The LXD & Step Up 3D Arrive

Now that we're in early August 2010, it's safe to say that the media maelstrom of The LXD and Step Up 3D have arrived. Hulu has hosted the first season episodes of LXD while today many dance fans are flocking to theaters to see the third film of the Step Up trilogy. What does this all mean for the millions of aspiring dancers around the world? We now have new role models in the public spotlight.

Aspiring poppers will want to wait through the end credits of Step Up 3D to watch popper Jsmooth's finger tut solo. Madd Chadd stands out among the cast for his dimestopping and robotic isolations. And Pandora gets the full 3D treatment, delivering a fast-paced tutting solo right in front of the audience's faces. We get the feeling that aspiring poppers will be rewatching these scenes over and over on DVD or via downloaded versions of the film. That's especially true of Jsmooth's solo which extends for several minutes.

Surprisingly, it's the poppers who will stand out and likely influence a new generation of dancers. Our mainstream audiences have been saturated with bboy tricks for over three years now via America's Best Dance Crew. It's the poppers who haven't been seen in the forefront. And now, folks are finally going to see poppers who have street credibility in the underground scene. None of them got famous from any of the popular reality TV shows.

In 2003, You Got Served sparked public interest in the whole dance crew battle scene. And young teenagers got their first feature film glimpse of abstract dancer Elsewhere. Will Jsmooth, Madd Chadd, and Pandora become the new role models coming out of Step Up 3D? We're in a different time now where dance fans can quickly Google and Youtube their favorite dancers. We can learn about their past accomplishments and see them performing or battling in grainy videos online. Seven years after You Got Served, dance fans are information-saturated every day all the time.

That's where The LXD comes in. This progressive online series features the power of soloists whether it's bboyin', poppin', krumping, contemporary, or hip hop freestyle. Aspiring dancers now have more frames of reference to study and connect with their idols. Despite early negative reviews from some of the audience, the LXD series has been welcomed by its target audience. And it looks like the whole machine is going to keep going. This is a good thing for aspiring dancers who are hungry for inspiration and role models.

Will this empower street dancers more in the entertainment industry? It certainly gives them more exposure. It's kind of cool to be on the cusp of a new wave of inspiration coming from this online series and feature film because it's starting a whole new cycle. Young dancers in their teens are going to be consuming these moving images and will be influenced. The dancers of The LXD and Step Up 3D can be proud that they're already making a difference on a new generation.

Inclusiveness in Our Community

It breaks our hearts to see that there's still a barrier between the street dancing community and the collegiate choreography scene. How can we make a difference here? In the past year and a half, we've explored some of the differences between both worlds. The street dancing community has always been a wily, unstructured group that doesn't function around any one institution or organization. Meanwhile, the collegiate choreography scene thrives on a structured world of showcase competitions, rehearsals, and the college life. One is raw and uncensored; the other is organized and built around academic affiliations. You could say they're from two different worlds.

So why even care about making a connection between these worlds? The street dancing scene has thrived on its own for over thirty years. And the collegiate choreo scene in LA and Orange County has been growing since the early 90s. Different strokes for different folks, as the phrase goes. We've been okay staying within our comfort zone. But what we're missing out on is an opportunity. It may be difficult to blend a street dance competition with a showcase. But learning from each other is never a loss. Both communities have strengths that the other can benefit from. Poppers, bboys, and lockers in the street scene have a courage and fiery freedom in their freestyling. They have a history and foundation to build on. They have a raw spirit. Collegiate choreo dancers have an eye for mobilizing a large group of people on stage. They are community-oriented and their teaching methods are designed to educate many students at one time.

We're not proposing that the street scene or the collegiate scene make over the other in their own image. Both should retain their true identities. But why not start an ongoing dialogue to educate and share with each other? There's evidence of misinformation among the collegiate crowd on solid foundation for street styles. The plethora of videos on Youtube are an example. And the street scene can often misjudge choreo dancers as "biters" while overlooking the skills choreo dancers have in creating pleasing images of many dancers moving together. We could influence each other in positive ways that we haven't even imagined yet, if we were only open to starting a conversation.

That's all it takes. A few leaders from each community to start talking and sharing and understanding together. Are we as open-minded as we think? Are we subconsciously insecure about our own skills if we constantly bash others who are different from ourselves? It may be human nature to be afraid of someone not like us. But we still can have a choice to decide on how to act on that fear. We can either turn away from each other or take a chance and listen.

The Search for Wisdom

How do we bring change in the street dance community? Can we avoid the mistakes of the past and build on the wisdom of our predecessors? Wisdom is what we need. We're desperate for it. Only with wisdom can we start to build a different future for the next generation of dancers.

Why is wisdom important? The young often rail against their elders about inflexibility, outdated perspectives, and unfair prejudice. The elders complain that the youngbloods lack maturity, experience, and thoughtfulness. We see these patterns in other communities besides dance. At the heart of this conflict is a breakdown in communication. Whatever side you're on, it's easy to only look through your own lens. And in doing so, we can jump to hasty conclusions, form judgements, and act on them without considering the validity of others' perspectives.

Street dance is nearly over thirty years old now. Enough time has passed where there are at least three generations intermingling. You could call them the old school, the middle school, and the new school. With so many people involved, it's surprising that we're still making the same mistakes as thirty years ago. Jams are still unorganized and run off schedule. Money is a corrupting factor that divides former friends. And nasty gossip ruins the feel-good vibes of our dance.

We need wise leaders to step forward. In each of our communities, there is a desperate need for men and women, regardless of age and generation, to start shepherding the masses. These leaders were meant to influence, coach, educate, and mentor the unwieldy souls in our dance community. If you feel you're heart stirring, if you feel a burden for our fellow brothers and sisters in the dance community; then you have something to offer. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Can we stop asking for change and start thinking about how to be part of the solution? If each of us is gifted uniquely with distinct talents, then it's possible that we can apply them to influence our dance community in positive ways. Yes, many of us are lazy. Or we're intimidated to take on risk. But there is a great need for wisdom right now. That kind of wisdom can bring an inner peace to each of our souls, which is deeply longed for if we're honest with ourselves.

Leaders, please stand up and dream big. You have the power to bring change.

Post Homeland Jam 2010: Thank You Videos

So after the Homeland Jam went down on Saturday, July 17, 2010; there's been a series of thank you videos circulating online for each of the styles represented at the event. Here they are:

Waackers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d6y9H1vQ7E

Poppers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrUCNchj5W8

Lockers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL7asineR7g

Robots:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7JwUVuqC4M

And there's a special thank you video for the group of kids from Studio Myster. They came all the way from Osaka, Japan to perform and compete at Homeland Jam:

Studio Myster:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-nnn4uDh5E

And you can find Studio Myster's website at:

http://www.studio-myster.com

Definitely worth checking out! This was the first time that dancers from these many styles were under one roof for a Homeland Jam.

Annual Homeland Jam 2010: Saturday, July 17

It's almost upon us...the Annual Homeland Jam. This time, it's at a new venue with more contests. Relevant info:

Annual Homeland Jam 2010

Saturday, July 17

Green Belt Rec Center

918 North Sanford Avenue

Wilmington, CA 90744

1-on-1 lockin'

2-on-2 poppin'

1-on-1 robot king

1-on-1 waacking

Pre-register online by emailing your name and contest to HomelandLB@gmail.com

$10 entry at the door. Cameras are $5 extra.

Doors open 12:30pm

Signups at door close 1:30pm

Prelims start right after

Some trailers for the event have been circulating the past few weeks online. Each one is around 1 minute.

OFFICIAL TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VIXrD3W8_Q

WAACKING CONTEST TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BUPNG3xhHE

"REWIND" TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6oGtT9wuk

We're excited about this Jam coming this Saturday!

"HOMELAND" ... the late 2000s

From 2007-2009, Homeland saw a generational shift and new influences seeping into our community. Bboyin' sessions continued on Tuesday nights. Lockin' experienced a growth spurt. Waackin' had a rebirth in a new generation. And poppin' evolved into new forms inspiring debate among the old school and the new school. Meanwhile, Homeland was acknowledged by street dancers worldwide as a must-see spot in Los Angeles. The community center became a brand name as video-sharing online helped to broaden awareness of it.

Technology blasted the doors open to the hip hop scene in 2005. That year, the debut of Youtube was a turning point for us. No other visual technology has expanded the awareness of street dance more than online video sharing via Youtube. It's accessible format made it easy to post videos of yourself practicing in your garage, to search for clips of the latest battle, or to study your dance idols by mimicking their moves. Suddenly, you didn't need to spend days and weeks scouring for precious video footage of Popin' Pete, OG Skeeter Rabbit, or Flattop. All you had to do was type their name in Youtube's search engine and click your mouse. It changed everything. Anyone, anywhere with a computer and an Internet connection could become exposed to these dance styles.

Homeland experienced a generational shift with new faces entering from the collegiate choreo hip hop scene in 2007-2008. Many college students came from UC Irvine, CSU Fullerton, and CSU Long Beach. Many of them were also of Asian-American or Pacific Islander background, suggesting the growing movement of these demographic groups in hip hop. This was different from the earlier new school in the early-mid 2000s, who came from various backgrounds. But this late 2000s group would then set the stage for a more unified community in Homeland.

One crucial step in Homeland's community growth was the start of regular weekly classes in lockin' and waackin' taught by Tiffany "Jimini" Bong and Donna "Sunny D-lock" Arrogante. Dance education became synonymous with Homeland. These classes helped to attract the new generation emerging from the college scene. It made Homeland more accessible to a newcomer who wasn't used to learning in an open session environment. It also made many folks less intimidated to visit Homeland. Previously, some may have Homeland intimidating not because of safety issues but because there were so many high level dancers there. A dance class was a safe way to enter the environment. This brought a sense of institutional organization to Homeland's weekly sessions, which previously only had open session learning.

With these structured classes, there was a larger influx of women into Homeland's community. The Monday night sessions had always been diverse, but they were still male-dominated. Historically, the hip hop scene had been populated by more men than women. Now, from 2007 onward, a larger proportion of women at Homeland changed the weekly dynamic. Several of these young women, including Tiffany and Donna, took the initiative to build a sense of community at Homeland. We also saw more waackin' being done at Homeland, which can be traced to teachers like Angel and Kumari Suraj influencing Tiffany and Donna who then inspired dancers in their Homeland classes. The sharing of new information only helped to strengthen bonds between fellow dancers. With Iceman's blessing, Homeland became a place where you felt like other people cared about what you were going through. It wasn't just a place where you went to session. When you walked through those doors, you were part of a family. You belonged.

Lockin' also benefited from these structured classes and the influx from the collegiate crowd. Now, there were young lockers training at Homeland and bringing what they learned back into the collegiate scene. The lockin' community had always been smaller compared to poppin' and bboyin' in Los Angeles. But now, this new blood was appearing at contests and putting on showcases. We usually saw lockers from Monteal, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan representing hard at LA contests like How Tha West Was Won. But now, local new school lockers were training to enter contests. At the Homeland Jam 2009, several young lockers from the newly founded Noisy Crickets Crew entered, repping their name which was in honor of their lockin' teacher Tiffany "Jimini" Bong.

Homeland also witnessed the development of rivalries in the poppin' scene, especially between two crews: Machine Gone Funk (MGF) and Funny Bones Crew (FBC). Both crews had showcased their rivalry at Freestyle Session 2007 in the final crew-on-crew contest at the Hollywood Palladium Theatre (except that Funny Bones members were labeled as Team Kleenhouse at this event). This was a significant event in that there was an auditorium filled with bboys and bgirls from around the world watching two poppin' crews go at each other. Through the 2000s, bboyin' and poppin' were usually segregated, but now the poppers were taking center stage. Looking back at the MGF vs Team Kleenhouse contest, you could sense how dancers from both camps would go on to shape the poppin' scene for the next few years. Many of them emerged as the most competitive poppers in local and international contests, including Frantick, Kid Boogie, Bionic Man, J-Smooth, Johnny 5, Jet Li, Lobo, Tronick, and Slim Boogie.

New music influences also began shaping poppin' culture with the arrival of dubstep in the LA scene. Old school funk like Parliament, Zapp & Roger, and Cameo were usually played at contests from the early to mid 2000s. G-funk also was in heavy rotation. We also listened to drum n' bass, electro, and hard house as well, but they rarely got played at high profile contests. Around 2008, the warped out sounds of dubstep started tripping out our eardrums. Local events sponsored by new school heads were responsible for broadening the awareness of dubstep among poppers. Mr. Fantastic's backyard jam in January 2009 and Lobo's Memorial Day Weekend 2009 contest are prime examples of dubstep-filled events that got documented online via Youtube. With these new sounds, poppin' took on a more animated feel with highly detailed body control and isolations. Poppers experimented with combining the dance feel of Electric Boogaloo style with illusional styles like waving, tutting, and animation. Hitting the muscles also became more emphasized as poppers used their chest, legs, neck, various arm muscles and back muscles to create a monster-size hit effect. At Homeland, this evolution in popping was on display every Monday at the open sessions.

The late 2000s was also a time when it seemed possible to get on TV and make some money as a dancer. MTV's America's Best Dance Crew shined as the prime target for every crew to show up and throw their hat into the ring. Fox's So You Think You Can Dance was another target for solo dancers. While it seemed like a far-fetched dream in the early 2000s to make a living as a dancer, the picture had changed by 2008. Perhaps the greater awareness of street dance through Youtube helped to convince TV producers that there was talent out there. At the same time, the new school from the collegiate world were coming into Homeland subconsciously influenced by the new celebrity culture emerging around dancers who appeared on TV and who were making a name for themselves online. Suddenly, you would hear people at Homeland marveling, "Look! There's Robert Muraine. And that's Hiro from We Are Heroes!" In the early to mid 2000s, you would never hear that except maybe for Burst Rock who appeared in a Superbowl Levi's commercial.

So, by the end of the decade, Homeland had seen a generational shift in its community and we had stepped into a golden age of street dance in media. Seeds were being laid for the next decade in terms of a higher level of poppin' and lockin' in the LA scene. Now, the dance community was one of many faces, not a singular face. It had many sides, not just one facet. And while Homeland's communal face changed, it's spirit stayed true to its original conception. It was still a refuge for many dancers who wanted a little more than just a place to session. They wanted a place where they could be inspired, to belong, and to share their love for a living, breathing, organic dance that connected everyone who dared to groove.

"HOMELAND" ... the mid 2000s

By 2005, the poppin' and lockin' scene in Los Angeles was evolving. The scene felt like it was getting bigger by 2004, especially with the beginning of some mainstream media exposure through the film You Got Served in 2003. Regardless of what many thought of the film's quality, it did expose the general public to the idea of a "battle." We saw this idea carried over into TV on the UPN channel where Dance 360 pitted dancers from all styles in a face-off. For a while, a lot of folks were chanting like the audience "Head to head! Head to head!" when two dancers battled. Meanwhile, new faces were showing up at Homeland every Monday night. Some stayed. Some left and were never seen again. In the mid 2000s, Homeland's community was experiencing what our dance culture was going through as a whole during that time. It was a period of diverse growth and new personas emerging on the scene.

Style-wise in poppin', the Electric Boogaloo style (also known as boog style) remained dominant worldwide. The EBs continued to teach workshops and judge contests in Europe and Asia. But in LA, we were starting to see the emergence of other styles as represented by new school poppers. As a community, we were branching out. Tutting, waving, and animation were getting more attention. New school dancers who did these styles were getting better at their craft and showcasing them at events. And the term "pop-locking" was being used again by local LA OGs, such as OG Jeckle (from the Northeast LA area), who grew up using that label.We came to hear that "pop-locking" was a term uniquely used by some LA OGs in the 80s. They adopted this label and used it to describe their dance style while other groups may have simply seen it as poppin'.

The Annual Homeland Jam was started in 2005 by BBoy Iceman. And this event helped to bring further attention to poppers of different styles. It was a stage where we saw new poppers coming to their own. The event became a local gathering catering specifically to the poppin' and lockin' communities. Before the Homeland Jam, poppin' and lockin' contests were usually held as sideshows at bboy events. But now, here was one event that supported these dancers. Part of this momentum came from another event called How Tha West Was Won, started by Mr. Smooth and Gerardo in 2003-2004. While HTWWW came beforehand, the Homeland Jam was able to distinguish itself by its homegrown community feel and the perception that it wasn't affiliated with the Electric Boogaloos.

Around this time, two of the most prominent LA-centric poppin' crews began to emerge - Machine Gone Funk (MGF) and Funny Bones Crew (FBC). Both crews had members and some origins in other cities: MGF in the Bay Area and FBC later had some members in Phoenix, Arizona. Both crews would also develop a rivalry that would carry over into the late 2000s. It's worth mentioning both MGF and FBC because they each had members that would be talked about and studied at contests. MGF had Kid Boogie, Bionic Man, J-Smooth, Toshi, Nikodemus, Pharside, Boogaloo Pimp, Kana, Tapu, Jr Boogaloo, Tabo, Kazoo, Tony Styles and more. FBC had Burst Rock, Warlock, Frantick, Tronick, Jet Li, Lobo, Mr. Wizard, Johnny 5, BBoy Don and more. Several of these dancers went to Homeland on a regular basis while gaining notoriety in the competitive circuit. While MGF members based their foundation on the EB style, FBC members were very non-EB and embraced more of the pop-locking feel represented by some LA OGs. Their rivalry would later be seen by a larger audience at Freestyle Session 2007 at the Hollywood Palladium in a crew vs. crew battle, but we'll reserve that for a later installment.

The Homeland Jams in 2006 and 2007 helped to push poppin' and lockin' to a higher level in Los Angeles. The 2006 Homeland Jam was called the Skeeter Rabbit Getdown, in honor of Steven "Skeeter Rabbit" Nicholas who passed away in spring 2006. There was a 1-on-1 poppin' contest that year won by Breeze Lee. We also started to see the lockin' community grow as seen in the lockin' cypher held at this Homeland Jam. The seeds were being laid for the current new school lockin' community in LA. Many Homelanders from the early 2000s remember Gary, aka Lockin' Fossil - a gentle man in his 40s who was also a cancer survivor. He started dancing in 1978 and was often seen teaching lockin' to young kids at Homeland. He would also get down at clubs and the Choreographer's Carnival at the Key Club in Hollywood. Fossil is responsible for teaching some lockin' foundation to two young women who would affectionately be called "Fossil's Angels:" Tiffany "Jimini" Bong and Donna "Sunny D-lock" Arrogante. Both Jimini and Sunny D-lock would be responsible for teaching a new school lockin' generation in the mid to late 2000s via weekly classes at Homeland and through their affiliation with dance troupe Culture Shock Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Fossil wouldn't live to see this legacy. He passed away in 2007 when his cancer came out of remission.

Fossil's passing, along with Skeeter Rabbit and Tapu, hit home for many young new school poppers and lockers. It was the first time when many of us were experiencing real loss and grief over loved ones in the dance community. The frailty of life became a specter on our minds, reminding us that time was precious. Our relationships were valuable. And every opportunity to dance was a divine gift. Homeland reacted to these losses by having memorial cyphers where dancers would gather and celebrate the lives of lost souls. We saw cyphers for Tapu and Jr Boogaloo's son. And the 2007 Homeland Jam premiered a 1-on-1 lockin' contest in memory of Fossil.

The 2007 Homeland Jam also introduced a 2-on-2 poppin' contest that distinguished itself from the usual 1-on-1 contests year round. Most poppers were used to competing solo. But now, they were forced to come up with routines and work with partners. This contest prerequisite helped to push the overall creativity bar for poppers. We saw Pandora and Preying Mantas, Jrock and Funktion, and Frantick and Tronick facing off in a three-way battle at the 2007 Homeland Jam. New ideas were being introduced into what we knew as poppin' beyond what we'd seen from routines from the Electric Boogaloos or Bay Area struttin' groups like Demons of the Mind. A newer breed was interpreting poppin' with reinvigorated energy.

All of this activity was brewing in and around Homeland during the mid 2000s. We were seeing our dance home evolve as the world was changing around us. We'd also just started to share videos of ourselves dancing online via services like putfile.com and a then unheard of site called Youtube. None of us could have known how big of an influence the online world would have on our dance culture in the coming years.