Out of the mouth of babes...
I always give a reflection assignment in my courses for students to assess their progress with the movement as well as discuss their thoughts on the history and evolution of a particular dance style. It’s always most interesting to read the hip-hop reflections because so many students, actually all people in general, don’t know anything about the origins of the culture.
Anywho...to the point. Here’s a quote from one of my students. He’s a free-styler and took his first hip-hop class with me this semester. After watching a good number of videos and completing several assignments about the history of Hip-Hop culture over the course of the semester, this is what he had to say about its evolution.
“While I do think that it is important to know the history behind hip-hop and how it has evolved, I do not really care how it is labeled. Whether it is a finite style or something more inclusive, it doesn’t effect how I dance, when I dance, or even why I dance. So my hope for the hip-hop community is that people stop arguing over semantics and focus on the joy of dancing itself. Focus on creating something new. Focus on paying homage to the old. I cannot stress again how important I think it is that you know how hip-hop started and how it progressed. I just think that trying to define something like it is pointless. “A rose by any other name, would still smell just as sweet.”
Pretty deep for a newcomer, I’d say. Well said young grasshopper...well said. #HipHopConvos.com