SABI NI MARTHA GRAHAM, HOLY GROUND

This was my status in Facebook:

“We should take time to learn the foundations, maybe in class… but it is important too that we do not forget where all this came from. the STREETS. & the CLUBS. “

I got 2 interesting replies. One from my cousin in Minnesota, “That sounds like something Toni Basil said on ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’” And one from Tolo, “nope doesnt sound like toni basil.. it sounds like a bboy from the 60s telling a story how they rule the streets and how they rule the clubs..”

Of course. I learned this from meeting those Hip Hop Legends, including, yes, Ms Toni Basil. Chelo & I took a lockin’ class in Vegas & she was there right in front of us! Nice lady. She was assisting the 2 Finalists of the World Locking competitions like they were her kids. And she looked gorgeous for her age. She was actually the recipient for this year’s Living Legends Awards by Hip Hop International. When she got up the stage to receive the award, she gave a nice speech about, yes, acknowledging history, where it all started. She even asked Don Campbell & Boogaloo Sam to come up the stage recognizing them as two of hip hop’s pioneers.

That was also the same thing Qwikstep has taught us. (refer to my hiphop page)

Thing is, I’ve been seeing a lot of very good dancers here. Mga matakaw magklase. And they are so lucky to have different studios & teachers to choose from. We didn’t have that back in our days. Now, they can even choose different styles… Madami silang magaling. But there are only a few I could see that really know HOW TO DANCE.

Sometimes though, I feel guilty. I’ve been so hungry & so eager to learn about techniques that I sometimes forget too how to really dance. I’ve forgotten to express. to release. to create. to let go.

I’ve attended Vince’s experimental class last Saturday. I liked it coz I learned a lot about myself. About my weakness. I felt like a drunk-fool. You know how it is when you drink alcohol to loosen up so that you’d be able to talk to people more freely, but then when you start to do it, you realize that you’re just spewing stupid & you’re just fooling yourself that you’re drunk? It felt like that. Like I wanted to let go, express through my body & I felt like I was doing it but my mind kept saying I wasn’t.

I think the real enemy is myself. Utak ko talaga. Sometimes I tend to forget that dancing is not cerebral. Most if the time it’s just physical. It’s just dance. Just you. your. body. &. the. beat.

Oh well. Paminsan minsang sumpong lang ito.

All I know & feel is… I just wana go back to the streets. & do bgirlin’. Like I used to do 4 years ago. When there was still Airdance & we’d go any place where the guards won’t blow their whistles on us. Or in Taguig, when we’d do bboyin’ til 12mn everyday even if we lived all the way North. Or in the clubs when Allstars girls would beat Allstars boys mercilessly. Hahaha.

Makapunta nga dyan sa kanto at magbreykdans.

HIP HOP PROGRAM FEATURED ON CNN

Embedded video from CNN Video

International hip-hop artists find their roots in U.S.

By Jill Dougherty
CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Six hip-hop artists from five countries speaking four languages are on stage, warming up for their show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

International hip-hop artists warm up for their show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday.

“Warming up” doesn’t really capture it; the dancers explode across the stage, each one with a different hip-hop style.

Michelle Salazar is chic-grungy in black jeans and white T-shirt, her long black hair swirling around her head. Hassan El Haf, from Lebanon, tall and thin, does a kind of electric hip-hop mixed with salsa.

Argentines Mauricio Trech and Silvia Fernandez move in a dramatic break dance. Both hail from Argentina, home of the tango. Hien Ngoc Pham from Vietnam, with a buzz cut and dressed in white jeans and a white T-shirt, has Broadway bravado in his every move.

The dancing stops and Samer Samahneh begins rapping — in Arabic. No translation needed; it comes from his soul.

Three weeks ago, the dancers had never met, but now they’re a team, participating in the State Department’s Cultural Visitors Program. The program consists of three weeks of meeting American hip-hop artists and dancers and visiting New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

“It’s like a dream come true for me,” Salazar said Tuesday, the day of the team’s show, “because I only read their names in the Internet and now, like, I met Afrika Bambaataa, the founder of hip-hop. I was right next to him. It’s a real immersion into the culture. I don’t want to wake up!”

Salazar isn’t just star-struck. She’s learning a lot and she plans to bring it back to her fellow dancers in the Philippines.

“Dancers in the Philippines don’t have much of a foundation [in hip-hop],” she says. “They don’t understand why dancers do this” — she moves her arm — “or why they do this” — she strikes a pose. “Because if they knew why they would feel it. I can feel it by watching these [American] hip-hop dancers.”

Samahneh agrees: “You’ve got to feel it.” His rapping, he says, comes from inside-out. “Even if you don’t know the language, you can get involved with what I’m saying.”

Samahneh says that when he raps in his hometown of Nablus in the West Bank, he is “asking God to bring peace to our land.”

Colombia Barrosse, the vibrant head of the State Department’s Cultural Programs Division of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, says the cultural cross-fertilization is the goal of the program.

“There is nothing that can substitute for being in the United States and meeting Americans in their place, to look at the richness and diversity of the United States. That’s irreplaceable,” she says.

The Cultural Visitors Program is part of the State Department’s cultural programming around the world. The $8.5 million budget is supplemented by institutions like the Kennedy Center, which is co-sponsoring this performance.

Most of the visiting artists in the program found their way to professional dance through hip-hop.

Pham, a member of the Vietnam Dance Association, is currently working to open a hip-hop training center in Ho Chi Minh City to reach out to young people.

With a broad smile, he says, “Hip-hop is such energy. It’s so young. It’s also an opportunity for our countries to get closer, and I have a lot of friends all over the world.”

Hip-hop may have started in the United States, but it belongs to everyone. Here’s how Hassan El Haf puts it: When he got to New York, he felt as if he had landed on his “real planet.”

“Yeah, I see them, all the dancers in the street, the music, all the people that like hip-hop music,” he says. “When I do hip-hop, it makes me feel happy all the time. This is my life.”

Protected: DAY 14-15

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DAY 13

It’s Saturday noon & I smile at the day & heave a sigh of relief as I don’t have to get up from bed til 6pm tonight. Sarap. I can still bury myself under the sheets & watch the time pass by.

But my body is soooore. 7 classes a day was too much. But I ain’t complaining. What I got was worth a gem. I got to love lockin’ more, I was formally introduced to house & waaking, I learned at lot more about breakin’, & popping… it hates me haha!

I could have really soaked it all in, though, if I didn’t strain a muscle on my left foot. I think I got it from Marjory’s house class last Monday. So yeah, for the whole week I was really struggling. Even pain killers didn’t help. But it didn’t stop me from taking the classes. Keber na lang kahit lumala.

I loved all the teachers. They were so generous in sharing some nuggets of info about history, even anecdotes about how they were back in the days. It was all mind-opening.

They taught us a lot of techniques which helped us to really dance with the music. But it was important too that we learn where all these moves came from so that we can understand why we do them. Skeeterrabit shared that muscleman was originally his way of saying “hi” back then & that Don Campbell came up with his move coz he couldn’t pull off the Funky Chicken… I noticed that they were all so strongly in touch with the history but they are also very open about dance evolving. It was also interesting how some of them (like Mileage & Buddha Stretch) were so open about dissing “Lyrical Hip Hop.” They said that it is not hip hop. LOL Coz you dance to the beat & the melody, not with the lyrics. Dancing to words is just an excuse for teachers who doesn’t really know how to DANCE. Interesting.

Illadelp Legends Festival is in its 10th year. I hope that in the following years, hip hop dancers from the P.I. will get to experience this coz personally, I know that this will help me a lot, not only with my techniques & musicality, but with my outlook in this dance itself. Mas masarap na lalo sumayaw. Parang pagkain na mas masarap kainin kapag nalaman mong pinaghirapan lutuin para sayo… Haha, there I go with food analogy again. :p

Now, my next challenge will be to teach what I have learned. Honestly, I believe that one cannot teach if he/she is still not a master of his/her craft. But just like what they say, we dancers should be ever-evolving. We should forever be students & not get content with what we know. So when can I give classes?… I have been teaching kids & I only do it because I love to teach them! I see myself more of a student. But then this was given to me for a purpose… to share. And I think I’m doing it now, here, so people can read this & learn. Teaching class? I’ll see, I’ll try, I’ll ponder over it.

* * * * * * *

I got to stroll around (albeit injured foot) Philadelphia. It’s a nice city. The roads are narrow, the structures are very historic & the atmosphere is sooo relaxed. I felt like I was in the province coming from NY. But as I spent more time here, I discovered that Philly is such a cool city that is mixed of both the old & new, historic & modern, laid-back & fun!

They don’t have a lot of billboards which is very nice coz billboards only clutter the grand view of the city. What they have a lot of are murals, of ads, history, art, etc.

I loved walking on the tree-lined streets of the area where we’re staying at coz I got to walk over dry fallen leaves. Hehe. Weird but I love the feeling of dry leaves crunching under my feet.

Tonight we will rehearse for our performance in DC. We will practice our MJ tribute number where each of us will try to do 8/8’s of a style we have studied at Illadelph with MJ’s song (Blood on the Dance Floor). Here are our respective assignments: Hien (Waaking), Silvia (Hip Hop), Mauricio (Breakdance), Scorben (Popping), Samer (House), & Michelle (Locking).

DAY 8-12

This will be a week FULL of classes.

Punong puno, indeed! God has been good to me lately. Well, ever since naman e. He always answers my prayers &, boy, does he go beyond! It’s like I’d ask for a serving of sinigang, and he’d give me adobo, menudo & asado too. Ha-ha sorry for the metaphor coz I’ve been craving pinoy food! Haven’t eaten any decent lutong-bahay for a week.

Anyway, I’ll be having a week’s worth of master’s classes from the MASTERS themselves, the pioneers/legends/innovators of hip hop dance. Kung ndi pako gumaling nito, ewan ko na lang. :p This has been what I’ve been wanting to do, learn old school. We used to take classes with Prince. And everytime, sobra nag-eenjoy ako, si Sheena at Chelo. But then, time was an enemy coz it would not permit that in our schedule anymore. So I am just so grateful to be here.

Let’s get it ownnnnn!

DAY 7

It’s Sunday morning & we are on the train to Philadelphia. Awww, I couldn’t look back & think that I’m leaving New York. I just realized that I could see myself living there–if I didn’t have a family. I mean, if I was single & didn’t have a baby. But considering my situation now, I don’t think that would be possible anymore. Everything there is fast-paced. & time is so so so precious. They have what they call lunch hour where they do things in 15 minutes. Plus everything is just so expensive. It’s not really ideal for raising a family… So I am very grateful for this experience where I was given a week to have a taste of being a “New Yorker.”

I’m actually sad, I’ve gotten sooo into the whole absorption of the hip hop culture that I feel like I am leaving a part of me there. Maybe I am not a consummate non-hiphop after all. Maybe I’ll change my tag now. Coz I realized that I may have been hip hop after all. Hip hop in heart. Its journey is my journey too. Embracing undaground & not losing the whole essence of hip hop is what Allstars is all about. Keeping it real to the heart. Not being too technical. Expressing emotions in its truest form. Standing up for the undadogs. Sharing & spreading the word. Fighting for the movement. That is real hood right there.

Awww I miss Allstars already!

Anyway, good bye New York… nothing but good memories.

I had fun with these people. My brothas & sistahs from anotha motha. Ha-ha!

The crazy things we do in the subway.

New York at daytime.

And at night.

With Michael in it.

Or me. Ha-ha!

The parking spaces!

And the Haagen Daz in the streets!

And this is for Sheena. Maybe she’ll see you next year. *The Secret*

Farewell, Big Apple!

. . .

Hello Philadelphia!

DAY 4

We had another bboy workshop with Kwikstep (& his student Iron Man). He showed us a video of Roberto Roena playing percussions & dancing salsa to it. He’s sick! We were shown 2 videos of him, one when he was younger, & another in his 60s & I was like woah! There was not much difference between the two! Roberto in his 60s showed the same passion & exuberance as that in his younger years. I would really wanna be like that in 30 years.

Kwikstep then taught us some basics of uprockin’ & freezes.

Then we went to Bronx to attend a jam where DJ Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Red Alert, & DJ Jazzy Jay wuz gonna play. Bronx has a strong resemblance with Tondo or Recto in Manila. Even the atmosphere. But then people are friendly, breaking the misconception that it reeked hostility. One time I was taking a photo of a graffiti of MJ & a latino guy just struck up & convo, “Taking a pic of the King?” He then asked if we were going to the jam coz everyone was just going there.

When we got to the Crotona Park, I smelled hip hop. There right there is hip hop in its raw & pure form. Majority of the people were black so we kind of stood out.

Sarap coz bboy music was played by no other than DJ Afrika Bambaataa, one of hip hop’s forefathers! Astig yung experience. Though there was this time when Silvia & Stroban was dancing & a black guy (says his name is Ronnie Raw/Ron from the Dynamic Force, Universal Zulu Nation) approached us & was like “Don’t come out here with your booty shakin’” He then went on to say something like, “You can’t fake hip hop. It is not made, it is not taught. You are born with it. It is in the heart. You breath hip hop. & it is here in Bronx” I told him that hip hop has actually spread around the world, that was why were were there. & he says, “You know how it has spread? You spread it here (points to his heart). For me you can’t fake it. I don’t care where you’re from. You can’t fake hip hop. You’re born with hip hop. Some have it, some don’t. They got school for scratch, they got school for this & that, but hip hop is not an act. It’s from the heart.”

Word.

We remember what Kwikstep said about not going in & busting a move anytime or however you want to. You have to go with what the others around are doing. Then when they see you & accept you, that’s when you can do your thing. But I realized that in that park, that works only with the old folks. They were kinda sensitive about not being given respect/homage to. Coz with the younger generation, they are just open. But I dunno, maybe it differs in every place/community.

After some time, a cypher was started & that was when we were able to connect with them through dance.

I met Crazy Legs! He was giving out flyers for a bboy event at the end of this month. Nakilala ko sha so I asked, “Are you Crazy Legs?” When he said yes, I introduced myself & said I was from the P.I. & he was like, “HOY!!!” Hahaha!

DAY 3

At the end of our Hip Hop Dance Program, we will be having an hour performance at the Kennedy Center Millenium Stage. An hour show for just the 6 of us. Some of us were frantic about it coz they think that it will be hard pulling that off considering our number & the amount of time we could rehearse, which is na-da. So last night we started planning it. Since most of us were lead choreographers/directors in our own respective groups in our country, there were arguments as to who will do this, who will do what, how many 8’s, what are the music etc. But the hardest part about it all was actually communicating to each other coz of the language barrier. The 2 Argentinians know little English & Sam from Palestine knows like none. He doesn’t even understand English. So that was the hard part. But dance is language in itself, so these people naturally just gave way & just agreed to what Hien (of Vietnam) wanted to do. He naturally become the leader because he is a bit of a big shot director (who choreographs for most of Vietnam’s famous pop stars).

This morning we started rehearsing to Hien & Scorben (Hassan)’s mixed music. In 2 hours, we were able to do a 2-minute routine. Thank God.

After that was the workshop with Kwikstep of Full Circle. I learned a lot from him about bboyin’ & hip hop on a much deeper level. Kwikstep is one of the few bboys that, on the first meeting, I could already see that lives hip hop. He says that hip hop became expressions of people of color back in the time when they were being opressed. They would take to the streets & move it, or to the wall & paint or mic & rap, etc. These art personified their rage & creativity that was born out of oppression. Today we could see people not just the blacks & the hispanics do hip hop. White, Pinoys, Koreans, you’d see it around the world, thus, he says skill has no color. He said that in cyphers, it is not about the move but the movement of the people you do it for. He taught us how to listen to the beat & dance with it. “It’s not the moves that make you a dancer it’s your spirit.. your soul.”

In the evening, we watched STOMP at the Orpheum Theater. Wow. They made percussions out of mundane objects like brooms, matchboxes, trash bins, Zippo lighters & sink. Yes, as in lababo. Hahaha! I liked the newspaper part the most coz the guy who made a wig out of the newspaper was so funny. & cute hehe! Ang galing ng show! They even made us audience interact. They made us clap some beats & it was difficult! Bow ako sa kanila coz what they do is not easy. They also have ears. I tried doing that alternate clapping 0n the palm, boy was it hard! Ang sakit sa braso! & to think that this guy did it for the whole of his portion.

Today was a lesson of The Beat. & how to follow it.

DAY 2

We went on a Harlem Hip-Hop Walking Tour. We took a subway from 57th to the Museum of New York where we were gathered with 50 other people for the Hush Hip Hop Tour. It was interesting to walk through the mecca of black culture & hearing the history of hip hop through one of the legendary hip hop figures, Rahiem of the Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five–the first hip hop artists to get inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. I’ve only read parts of the hip hop history in the internet & it was amazing to experience Harlem & its contribution to hip hop. We passed by some landmarks like:

The Graham court, built in 1901, commissioned by Waldorf Astor, the most luxurious apartment in Harlem, also the setting of some Hollywood movies.

We also checked out the Graffiti Wall of Fame at Park Ave. & E 106 St. which was founded by Ray Rodriguez aka Sting Ray in 1980. Presently, a part of it features the art of Tatcru, the same people who make CD covers of some famous hip hop artists.

We went to a park & experienced 2 of the elements of hip hop which are bboyin’ & rappin’. Rahiem spew some rap & bboy Mighty Mouse demonstrated some moves. Hassan, Mauricio & I did some bboyin’ too.

We ended the tour infront of the legendary Apollo Theater. Opened in 1914 which was formerly a vaudeville House, some famous people have performed there including Michael Jackson. It is still in operation but it is kinda run down now. Along side it is a wall that became an open space to give tribute to the King of Pop. & in the street, there are a lot of peddlers selling Michael Jackson merchandise.

It was soooo tiring but was fun especially that I was able to walk through a neighborhood where 30 or 40 years ago, no other race other than black could walk.

In the evening, we went all the way to Queensbridge Park at Queens & watched Sugarhill Gang! Their CityParks Concerts performance were also a celebration of their 30th anniversary.

It was kinda surreal listening to their songs live coz most of their hits I only hear during bboy sessions. After the concert, us six formed a cypher & provided our own entertainment to the crowd.