If you thought that hip hop and other street dance forms are just people sporting loose over-sized T-shirts and a cap freaking out to raps, then you are definitely mistaken. This dance school from Vizag is creating a new dance vocabulary among the youth in the city, seeking to learn the fundamentals of street dance styles in an organised and structured manner. The first to introduce dance forms like breaking, house, hip hop, locking and popping in Vizag, Destiny Breakers International Dance School is now grooming a new generation of dancers who are looking to master various styles of street dance forms like hip hop and breaking.
“Till now, street dance forms didn’t have the authenticity. It used to be practised by dance groups at city streets or in college campuses. But its popularity had been soaring and we could see great demand among youngsters who were looking for a structured course on street dance styles,” says Sohail Gill, founder-president and dance instructor of Destiny Breakers International Dance School. Today, they are the first and the only dance school in the city to be offering an international dance certification course in hip hop and breaking. Affiliated to the US-based Original Street Dance, a company dedicated to providing authentic training and certification in street dance forms, Destiny Breaker will be hosting its first certification examination on October 1 which will see more than 60 dance students perform hip hop and breaking dance styles. The event will be held at AU Platinum Jubilee Guest House and will be judged by two international dance instructors, Anto from Malaysia and Tawfiq from Morocco. “We are excited to showcase our skills be a part of a vibrant dance culture,” say M Niharika and Vamsi Muthyala, two of the students of Destiny Breakers, who will be appearing for the level 1 and course 1 examination of hip hop and breaking.
Self-expression
Street dance styles like hip hop aren’t your casual social dances. These forms are all about expressing various emotions through dance. The style can be aggressive or calm and evoke strong emotions among the viewers. A number of variations have come up under the umbrella term of hip hop, one of the athletic street styles being called B-boying or B-girling. Originating among the Puerto Rican, an African American youth in the 70s, B-boy requires muscle strength, footwork, speed, endurance and a great deal of flexibility. Its range of complex dance steps including the backspin, drops, and lots more, usually make it a jaw-dropping spectacle for the audiences.
Girl power
Interestingly, the street dance styles that were mostly practised by the boys till recently are now finding many followers among girls in the city. “I feel I have the strength and endurance to perform much better than boys,” says Niharika, an M.Pharm student. Basically a basketball player and an athlete, she found hip hop and breaking styles help build her muscle strength and a good workout regimen. “I love my dance classes. It is a very relaxing activity for me,” she says. At the heart of the dance is pure energy, so the classes put a lot of emphasis on physical training. There are warm-ups and warm-downs, push-ups and planks that are practised.
For others like Muthyala, a B.Tech student who has been a part of the Destiny Breakers crew from the past three years, these street dance forms come as a form of personally expression. “It’s a very dynamic style. B-boying has helped me discover myself and also in channelising my inner most feelings and frustrations in a positive way. It has acted as a meditative medium for me,” says Muthyala, who has also participated in national jams in Hyderabad. Among the youngest members of the dance school is seven-year-old P Chaitanya, who makes the complex dance steps look like a breeze with his flexibility. “I find it easy and fun,” says the std II student.
Sohail’s classes stress on getting the fundamentals strong, but it also pushes the participants to create their own individualistic style of dancing. “We want to make the youth see dance as a constructive medium of self expression,” says Sohail.
High on dance
Hip-hop dance evolved as part of the hip-hop culture of the 1970s in the United States. It included a wide range of styles primarily breaking, locking, and popping.
(For further information on the certification courses of DB International Dance School, call 9949233350)
