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Saw Flair'Nation with three Lawyers and one very Sociable Political Scientist last night. It was 'Great :)'. The shrieks for Jeremy were well-deserved. The hip hop item was my favourite. Jonas was the best locker. Jean was my favourite dancer. Krump was a surefire crowd-pleaser. Popping to Feeling Good was win. The songs Jen chose to sing were beautiful, especially Terrified (Kara - Kat - Didi). Teadot after. Headache after that.

I don't think my Evocation item is in that bad a shape. But it again feels an awful burden I bear alone. I must be thankful for the dancers I have. I must be thankful for the items I get to dance in. I must finish and finish with my best, and not think about where I am not, who I am without.

The real hip hop

I just watched Ben's Aus Ninja interview, and am a little worked up over it. I don't know if this is what Ben would call hate for it, but it's definitely a big Dislike. First of all, it's segregationist, exclusivist to make declarations like "I'm from the streets" (i.e. you're from the studio), "I'm in the underground culture in New York" (i.e. you're a Caucasian wannabe from Los Angeles). To say things like "I know Stretch", "I know the history", "the Underground [which Ben capitalizes] is always going to keep the true information and the real information" just sounds gnostic and wack. The conspiracy theory about the origins of "LA hip hop", credit being stolen from "the original people", doesn't help either. If all hip hop is New York, what of the clowning and krumping in LA? If hip hop cannot be robotic, what about the popping and tutting from Fresno? A freestyle dance doesn't create lines? Voguing and waacking, neither?

This is partly a debate on terminology, what is or is not "hip hop", what is "the real hip hop" (Yuck). On the one hand, it's just a name. What you show and do is ultimately the pudding proof. On the other, if you really care so much about the name, please, by all means, take it, put a patent on it. I've always hesitated and struggled to answer people who ask what style of dance I do anyway. "Hip hop" is usually a convenient reply. Shall I spend half an hour enlightening whomever I meet on the topic? Hand out tracts with the URL to this Educational video?

You know what, this is hate. Hate for your hate, Aus Ninja, big disrespect for your disrespect of fellow humans, dancers you refuse to acknowledge and choose to reject. You vote for a divisive, closed culture, built along apartheid lines. We're not dumb. We are aware of the underground, the streets you so cherish, and our exclusion from it. I don't believe that the "Underground" is the only place of creation. What's the difference between sessioning in "some basement" and sessioning at Studio Wu? What is the difference between sessioning at UCC Dance Studio and AS7? There is space for the streets, the studio, the stage, the freestyler, the choreographer, the student, the "robot". I just would rather live and breathe in a world that is inclusive, that celebrates creativity wherever and whoever the source, that allows the blurring of boundaries. Thank you for what you started and created in the underground. It was a product of your personal situation. But don't hate on those who reside in a totally different context, and denounce them as being unable to participate in and contribute to the art of dance.

A little bit

I was on the brink at Koustav's rehearsal yesterday morning. A little bit of the frustration was because his choreography had not sunk into my body yet. Most of the sinking feeling came from thinking of and feeling the enormity of the recently encountered quagmire, its numerous problems of allure, rancour, greyness, immiscibility. I must not sit by the little great gold spot again. Words crowd my vision. There is the impulse to conjecture, and there is the need to be Clark Kent. I must not be sucked into the little great black hole again. We exchange mysteries and insecurities. Before the conjectures grow or the feelings fade, I must resist the little great green dot again.