Posting my IB dance investigation - Dance Saturday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,

Now that I've finished the IB, I thought it would be a good idea to share my coursework with you guys, since I did spend a lot of time writing each of my essays and I wanted to share all my hard work with you. Today I am publishing my IB dance investigation where I compared two dance styles to see what was similar and what was different about each of them. Usually, this report would come with pictures but for the purpose of not getting copyrighted, I didn't include them today. But I do still hope you enjoy reading it because I certainly did, when I looked back at it.  

Introduction:

In this report I will compare the similarities and differences between street commercial and capoeira dance. I will be exploring the origins, the culture, and the technique of street commercial dance and capoeira in order to determine how these dance styles have evolved and grown in popularity over time. The purpose of this report is to see if the evolution and emergence of these two dance styles either resemble or differ to each other.

Historical context:

Street commercial dance has its origins in street dance and hip-hop. Prior to the 1970s, New York had an affluent economy, with a profitable industry that gave many jobs to people particularly of African American and Hispanic descent. However, during the 1970s, industry became less profitable when more wealthy white Americans left the city, fearing the takeover of black communities. “The Burning of the Bronx” saw wealthy white Americans burning their own buildings to create a profit or abandoning them completely (Flood, 2019). Break dancers claimed these abandoned housing tenements through their art form, dancing in battles with the intention of revolting peacefully against the gang violence that surrounded New York City and establishing themselves in the setting (Team, 2020). This street dance style involved power moves, freezes, freestyle, and floor work that were designed to challenge other dancers. A second movement of urban dance developed in the West Coast. The racially motivated arrest of Marquette Frye caused the Watt’s riots, a series of civil rights protests that surged in Los Angeles and the West Coast of America during the 1960s (University, n.d.). Jazz Funk, a synchronised, West Coast hip-hop style of dance that was created by African American artists, was a captivating, social art form that created positivity in the face of civil unrest in places like Los Angeles.

Capoeira was created during the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1516, when West African slaves were brought to Brazil by Portuguese colonists (Kingsford-Smith, 2021). Capoeira is an expressive art form that involves elements of dance, martial arts, acrobatics, and self-defence. During the Atlantic Slave Trade many West African cultural practises were banned by the Portuguese in an attempt to disenfranchise the slaves and remove their identity (Kingsford-Smith, 2021). NGolo, an Angolan ritual dance that involved movements such as kicks, sweeps, and dodges, was an example of a cultural practise that was banned by the Portuguese colonists (Zylstra, 2018).  As well as this many slaves, under the custody of the Portuguese and in the wake of their escape, practised fighting to help defend themselves against the brutal Portuguese militias, hidden in the Brazilian rainforests. As a result, fighting was also a practise that was banned by the Portuguese. However, capoeira was an art form that was created because the slaves became resourceful with the restrictions that were placed upon them (Kingsford-Smith, 2021). Outwardly, capoeira looked like a game which was known to the slaves as Jogo (Murphy, 2007), but this was done to disguise the fact that the slaves were practising their cultural traditions and fighting techniques.

Hip-hop and street (the origins of street commercial dance) and capoeira, were both dance styles that were created by artists of African descent, but capoeira was formed during the Atlantic slave trade in the 1600s whereas hip-hop was formed later in the timeline during a time of civil unrest in the 1970s.  In its early beginnings, capoeira was designed so that partners could challenge each other, and practise their cultural traditions. In the past capoeira was considered to be more of a sport because it was practised as a game. In contrast, in the past hip-hop and street were more closely linked to dance because the styles involved creativity and musicality. Capoeira and hip-hop were both street dance styles that both involved elements of battle but hip-hop was battled on the street in an artistic way, rather than a physical way like with capoeira.

Current context:

Hip-hop dance evolved from the streets to the stage through the birth of MTV, an American cable channel that originally displayed music videos from different artists in 80s popular culture (Jamie, 2019). Music videos such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which was aired by MTV in 1982, gained recognition through being displayed on the channel (Hebblethwaite, 2013). To prepare for music videos for channels such as MTV, hip-hop and street dancers began to rehearse in the studio where they integrated with established jazz and modern dancers. This integration with more technical, female-orientated styles made hip hop and street dance very sexualised. With the arrival of YouTube in 2005, artists made commercial music videos for a much larger youth-based audience, who were familiar with the internet setting. Beyoncé, a female figurehead in the world of pop music, created many music videos that promoted the power of femininity. “Run the World (Girls),” where she displayed the best of street commercial dance, had over 500 million views on YouTube. (Beyoncé, 2011) As a recreational student, I practised street commercial dance to learn about the style in terms of its technique but many professional dancers in the commercial world are now encouraged to practise this dance style to make money. Traditional dance artists of street and hip-hop saw the emergence of their styles in the commercial (business and competitive world) as a loss of their culture. However, others saw the emergence of street commercial dance not as a loss of authenticity but as “a bridge between their culture and their livelihoods.” (4, 2020)

Capoeira changed from a secretive performance to Brazil’s cultural icon. After the abolition of slavery in May of 1888, Brazil became poor very quickly because the slave industry had brought the Portuguese lots of money. Criminal violence became more of an issue in Brazil because of the national poverty. An influx of gang members began to practise capoeira to defend themselves amid the street violence and as a result, capoeira was officially outlawed by the Brazilian government in 1890 (Kingsford-Smith, 2021). In 1932, the renowned master of capoeira, Mestre Bimba opened his first capoeira academy called Luta Regional where he aimed to teach the non-contact form of capoeira and revive capoeira as an art form. Bimba created capoeira regional which was a new style of capoeira that focused more on fighting and less on the performance or rituals of the style. Capoeira regional hence grew in popularity as most began to practise it as a respectable sport. It wasn’t necessarily the intent of all mestres of capoeira, to accept the advent of technological advancements and abandon the traditional “grassroots" of capoeira, but because some practitioners were willing to tour countries and share their knowledge of the art form, capoeira was able to gain international recognition (Goncalves-Borrega, 2017).

Street commercial dance has evolved from its traditional roots because it has moved from the streets to the studio and has grown to include other technical elements from other styles of dance like jazz. In comparison, capoeira has remained very traditional. Although Mestre Bimba created the new style of capoeira regional, he worked hard to re-instate capoeira back into Brazilian culture and get people to respect this traditional art form. Nowadays, street commercial dance is created in the professional environment for the internet stage and capoeira is created in the outdoor setting for the Brazilian audience and tourists visiting the country.

Dance elements:

Street commercial is a style that combines other styles of dance such as street, jazz, and ballet (Loughlin, 2021). This means that there isn’t a set technique for the style. However, from my experience, a commercial street dance class can begin with learning the fundamental skills of street and hip-hop such as popping, locking, and whacking. Movements such as popping (an action where the dancer isolates a part of their body), are aesthetically aggressive and masculine, so these movements need to be well articulated and synchronised with the music. Street commercial dancers will also do corner work to practise their battements, turns, and chasses (Loughlin, 2021). Battement means to kick, and dancers in street commercial often combine high kicks with their street dancing, to balance the aggressive nature of the style with a strong, feminine movement. These technical elements will not create an entire street commercial routine, but most movements in street commercial are new and unseen to create captivating performances. Street commercial dancers traditionally wear quite casual, street wear for classes and performances such as t-shirts, jogging bottoms, and trainers (What Do Hip-Hop Dancers Wear?, n.d.). The overall aim of street commercial is to use dance to sell a song or product to the audience so teachers and choreographers in the style encourage their students to use strong facial expressions to also enhance routines for live performance or music videos.

In capoeira, one dancer must be prepared to attack whilst the other must be prepared to respond with an evasion of that movement. Examples of attacks include kicks, headbutts, knees, slaps, and punches and these movements whilst initiated by a dancer, are never carried out fully so that the dancer comes into direct contact with the other. Instead, the other dancer evades the movement depending on the type of attack that is delivered. Examples of evasions include sweeps, dodges, cartwheels, handstands, and roles (Arts, n.d.). Dancers perform this in an improvised manner, similar to a martial art, so they do not choreograph routines but instead work with the movements that are delivered during the performance. Steps such as the Ginga, an alternating lunge step to the back with one arm protecting the face at each step, helps to maintain the triangular footwork that is fundamental to the style (Howcast, 2012). Capoeira dancers usually wear a traditional uniform that includes a white t-shirt with their group’s logo, a pair of comfortable white trousers so that they can move easily and carry out the stunts effectively, and a belt to go round the waist (Murphy, 2007). Capoeira can be performed in many different settings, but dancers of the style traditionally entertain tourists at the beach to celebrate a key part of Brazilian culture.

Capoeira is a style that is more closely linked to sport than street commercial because of its history of being recognised as a martial art by the West African slaves and disguised as a dance style. Therefore, in capoeira, dancers learn a mixture of acrobatics, control and methods of self-defence which is similar to how a martial art is traditionally practised. In contrast, street commercial combines key street dance movements like isolations and body ripples with some of the technical elements of fundamental dance styles like jazz and modern. In both street commercial and capoeira, dancers wear loose, comfortable attire to carry out the strong, power movements that have become a recognisable feature of both styles of dance. However, choreographers in street commercial create routines for their dancers to copy whereas in capoeira, dancers are not confined to set movements and there is more of an encouragement on improvisation.

Comparison of two dance extracts:

I have chosen to analyse a section of capoeira dance that was performed at the 2014 Afro-Brazilian Capoeira Carnival by the group Axé Capoeira, https://youtu.be/dx-yJnJmnmo (the timestamp is 0.58 - 1.27). I will compare this with a section of street commercial dance performed by Kyle Hanagami that was performed at the Fair Play Dance Up winter school in 2014 https://youtu.be/MET9_2pXTmQ (the timestamp is 0.44 - 1.01). I will focus on the use of actions and dynamics in both extracts.

Actions:

Capoeira contains a lot of set acrobatic movements whereas street commercial dance involves a lot of style and interpretation. For example, in the video, the upstage capoeira dancer was seen performing a handstand into a cartwheel. He placed the palms of his hands on the floor, kicking his left leg upwards, holding the position in the air for a few seconds, before leaning to the left to dismount. In response, his downstage partner performed a handstand where he kicked both of his legs upwards, placing both of his hands on the floor, holding the position in the air. Both dancers sequenced their acrobatics differently, but the choice of acrobatic movement remained the same. In contrast, Hanagami in the street commercial is seen performing a combination of isolations, extending and contracting his chest at different angles to make his isolations look unique. Street commercial is centred around style and personality which is why a degree of interpretation is accepted. In contrast, capoeira routines rely on its set movements, so the choice of movement remains the same.

Dynamics:

However, despite their differences, street commercial and capoeira are also very similar because they both use a very powerful dynamic, due to the strong beats and tones of the music that is used in both dance styles. In the capoeira video, the dancers carry out a series of kicks (armadas), accelerating each one that they perform as the tempo of the music changes. Their transition from slow stunts to fast-paced kicks, enhances the musicality of their performance, and helps to create a very powerful dynamic that is interesting for the audience to watch. Similarly, in the street commercial video, Hanagami transitions from fast chest isolations to slower more stylistic hand gestures, which enables him to articulate and separate his actions and create different compositions with the music. The use of varied speed in both the capoeira and the street commercial dance video, helps to create this strong and powerful dynamic.

Actions:

The actions in street commercial dance and capoeira are performed and organised very differently. However, in the capoeira and street commercial videos, the dancers both used very angular arm movements. In the street commercial video, Hanagami kept his elbows up and open to the audience for certain pieces of the choreography. For example, in the extract, Hanagami placed his left hand behind his head and his right hand on his chin to sustain the articulated, angular arm movement. Whilst in the Ginga, the transitioning rock step to the back, the capoeira dancers kept their arms up in front of their chest, in a very angular position. These angular movements allowed the dancers to remain in an active stance in between different pieces of choreography, enabling the dancers to look continuously strong and masculine, throughout their performance which is a key aspect of both dance styles.

Capoeira and street commercial dance differ in terms of technique as capoeira is a multidimensional dance style that contains a lot of set acrobatic movements whereas street commercial is a style that involves interpretation and engagement with the audience. However, despite this, capoeira and street commercial are also very similar because they both have a very strong dynamic and articulated arms, because both dance styles create movement to the strong beats of the music.

Bibliography

4, C. (2020, November 11). Dance Around the World. New York.

Arts, D. (n.d.). List of Fundamental Capoeira Movements. Retrieved from Dende Arts: https://dendearts.com/list-of-fundamental-capoeira-movements/

Beyoncé. (2011, May 18). Run the World (Girls) (Official Video).

Flood, J. (2019, May 3). Why the Bronx burned. Retrieved from New York Post: https://nypost.com/2010/05/16/why-the-bronx-burned/

Goncalves-Borrega, J. (2017, September 21). How Brazilian Capoeira Evolved From a Martial Art to an International Dance Craze. Retrieved from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/capoeira-occult-martial-art-international-dance-180964924/#:~:text=Mestre%20Bimba%20was%20born%20in,official%20recognition%20by%20the%20government

Hebblethwaite, P. (2013, November 21). How Michael Jackson's Thriller changed music videos for ever. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/nov/21/michael-jackson-thriller-changed-music-videos

Howcast. (2012, May 2). How to Do the Ginga | Capoeira.

Jamie. (2019, February 16). The History Of MTV & Birth Of The First Music Videos. Retrieved from Everything 80s Podcast: https://www.everything80spodcast.com/the-history-of-mtv/

Kingsford-Smith, A. (2021, July 7). Disguised in Dance: the Secret History of Capoeira. Retrieved from The Culture Trip: https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/brazil/articles/disguised-in-dance-the-secret-history-of-capoeira/

Loughlin, L. (2021, January 28). What are the differences between "street dance" "hip-hop" and "commercial" dance classes? . Retrieved from Elevate Arts UK: https://elevateartsuk.co.uk/differenttypesofdanceclass/

Murphy, S. (2007, March 7). All you need to know about: capoeira. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/mar/17/healthandwellbeing.features4

Team, R. B. (2020, January 9). History of Break Dancing: A breakdown of important events. Retrieved from Red Bull: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/history-of-breakdancing#:~:text=Some%20say%20the%20breaking%20we,determined%20to%20be%20the%20winner

University, K. I. (n.d.). Watts Rebellion (Los Angeles). Retrieved from King Institute: Stanford University: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/watts-rebellion-los-angeles

What Do Hip-Hop Dancers Wear? (n.d.). Retrieved from Dance Poise: https://dancepoise.com/hip-hop-dance-clothes

Zylstra, M. (2018, January 9). The real origins of capoeira? Retrieved from eyes4earth.org: http://eyes4earth.org/2018/01/origins-of-capoeira/

Have you ever heard of capoeira dance before? Let me know in the comments below and I'll be sure to reply to them. I ♡ hearing from you!

Be sure to click the follow button below to keep up to date with my posts!

If you support my blog and love posts like this, then also please do not forget to subscribe through the form above this post as you'll be able to receive notifications via email every time I post. I promise that you won't regret it! 😀💜

See you next time, 

Bye,

XOX, Juliette

My social media handles:

My Instagram

My Facebook 

My YouTube channel 

My TikTok

My second blog:

The Book Hub

Previous post:

Dancing with Cambridge Youth Dance Company - Dance Saturday