair of fresh kicks, that next practice is going to be above average. It may seem odd but we’re human before we’re dancers and humans are fickle when it comes to our ups and downs. Our responsibility to ourselves is to take all these ‘whys’ and to acknowledge and comprehend them. Don’t artificially plug them into your life- I’m not going to buy new shoes every week- But instead understand whats at the root of the why. For me, there’s a correlation between how I dress, how I feel, and how I dance, if I’m in a bad place in life, running around with sweat pants and a shirt I don’t like, eventually that negativity will seep into my dancing.
Which leads me to the ‘downs’, the off days. Dissect your off days in the same why that you do your ups. Soon you’ll find that your off days are a little trickier. People tend to remember the good times and lump & muddy the bad times together. Think through , break it down, figure out whats going on. Different things affect different people: You and your significant other having trouble…does that help or hurt your dancing? (I’ve seen it go both ways). You may unearth not pleasant things but keep on digging until you fully comprehend whats going on.
Which brings me to my last point. Figuring out, isn’t going to ‘help’, all the time. Shit happens and we will always have off days (months, a year?). Our job isn’t to get rid of them but to understand them. I’d argue that we absolutely need an occasional off day in order to appreciate those times that we’re up. If its at the same level all the time then we’re not really doing something worthwhile and human.
Basically, know yourself. I’m crazy paraphrasing Ken Swift now but in order to be a good bboy or bgirl you first have to be a good human being.
