Contrasting dance techniques: Hip-hop vs Ballet - Dance Saturday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
Sorry I didn't post on Wednesday. As a sixth form student currently going through the process of online school, I can sometimes find it difficult to balance my college studies with blogging but I'm back now for another fun post.
Recently I watched a video about hip-hop dancers trying ballet and ballet dancers trying hip-hop and I thought that it was super interesting. Brittany and Elise were the two professional ballet dancers in the video whilst Brandon "Beastboi" and Dezmin, "Alpha Jack" were the two hip-hop dancers. Brittany and Elise both started dancing at around the age of 3 years old and have both been in prestigious ballet companies, with Brittany dancing at the English National Ballet and Elise dancing at the American School of Contemporary Ballet. In contrast, Beastboi has been dancing hip-hop for 11 years and owns his own hip-hop company Versa-Style and Beast Camp and Alpha Jack runs his own company too called Creation Global and he's been dancing hip-hop for around 10 years. It was clear from the get go that these dancers were highly experienced in their familiar style of dance but trying an opposing and contrasting technique became a different story.
As a person who understands the movement required in hip-hop, I could feel empathy for Beastboi and Alpha Jack for trying to perform the strict technique of ballet. In comparison to being grounded and having some groove, ballet is all about being lifted through your spine, being posturally aware, and keeping your footwork tight. I know that people often ask the question, why start ballet so young? Well, it's because you have to literally develop the physical anatomy required for the technique. You need to open your hips for good turn out and you need to be constantly working your feet for that arch that ballerinas are so famous for. Upon observing the performance of Beastboi and Alpha Jack, the two hip-hop dancers, I could tell that they really gave it a good effort and their performance was really sound in the end but you could tell that their was a difference in physicality when it came to the feet especially. They had the body suited for hip-hop but that was different to the anatomy required in ballet. I thought that that was really interesting to see. However, not being ballet trained myself, I know how hard it is to execute those movements without traditional training. I remember coming out of my work experience in year 10 with a new found respect for ballet dancers because I took an adult ballet class and I ached for a whole week afterwards. The movements look easy but trust me, they require some athleticism!😂💜
When Brittany and Elise tried hip-hop, I could also see some differences in physical stature. Ballet is a beautiful dance style but I can often find that the dancers who are brilliant technicians in classical ballet, can often find it difficult to reverse their technique in a completely different style like hip-hop. As I've just said, ballet is about posture, elegant lines, and beautiful feet and it can be difficult for dancers to digress from this and do the complete opposite. In hip-hop, it's about using lowness in your body level to add groove and most importantly, its also about thinking on your feet and freestyling your own moves to bits of the music. Although there was theoretically nothing wrong with the performance delivered by Brittany and Elise, you could tell that they were staying more upright and not sinking into their knees to feel the beat of the music. They were also looking a bit rigid in the improvisation sections and they weren't quite letting go enough. However, again, I can understand their position. I've recently stopped street commercial due to Covid-19 but I had been doing street and hip-hop since the age of 7 years old prior to this. Although I would consider myself to be good at it, I was not the biggest freestyler and that remains to this day. Sometimes in dance, it is just about having fun and letting your body naturally move to the music. I have respect for hip-hop dancers who can do this with ease because it really is a skill to be mastered.
After watching this video, I think I gained an appreciation for the diversity of dance genres that exist in the world. Hip-hop and ballet are truly transformative. Even English folk dances can go down as pretty amazing to me. This makes me realise that there is no right way to dance. Some people are mistaken by the idea that in order to be a good dancer you have to start with ballet, do some jazz, a bit of hip-hop, and a bit of tap, and you'll be well-rounded and ready for business. However, I just think that's a bit dull and whilst that is a route towards a dance profession, there are other interesting routes that people choose to go down and not everyone begins dance in their toddler years. There is a rich mixture of dance genres, cultures, techniques, and people yet to be explored by many and not one style is better than the other. Consequently, I would like to encourage other dancers out their to discover something new, whether it be ballet, hip-hop, salsa, flamenco, or Afro-beats, don't be afraid to give it a go. As part of my IB dance college studies, I have to write about a familiar and unfamiliar dance style. I chose to do street commercial for my familiar and Capoeira for my unfamiliar. I've never heard of Capoeira prior to my initial research but the history and technique sounds rather amazing. It's an Afro-Brazilian martial art that includes elements of acrobatics, combat, self-defence, dance, and music. An interesting dichotomy of sports and visual arts. I can't wait to find out more!
STEEZY
Which do you prefer? Hip-hop or ballet? Do you like both? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them!
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See you next time,
Bye,
XOX, Juliette
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