A way into the interpretation of “B-Boying / Breaking”
by Niels “Storm” Robitzky
The following text is the development of a paradigm for a fitted hermeneutical approach towards the dance “B-Boying / Breaking” in its most spectacular theatrical setting:
The Battle
In a dance battle, performers come together to put their skills to the test. How can one comprehend the performed acts and which structures are useful for interpretation?
Before I start getting specific on the “B-Boy” subject, a few universal asserts need to be made.
The sort of taste that is generally developed in society, with its special cultural and historical background, has conditioned certain habits of thinking, feeling and observing. The social- and cultural- circumstances under which an art form was developed are reflected in its characteristics. If one is not able to contextualize a performance within its cultural background, it will lead to a misinterpretation.
From a “B-Boy” perspective, what I call the “concrete jungle philosophy” in which appearing like a warrior rather than a victim, is an essential part. An aggressive attitude becomes an ingrained, tacit prerequisite and shows in posture, mimicry and gesticulation. However, the culture is a meritocracy. The people that rule are the ones that are most skilled and educated. An opinion is evaluated through the level of competences in ones craft which can be best shown in a challenge. We can only discuss anything within our knowledge of reality and at any given point in time we must invest ourselves in some view, based on the best experience and information we have at hand. At the same time as I am writing these words I am concerned about axiomatizing theories on “B-Boy” culture for its strong negative effect. It might appear as an ultimate truth and then it can prevent people from looking into new directions.
I would like to suggest working on a structured model of three main upsized criteria: interpretative quality, physical quality and artistic quality with these three components in mind, one is not overstrained and a reflection on confusing factors in the seen performance would still be possible. This model also serves another development in organized “Battles”. Contemporary promoters hire mostly the uneven number of three judges, to avoid the event of a tie break in the competition, in which both participants end up with an equal amount of votes and they need to go against each other for some more action until a clear decision is made. A “B-Boy” run consists of an average of about 45 seconds time. Due to the enormous physicality of “B-Boying” the result is, that in high skill level battles, the performed phrases are fully stacked with sophisticated movements, which make each run a very complex statement. If each valued equal criterion was assigned to one judge, the three nested criteria would facilitate the work of a jury even more and makes their decision as a whole more transparent. For any spectator, it becomes a task of high concentration, and to utilize any analyzing system will only be possible with a lot of experience and training. With the short amount of time a judge has before the calls are made, he has to think clear and quick.
The three upsized criteria are:
interpretative quality, artistic quality, physical quality
and their use in the development of the skill of the dance and their interpretation will be explained in the following article.
12.01.14
interpretative quality
Musicality:
Music and dance together can effect a temporarily spiritual transformation of an environment. Many rituals are intensified musically. Music defines “Breaking” and it is built on Funk and Rock. The “Break” or the “Break-beat” started everything. It is that part of a song where most instruments turn silent and the percussions stand out. The acoustic reduction mobilized the dancers, to construct a visual instrument filling the gap. Whether it was the “Break” or the “Beat” that made the B in “B-Boys” remains uncertain. Ever since the dance was born, “B- boys” all over the world foster the tradition of using “breaks”, to express their art form.
In other cultures, the systems of musical values differ. They are dependent on time and place. There is no universal acoustic form-given purpose or design on the planet and most people only tolerate the acoustic forms they are accustomed to. In order to understand a dance, one needs to understand its musical background.. “B-Boys” focus on their moves like musicians on their notes. They play along with the music and their solo must be subject to similar rules based on movement qualities. The moves are inscribed into space, in synchronization with the rhythmic grid of the music.
Dramaturgy:
The power of occasion depends on what you are performing. Thus, timing is very important. The performance itself is framed in time. The narrative triggers different emotions and should be analysed dramaturgically.
If we apply the modern “Three-act structure” of dramaturgy, with its basic concept of “Set up, confrontation and Resolution”, to what we call the typical B-Boy formula with its “Toprock, Downrock and Freeze”, then we can see the similarities immediately and it is a basic way to pursue.
-In the “Three-act structure”, the first part of the first act is described as the “exposition” in which the main characters and their positions are being described. On stage in a “B-boy battle”, that is the part the host usually does. If not, the positions the dancers take, with their mimics, posture and gestures before the actual dance, speaks for itself. Later in the first act, the first climactic point occurs and the then the first act ends. In dramaturgic terms this is the “catalyst” or the “inciting incident”. If we refer to that in a B-boy solo, it describes the “toprock” part. The turning point will happen at the very special chosen moment, when the dancer drops to the floor.
- In dramaturgic terms, the second act is called “Rising action”. Here, the protagonist has to arrive at a higher sense of awareness of what he or she is capable of. In “B-Boying” this is the “Downrock” part, which is the most challenging and also physical part. The participant goes to the limit of his capabilities to execute his solo well.
- The third act is the “Climax”, the most intense moment, which features the resolution.
A typical “B-boy” set ends with a “Freeze”. This or other ways of finishing should always build up to a quality of being determined or resolute.
The Japanese dramatic “Yo ha kyu” system, where all actions should begin slowly, then gets more energetic and ends suddenly work in similar ways. Zeami Motokiyo regarded it as a universal concept to apply to all patterns of all movement. As a result it is used in the tea ceremony and in many Japanese martial arts, which had a great influence on “Breaking” in its early years.
creative quality:
The work on “Foundation”
If one asks a “B-Boy” about the most important part in the dance, he would most likely answer: “Foundation”. It is this special term that refers to the history of the style with its basic ideas and describes the mental and physical approach to the art including a large number of movements with its general form, musical associations and the standards of the dance in general. This set of notions contains the core of “B-Boy philosophy”. Without the set of these traditional ideas that I also call the “Bronx heritage”, a personal vision might easily become inconsistent with the values of the community at large. The foundational concepts serve as references. Their movements are what an artisan would call the “type-forms” of his craft and are all developed the same way.
There is a governing structure in the development of human skills in general. I would like to illustrate these patterns the way Richard Sennett describes them in his book “Together”1 and then discuss them in the context with “B-Boying”:
1st stage: Directions are given that we engrain as habits.
2nd stage: The skill expands, by questioning the established habit and it dissolves into evocations that we pursue more consciously.
3rd stage: New ways appear and are added to the established ones, rather then erasing it.
By looking at the first stage as a dancer, we need to understand that every little thought has to be reflected on and will be memorized in a particular chronological order, it is a combination of ideas, that will resolve in a movement shaped after our imagination. Soon, one will be able to execute this movement in a thoughtful slow flow and by continuing to work on it, later done in a steady rhythmic loop. The more ingrained the move is, the easier it becomes to adjust and to do it with different velocity. This is where musicality and the element of play come in. It soon can be performed in all sorts of tempi. The gestures done in rhythmic loops confirm for us, and signal to others, that we are confident in what we are doing. Only now stage one is achieved.
In stage two one reflects on functionality, economics and aesthetics much more, than on the mere execution of what was given. Stravinsky said: simplify- eliminate- clarify
Any idea that improves the habitual combination descends one back to stage one immediately. Also in stage three with every new idea added or replaced, the gesture will consist of a new combination, so the ingraining process will start again. In other words, each time something new is found, it causes so much turbulence, that one repeatedly goes back to learning “how to walk before to run”.
Every time the dancer is faced with a new problem, he needs to use his imagination until a new response will be at hand and ingrained up to the moment it becomes tacit behaviour. This process will enlarge the dancers vocabulary and adds sophistication. By using this process one learns how to impress his individual character within a
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