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.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
— Anais Nin

A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.
— Unknown

Although there’s not a lot of content on the site as I am writing this post, I would still like to take this time to thank those who really inspired and motivated me to revive this blog and turn it into a much bigger site than I’d ever imagined in the next year. When I wrote my blogs back in 2006, I was highly self-motivated; now I need an even bigger boost since I juggle full time work as a project manager with running a dance studio and its associated events, workshops and whatever ad hoc things we can think of, as well as training with my dance crew Shady Ladies and then trying to keep up a social life. And at one point I was studying part-time while doing all the above.

I realise now that blogging is so therapeutic, and I did it more for myself and didn’t think I’d have an audience, which is why I’d write lots of posts on random topics with lots of swearing and hating – this I shall continue to do.

So my thanks goes out to:

• Jerome V. from Critical Hype - you are the first person on my list because it was only last night that you told me about how you really enjoyed reading my stuff, and would go through my archives on my blog. Your passion and effort dedicated to the Australian street dance scene really inspires me.
• Lenny - We don’t talk much these days but I will never forget or take for granted all the friendship, love and support you gave to me all these years. I hope we can reconnect like before, someday.
• Darrio - you talk way more than I do, but that makes me feel comfortable with talking as much shit as I do because at least I know that somewhere out there in the streets of Sydney, is a person far more outspoken than me. You are also my mentor and part-time life coach it seems! Even though you overtook my event and yelled and cussed at people for a good 15 minutes and told people that it was my idea, then walked out before the battles started which you were supposed to judge, you are still my friend and I still respect you hahaha.
• Chux - I love how you talk even more shit than me but less than Darrio, and are willing to step up to anyone who calls you out because of what you say or do. Your belief in me as a dancer and in general helps give me confidence and reassurance in what I do and what I can become.
• Link - It’s crazy how long we’ve been friends and while most people consider you royalty in the Hip Hop dance scene, to me you are just a really cool guy who supports my rants and shit talking and blows my mind with the immense amount of knowledge and wisdom you have.
• Anna Kim – The only person whose full name I write since there’s so many Anna’s out there… you know me the best out of all my friends and don’t judge me so quickly. Thank you for your hospitality in the city where we left our hearts and thank you for being such a great sister.
• My family – who have given me incredible support when I need it, they probably won’t ever read this but I am doing this all for them!
• Luke - my bestfriend, my other half, you are my rock when its awkward and when I’m in a hard place, you have had the most profound influence on my life and on me as a person in every aspect.

Ok it’s getting a bit too sentimental and I don’t usually show this soft side of me so let’s get back to the Hippin’ and the Hoppin’! There are many more people to thank which will come eventually, but these people are the ones I can think of right now and have been there for me for longer than everyone else…

And so I leave you with my favourite quote of all time… one that I can look at everyday thanks to Lenny’s thoughtful gift:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

— Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

As the first post on the revamped blog which is a combination of my old D2MG blog, my hiphop.org.au which turned into hiphopn.com, and dancing.net.au, I thought it fitting to write about how far we’ve come as D2MG since I took over in 2006.

Over the years it’s been a struggle, many sacrifices but also many joys that came with running D2MG as a dance academy in Sydney City, and there’s so much more to come for us in 2010. Lots of drama, lots of politics and rivalry were balanced with the good times we had, and the growing support that we receive from the dance community and beyond.

D2MG has grown its presence in the Sydney dance community and Hip Hop community, giving talented dancers the opportunity to spread their passion, and giving those new to the scene a chance to be part of our community. Our events have created opportunities for up and coming dancers to experience dance on another level, with the aim to motivate them to continue training and dancing.

D2MG is all about taking things to the next level. The way we do things is constantly being assessed and re-assessed; feedback from everyone is welcome and considered seriously and mostly incorporated into what we do – because we believe in having our supporters and members guide us in everything we do. So far, our innovations include:

• Next Generation Jams – an event for the next generation of dancers (since we don’t wanna call them newbies or amateurs) to showcase their skills in battle, while giving them the experience and motivation to aim higher each time they enter the event. They are given the opportunity to dance alongside the more established dancers and meeting all kinds of people in the Hip Hop scene in sydney.
• Breaking BY REQUEST classes – every Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm, the Breaking class is open to everyone of all dance experience levels, taught by a different teacher every fortnight, based on who the students want to learn from. Requests for teachers are made by emailing D2MG, and we organise those teachers to come in for a 2-week period, so that students can gain a variety of lessons from active bboys and bgirls within the community.
• Hip Hop Intermediate BY REQUEST classes – These classes follow the same structure for the Breaking BY REQUEST class, and a new teacher is invited to teach every 2 weeks.
• Street Dancer Alpha Jams – These jams are just for dancers of all styles, ages and levels to come to the D2MG studio once in a while and just dance, make friends with other dancers and learn some new moves.

It’s tough work, but I love it and refuse to give up! I thank all my biggest fans and supporters, most notably Luke, my family, Seymour, Froggy and the D2MG staff for sticking with me through the tough times and encouraging me to keep at it!

Trina