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[zukiandmoon-blog]

#3 American Hiphop Culture & Brief histories of Chinese Hiphop

The following articles showing a brief history of how hiphop culture in China emerged and the developmental process of the improvisation and ‘freestyle’. Actually, we can see that at the beginning of the hip-hop history(especially during the age of 2000), Chinese social dance was actually started with ‘underground dancing form’ that every dancer was performed freely and liberally. In fact, at that time, mobiles/computers had just started in Chinese society and most of people were still not knowing how to utilize these technological devices. At that time, Chinese government didn’t have a mature and specific policy towards various art forms/art creations that the dancers were actually far more free and random in comparison with the current society. 

Stepping into the age of 2010, there were many more Chinese terms related to ‘XI HA’ emerged since a significant group of young people were attracted by the core value of hip-hop - which is being liberal and free. The sense of rebellion truly created a huge wave among Chinese young people as they were chasing the spiritual/inner freedom. People were desparate to escape from the increasing economic boost and the accompanied huge pressures. Therefore, many underground clubs created spaces for hip-hop dancers and rappers. 

After that, the social media emerged and the public began to accept/see this new dancing culture. That was the turning point of ‘hiphop’ in China because more of the citizens started to embrace its beauty & specialty. However, as the hip-hop social dance became more widely-known, Chinese government released some specific policies/regulations via both social media and underground clubs. Many dancers and rappers were banned by the government and any lyrics which involved political sensitive words would be eliminated. We all know this would be a disaster for hip-hop since its nature is about ‘rebellion, freedom, and self-expression through collective dance’. However, the strict political system in China prohibited the individualism and free-expression. This might also reduced the creativity of producers/dancers as well. I guess this should definitely be one of the reasons why Chinese hip-hop dancers were doing ‘unified’ dancing movements - because many times they are not encouraged to perform differently by showing the true attitudes. 

‘Being numb is being safe.’ 😠

- Sometimes this is an unspoken truth among many Chinese citizens. 

And as an art creator, I feel 💔💔

https://www.cefc.com.hk/article/ni-you-freestyle-ma-roots-chinese-hip-hop-censorship/

https://radiichina.com/the-history-of-rap-in-china-part-1-early-roots-and-iron-mics-1993-2009/

In this video, we can see a group of American hip-hop dancers were dancing freely on the street by wearing different outfits. They have various hairstyles, different jackets, and personalized steps/body movements. It’s obvious that they are doing this ‘social dance’ collectively by forming a group, but at the same time, we can also see a lot of improvisations and ‘freestyles’. Everyone can be the center of the circle and express himself in a wild and individualized way. There are many bystanders to watch them dancing which created a overall ‘community’ because more audiences/people were getting involved in the dancing process. 

I FEEL LIKE THIS SHOULD BE THE CORE OF ‘XI HA ‘ AND I DEFINETELY HOPE ONE DAY CHINESE PEOPLE CAN FIND THEIR VOICE BACK BY EXPRESSING THEMSELVES FREELY. 

But as Chinese people, what can we do to possibly enhance the individualism and self-expression via modern hip-hop dance? Can we create/tranform the unified dancing form into a more ‘collective’ one? Can we really translate/inteprete the hip-hop social dance by its core value instead of a name? What can we do to change the situations? Or is the hip-hop social dance really ‘free and liberal’ in the western countries? Those are all questions for us to consider. 

[zukiandmoon-blog]

# 2  The Japanese hiphop social dance in 2010

This video reveals the key of Japanese hip-hop around 2010, which is the combination of collectivity, creativity, and individualism. Personally, I think this one is soooo cool cuz it shows the perfect fusion between Asian culture and American culture through group dancing. 

This performance took place on the stage by attending the 2012 World Hiphop Dance Championship, and we can see a frequent variations of formations and body movements via each dancer. They were not doing the identical steps and imitating each other completely but were trying to express themselves through individualized body movements. 

Though the dancers in this video were wearing exactly the same clothes(including red jackets, black suits&shirts, and white ties ) to form a sense of group culture; however, each one of them was having a very unlike hairstyle and hair color. For example, dreadlocks, Afro, ponytails, and curly/straight hairs.  The audiences can see both collectivism and individualism during the performance.  

In fact, 2010 was the age after the economic depression of Japan, and people were learning to transform their previous chaotic/unstable perspectives in order to adapt to the new ages. Hence, we can see the variations of the body movements and the uniformity of the dancing steps at the same time. The formations of this dance changed frequently that every dancer had the opportunity to express themselves by standing at the center of the stage; also, the dancing group had a strong connection as audiences can see the tight bonds between each group member. Asian countries have a rooted collective culture in their histories, but the culture exchanges due to the globalization and technology development had stimulated dancers to express themselves in a more liberal way. 

[zukiandmoon-blog]

#1 - Chinese hip-hop dance

As I mentioned in the first post, these two videos I chose showing the common hip-hop dance form in the current Chinese society which aims at orderly dancing steps and the same body movements. 

The first video is a hiphop dance created by using a very well-known Chinese rapper ‘Vava’. We can see there are two settings(both indoors) and the dancers have two sets of outfits too. The first setting has red lanterns, red background curtain with Beijing Opera Facial Makeup, and blue room light. The dancers are wearing the exactly same clothes - the identical red jacket with the same patterns, the identical tops, shoes, and short pants. The body movements and steps are united as well and the only difference the dancers represent is the various hairstyles. Then, in the second setting, the background has changed to yellow tapes and ladders which is similar to a construction site. The dancers transformed their outfits to a more random ‘street styles’ by wearing different sports clothing. Each performer has her own outfits- like white t-shirts, blue pants, hoodies, or hats - though the common colors are white and blue. 

The body movement are very unified in both settings that may form a sense of ‘uniformity’ instead of the view of ‘collectivity’ in the western countries. The reason for this is because there’s no individual expressions in this group dance at all- everyone is dancing exactly the same! However, there’s one interesting thing I witnessed is that in ‘Chinese setting’, dancers are wearing excatly the same outfits, while in the ‘street setting’, dancers are actually changing clothes to a more random style. Perhaps this can reveal/reflect the different perceptions of people viewing eastern and western hip-hop dancing cultures. Chinese dancing form is more likely to be ‘uniformity’ while the U.S. dancing form focuses more on the ‘individual expressions’. 

In the second video, there are four or three dancers illustrating the hip-hop social dance via utilizing traditional Chinese music. We can see it’s a indoor setting, the main light is purple, and the performers are wearing different outfits. Although the bgm is a traditional Chinese music, the dancers chose to wear black t-shirts and sports pants/shoes. Each dancer has a various hairstyle that seems natural and random. However, it’s obvious that the steps are still identical that each dancer is imitating the tutorials or each other. This is another solid evidence showing the loss/transformation of the essence of the western hiphop social dance - which is a collective dance form while maintaining the personalized body movements. 

[zukiandmoon-blog]

The different representations of ‘Collectivism and Individualism’ between the U.S. and China via hip-hop dances

🎵Hiiiii everyone!! =D 

As a girl from Beijing, I was always attracted by traditional Chinese dances(especially when I was little); therefore, watching group performances on TV or in theaters/schools had become one of my greatest pleasures. The beautiful unified movements performed by each dancer created a powerful ‘wave’ for audiences to resonate with. However, when I grew up, it was astonishing to discover that ‘social dances’ can actually involve ‘free self-expression and ‘individualism’. The movements in a group dance are not necessary to keep exactly the same, and there are many more group dancing forms except traditional Asian dances. Hip-hop is definitely one of the great examples which illustrates the huge cultural distinctions between Eastern and Western cultures. After learning through the concepts and contexts of hip-hop social dances in the U.S., there was one observation really thrived my interest: I wonder why the idea of 'collectivism' in China is so different than America's since it contains less 'individualism and self-expression'. We can see a sort of 'uniformity' in many Chinese hip-hop dancing videos(among social media platforms) that dancers are actually continually seeking for unified body movements. They are imitating each other as well as imitating the dancers in tutorials- which is a bit weird if they really catch the essence of 'hip-hop' social dances. 

In fact, hip-hop is translated into the term 'Xi Ha' in Chinese, which refers to being 'happy and free'. I’m curious about why the collective social dance in the Eastern countries was developing to be a kind of 'uniformity' (though these dances are fantastic and combined with a lot of essential Chinese cultural elements). Although hip hop is a collective dance, it also emphasizes on each dancer’s unique ‘perspectives and voices’. I wonder why in Chinese culture the term ‘Xi Ha’ is interpreted so differently by performers and perhaps it involved some mistranslations as well. Therefore, I want to look insight into the collectiveness versus uniformity in hip-hop dances in comparison with the western and eastern countries.  

Actually, In the 19th century, hip-hop in Japan was very free and liberal due to the import of western culture and the spread of 'existentialism' (a philosophical theory originated by Satre) after the economic crisis. As a result, the appearances of Japanese young people changed dramatically to become more open and personalized. Nonetheless, in the past decades, the trend of seeking uniformity and collectivity had reversed the circumstance and swallowed the Japanese culture again.

The following two videos I chose are evident that the dancers were trying to have the uniform steps and dancing movements, it seems that they are imitating each other or the dancing tutorial. Actually, the improvisation of hip-hop only became popular among the public in recent years(in China), and I'm curious about how these free-dancing styles can be limited or disrupted by the political/cultural barriers and in what ways the dancers gonna take actions/respond to these constraints.

[zukiandmoon-blog]

How to enjoy yourself during the self-quarantine time? Check out these hip-hop videos!

This is an informative video showing the histories/developmental process of hiphop and the definitions of social dance behind the ‘simple’ steps and body movements. Check it out if you want to know more about the origins of the hiphop social dance!

This is a short but really relaxing video that attracted my attention in the first second. The beats and steps are interesting and it’s totally not limited by the space and numbers of dancers. We can all do this dance in our houses during this special quarantine time. Also, this video resonates with Camille Brown that all of the body movements are random and liberal that express the dancers' attitudes toward self-expression and life-enjoying spirit. Then, it also illustrates that modern hip-hop dances can be formed by diverse people with different skin colors, ethnicities, and identities. In this video, we can see both males and females with various skin colors are gathering together which proves that hip-hop social dance is seemingly not only a typical dance for traditional African-American but also an open dance genre for the wider public due to cultural development. Furthermore, I noticed that these dancers are all wearing similar clothes(t-shirt and jeans) that forming a sense of community. An additional point I want to address is that everyone is dancing differently to some extent, perhaps some people are not familiar with the steps, or maybe they just want to do some individualized movements. It's fun to explore the connections between the sense of community and self-expression.