For many things, dancing, emceeing, general comedic material as well, I haven’t been very up to date.  Since not having a computer at home stunts the amount of time I spend watching other people do things, I’ve generally been out doing things instead.

Internet Dancers?

In fact, I don’t really watch many videos these days because I find that I take something away from it without thinking, and usually bring it up later as my own.  I used to catch myself doing this with punchlines, dance moves and jokes, but haven’t seen it happen very often since I stopped watching many other people.

The last time I discussed this, I remember hanging out with Jojo (Zealous) and Kat (Shady Ladies) and talking about how none of us watch very many videos these days, specifically because of those reasons.  Which brings me to my main subject of discussion:  Cryptomnesia.

“Cryptomnesia, or inadvertent plagiarism, is a memory bias whereby a person falsely recalls generating a thought, an idea, a song, or a joke, when the thought was actually generated by someone else.^[1] In these cases, the person is not deliberately engaging in plagiarism, but is rather experiencing a memory as if it were a new inspiration.
The second type of cryptomnesia results from an error of authorship whereby the ideas of others are remembered as one’s own. In this case, the plagiarizer correctly recognizes that the idea is from an earlier time, but falsely remembers having been the origin for the idea.”
- Wikipedia (I know, I’m the laziest researcher in the world.)

When I’d found a name for what it was, it was much easier to identify what was happening when I’d watch videos and catch myself dancing like people from recently viewed works of dance.  And you’ll notice it too, if you’ve got a keen eye for styles and knowing what dancers people are keeping their eyes on.

“Cryptomnesia is more likely to occur when the ability to properly monitor sources is impaired. For example, people are more likely to falsely claim ideas as their own when they were under high cognitive load at the time they first considered the idea.”
So if, hypothetically, you’ve been watching a bunch of dance videos, multiple at a time, you’re much more likely to end up bringing those same movements, feelings and styles again when you train or choreograph.

This happens particularly often in the choreographed hip hop environment, when people watch more famous dancers make a set to a song, and end up making their own set to the song.  If you watch closely, they often hit the same beats and accentuate the same parts of the music as the original “inspiration”, and do it without conscious knowledge of their actions.

But this isn’t limited to routine dancers.

I know a ridiculous amount of freestyle dancers who see sets by well-known freestylers, in shows or battles, and then practice to that song, also unwittingly using the same parts of the music and planning their efforts on certain parts of the music.  It’s a lot easier to dance to a song when somebody else has mapped it out for you, and you don’t have to analyse.  You just have to remember.

The problem with this twofold in creative art forms such as dance and music.
The first is creative integrity of the original artist.  If there is an influence on your style and on your own creativity, then the originator(s) deserve the respect for that, even if it is just acknowledgement of your sources of inspiration.
The second is creative integrity of the artist who draws inspiration.  The artists own interpretation is altered, changed or even hidden underneath the interpretation of the original artist.  Also, without the awareness of this, the artist doesn’t have the ability to alter the form of the original work to suit themselves rather than the original artist.

You might see this:
Which becomes this:
Which then becomes this:
Which somebody makes into this:
Look at those fucking biters. Just look at them.

But is this inspiration, or theft?  And by the action being unintentional, is it acceptable or not?
The most important question in my opinion is, now that you know it’s happening, what do you do about it?

I remember bringing this up with Rush (Fresh Sox) one time, and his response was,
“We just call that biting, bro.”.
And in all honesty, I agree.
Also, so does the United States Copyright Law.

“In a famous case, George Harrison was sued over royalties for his first solo song “My Sweet Lord“, a song that sounded too similar to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine”. Harrison lost the case when a judge said he “subconsciously plagiarized”, and was ordered to pay $587,000 to Bright Tunes Music, who owned the copyright. Plagiarism of this sort is a kind of sleeper effect whereby old ideas come to feel new.”
- Wikipedia (again).

Pay attention to your choice of entertainment and your viewing material, lest your creations be revealed to not be your own.

Discussion in the comments welcomed.

Chux here, a word or two about me and my relationship with D2MG before the actual article.

I’ve been dancing with D2MG since 2006, the year that I began uni. I got invited to a jam at UNSW by BJ, one of the other 2 guys in my crew at the time, Sneaker Pimps. Ran into Katrina there, spent more time at UNSW than I did at my own uni that year and have been present with it from those days through to the city-based studio that we are now.

Normally a regular blogger, I’ve had somewhat of a retirement lately. The last year has been long periods of silence punctuated by brief periods of high-spirited discussion and argumentative conversation as my blogs switched from regular posts that were spontaneously written, to more well thought out posts with definite messages to be conveyed, almost always with controversy following the posts. Lately I’ve been getting my message across a lot more personally, talking with people 1 on 1 and discussing ideas with some of the older heads in the scene.

For the past week I’ve been promising Trina that I’d post another such artice on her blog, seeing as how one of my first extensive posts happened on the first generation d2mg site, put up by Katrina herself. So in keeping with that history, I’m putting a little something together on the following topic.

Foundation

(not this kind…)

Something that’s been concerning me lately, for a number of reasons, is a willful ignorance of the foundations of hip hop dance, in various styles. On top of this, there’s ignorance of dancers who have helped create and sustain older hip hop dance styles, and often dismissal of their dancing abilities on top of this. To put it simply, paying dues and staying respectful.

This is specifically about the dancers who want to know what they’re talking about, who want to learn. There’s far too many dancers who don’t want to learn, have no intention of doing anything other than performing and looking good. This isn’t for them, as I treat them as lost causes anyway, and the amount of information I’ve offered about the importance of knowing the basics before trying to get complex is astounding, as anyone who’s danced with me will know. At the end of it, only the people who really want to know the history and information, those who really want to understand the dance and the culture will pay attention, and the rest will hang along for the ride, hopefully jumping off sooner rather than later, before any damage gets done (no such luck). I know enough people who are sustaining the foundation and teaching the steps which will build solid dancers, but a lot of dancers (both old and new) seem to concern themselves more with performance and routine rather than on foundation and freestyle. They build their routines, their training and dancing in general around styles but not foundation.

Building something upon a shaky ground, which only leads to poorer outcomes in the future? I’m pretty sure there’s a phrase for that somewhere…

That’s the one.

In addition to a disregard for the basics of a dance, I’ve seen ignorance of the respected advice of the more experienced heads in Sydney. Dancers are being presented with the information to improve themselves, albeit some dancers are more capable of imparting this information (heads up to hopko’s previous article), but the information is not being taken aboard. This deprives the dancers in question of advice that will save them the difficulty of having to find answers that are readily available from experienced heads in the scene. A separation occurs,which is something the scene wants to avoid, but in case of disrespect is perfectly fine ignoring intentionally ignorant individuals.

As Isaac Newton famously said,
“If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Isaac Newton – O.G.

It’s natural to want to move on to new things, things that excite us in new ways and things that we may have not seen before. However, in the pursuit of the new it is important not to forget the contributions of those who came before us, as easy as it is to do that sometimes. The reason that new things are capable of being reached, new concepts seen and new styles observed is because those who put in the effort building and sustaining a scene allowed the platform for dancers to learn from.

I remember putting all my efforts towards building a name for Krump dance in Sydney, with only a handful of us doing the dance it fell upon less than 10 dancers in the scene to properly represent krump dance. To give krump an image of a respectable dance, one with foundations, styles, complex movements and not just wilding out in the way that others thought it was. But on the side, I was still doing the other dance styles and making sure that I paid the proper respects to the other hip hop styles, because how do you intend to gain respect as a hip hop style, without giving respect to hip hop stylers? The same concept applies for dancers.

Now, since that’s been achieved, all I want to do is build freestyle dancers out of sydneysiders and make them more capable of contributing to the scene. I’m proud of a handful of dancers who’ve jammed and freestyled in my class and have taken that knowledge to improve themselves as freestylers, choreographers or dancers in general. One chick in particular from a few years ago didn’t consider dancing her passion until after she’d taken a class. Since then she’s gone on to build things for herself and become her own dancer, taking the advice of many dancers on. She ninja’d her way to the top.

I’ll be honest, I just said the word ninja so I could sneak this photo in.

The past must be sustained in order to build upon the future. The past can’t grow without the new generation, and the new generation wouldn’t be halfway to where they are without the contribution of the older generation. Respect comes with experience, and the experienced know where to give respect.

You stand on the shoulders of giants, so respect your foundation.
Chux.
Truth, Respect, Integrity.