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Movemakers Philly
Hip Hop Home Dojo Hip Hop Dance for Kids Streaming Live Online A note from Mr. Vince to all students In DA Lab! Youth Hip Hop Dance Students Independently Pursuing Excellence We all are experiencing a lot of time at home these days. Many young people are lacking the structure and routine that comes from school and participation in extracurriculars. Participating in a system that is managed by some sort of higher power is often supportive to steady progress. The student is given a greater sense of duty when required to complete a homework task. Similarly, when a teacher hovers over the shoulder of a student, the student feels pressure to execute. It is much more difficult to drop attention from the pursuit of learning, because the teacher is there to ensure that the student sticks on the path. But progress is limited when there is too much dependency on teachers. The true extent to how far any student goes is determined by personal drive to work independently. A hip hop dance student practices waving at home not because a teacher mandates nor because there is the pressures to improve in between classes. The best hip hop dance student practices because of passion and care for the craft. The best hip hop dance students practice because they want to get better for themselves. They set the expectations higher than any outside authority. Individuals with such drive typically excel in noteworthy ways. Their community witnesses and admires their growth, but most importantly the person that is self-motivated to develop experiences the personal satisfaction of being on an evolutionary path that is loaded with purpose. The positive self-affirmation that comes from witnessing one’s own progress is often tremendously more valuable than receiving the admiration of others. In hip hop dance, personal development requires a consistent home lab experience. The lab in hip hop dance is when the artist develops and tests skills. A bgirl might be interested in developing her backspin. In the lab, she will work on all of her prerequisites and drills that are useful to attaining the backspin. The lab space is where the bgirl experiments and tests her approach until she arrives at a result. Once the result is achieved it is time to move to a new mission and process. ​ Hip Hop Dance is social and for everyone. But let’s remember that hip hop dance is highly technical and complex as well. A dancer has the capacity to become a virtuoso in hip hop. If a student only relies on dance class for progress, it will become clear that the pace of development is slower. Whether in class, in a cipher or a battle, most dancers are not going to take risks. In these environments dancers will typically play it safe, concentrating on the skills that they already know. Growth in regards to skill acquisition happens by pushing oneself outside of the comfort zone. Often it is easiest to take the risk of stepping into the unfamiliar in the home lab. It’s in the home lab where a dancer levels up. The dancers that are constantly bringing something new to the class or cipher are clearly cooking up new ideas in their home lab. The dancers that are stagnant have been too reliant on the support of teachers. A good hip hop dancer takes the most that is possible from their teachers and peers, but recognizes that the independent quest is the truest path to excellence. This lesson on the home lab in hip hop is relevant in all façades of learning. Think of how often we’ve heard the story of top basketball players claiming that they have risen to their status because of a habit of being the first and last person on the court, practicing alone before and after the scheduled team practice period. There is no hard science to achieving excellence. But very few have the willpower to go the extra length. Movemakers Philly students, on the other hand, stay In Da Lab!
Elana has made a new routine for 13 days in a row. She is exploding with creativity. In the long run, she’ll be able think very quickly on her feet in a number of different scenarios in dance and beyond, because of the hard work in her consistent lab practice.
Toby dances non-stop at home practicing old school hip hop, popping, breaking and more. He is strong in all styles. The only way that he is maintaining a strong level across all of these styles is his structured personal lab practice
Nate is a technician that has been working to develop his personal voice. His dance is loaded with meaning and feeling. He is learning exactly what he wants to say in his dance. He wouldn’t be developing so profoundly if he only relied on class time for progress.
I am known mostly as a locker and house dancer. However, I am very interested in growing myself as a popper, specifically as a tutter. I’ve just started my journey in tutting. I am far from the level that I would like to be at. The lab is critical to my development. I would never step into the cipher with the folks in the cipher video shared. I have too much respect for them and the style. First I have to get my lines and positions cleaner. I have to work on the fluidity and complexity of my ideas. Like Nate, I have to determine what I am trying to say with the style. At the moment, I am merely doing crude freestyle experiments in between my primary focus of drilling shapes and patterns. But a dedicated lab practice will get me to where I want to be in time. Patience, consistency and determination are the main ingredients. This is what we teach all of the hip hop dance kids in our live stream online classes. Me practicing the style of Tutting My heros in a tutting cypher:
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