What’s the best platform today to tell our stories from the street dance community? Is it the largest outlet possible to reach a mass audience - ie, Hollywood films and broadcast television? Or is it through a grass-roots movement using word-of-mouth and social networking? At this time, there are multiple ways of consuming video clips, text, audio, and live streams for those who are wired into the global network. As street dancers and as visual artists, how do we share our stories more effectively with people around us?
This week, we want to explore various ideas that might stimulate our minds on this question. At some point in our lives, we each were inspired by the sight of a bboy, a popper, or a locker getting down. It touched our hearts and moved us to groove. So, it’s crucial to consider how our dance and culture are represented because a future generation is at stake. Think about the impact. If our stories are told poorly, fewer minds will be inspired and the dance dies with us. But if we push the envelope as well as preserve the past, we’ll show the world that we’re a force to be reckoned with. Dancers are storytellers and we shouldn’t have to apologize for that.
As we move into this new year of 2010, there are a lot of interesting developments on the horizon. One of the most anticipated projects in the public spotlight is the LXD project with Jon M. Chu, Christopher Scott, and Harry Shum. Their cast of characters include several of the most highly skilled and experienced dancers and athletes in many diverse styles. They’re performing at the TED conference this week in Long Beach. A platform like TED allows for this project to become exposed to a larger audience that may not be directly connected to the street dance world. The attendees will see some amazing physical feats but also the potential for stories told through body movement. We’re eagerly awaiting to see the impact this project has on a young street dance nation as well as the rest of the curious world.
The usual suspects on television continue to paint their pictures of street dancing whether it’s MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew or So You Think You Can Dance. They’ve created a pop culture version of our world that has offered commercially viable opportunities to dancers who step into their ring. And it brings a celebrity factor to dancers who have previously been unknown. But it seems that there is a void that is being left behind. The world needs another type of dance show to debut on TV. We need something fresh because there is a hunger from audiences to experience the joys of dancing through dancers they watch onscreen.
Is the solution a grass-roots movement merging filmmaking and street dance stories? What we’re talking about here isn’t the current model of shooting and publishing video clips on Youtube. A more serious effort would involve small teams of dedicated filmmakers making short films, documentaries, and new media projects that capture the textures, details, and innovative ideas that are happening daily in our communities. If film remains a powerful influential force in our global culture, then we need to take advantage of this medium. By making small films that are locally produced, we can take a niche-marketing approach and present the films to our individual communities. These films would give our fellow comrades a visual identity. We can distribute the films ourselves through social networking and build relationships with other communities through sharing these films. This puts more of a human touch on our filmmaking creations instead of being passive with our audiences.
Doesn’t change often come through relationships, after all? Critics might argue that we have become more isolated due to technological dependence. But there’s still a deep hunger and craving in our souls for personal connection. Perhaps we can bring our dance stories into that conversation as we share with people around us.
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