Catching a Break
WHETHER ON DANCE FLOORS AT THE HOTTEST CLUBS OR ONSTAGE AT SPECIAL EVENTS, LA’S PROFESSIONAL HIPHOP PERFORMERS MEET UP TO ADVANCE THE ART FORM—AND TRY TO GET NOTICED.
Hip-hop fans, performers and industry insiders flock to Carnival Choreographers’ Ball to see—or show off—some fancy footwork.
© ERIK VOAKE
It’s an electric night in Hollywood, and the energy level in and around the Vanguard nightclub is rising. In an outdoor lounge, three guys play berimbaus (single-string percussion instruments from Brazil), while several others practice the Brazilian art of capoeria, an improvisational dance that draws on martial arts. A few spectators chant to the music and shout encouragement in response to particularly inspired moves.
Inside the venue, women are suspended in mid-air, doing acrobatics on ropes hanging from the ceiling, like something out of Cirque du Soleil. On the second floor, amid props meant to evoke a dressing room, dancers perform a sequence in which they pretend to prepare for the show.
Dancers, choreographers, agents, music-industry executives and a few celebrities have been filing into the club for more than an hour in eager anticipation of the main event. As showtime approaches, the house DJ raises the pulse and volume of the music a couple of notches, and small crowds encircle the spontaneous bouts of breakdancing that erupt on the dance floor.
Tonight marks the 11th anniversary of the Carnival Choreographers’ Ball, and a palpable excitement hangs in the air. Once a month for more than a decade, aspiring and established choreographers, along with commercial and street dancers hoping to achieve their dreams of making it in the international dance scene, have come to this event to showcase their hottest moves. In effect, Carnival is a tribal gathering for Los Angeles’ dance community, one of the most venerated sects of the thriving, global subculture of hip-hop dance.
This evening, Tricia Miranda, Andre Fuentes, We Are Heroes, Phlex and Rhapsody—dancers and crews who have been on stage with the biggest stars and teach the most demanding classes all over the world—are in attendance. If you’ve seen Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé or other pop stars perform live or on TV in the last 10 years, chances are the person who choreographed his or her routine has appeared at Carnival. There’s also a good chance the star has been in the Carnival audience, scouting talent, at one time or another.
The organic, expressive phenomenon of hip-hop dance began around 35 years ago on the streets of LA or New York (as with any subculture, debates over origins are ongoing). At first, the genre was ignored by the established mainstream; hip-hop dancers were considered outsiders because they lacked studio training.
“The technical people would get in huge arguments with me, saying if I’m not in class, I’m not a real dancer,” says Carnival founder Carey Ysais. “I’d say, ‘If you’re not out on the streets battling, then you’re not a real dancer!’”
People who disregarded hip-hop in its early days had perhaps forgotten that many of the older styles of dance, like jazz and tap, were similarly looked down upon before becoming standard fare in performance venues.
“It’s very different now than in the ’80s,” says Alison “Al*Star” Faulk, a top dancer-choreographer and a member of the Beat Freaks, an all-female group that employs performers with diverse dance backgrounds. “There are so many fusions, and more and more underground styles go mainstream. I work for super-old-school choreographers, and they’re using [street dancers] and totally admiring what those dancers do.”
While Carnival is a major event, it’s not the only place where burgeoning hip-hop stars practice the skills they later show off in audition halls. The aforementioned battles still take place and can be an essential part of making a name in the hip-hop world, especially when it comes to a dancer’s reputation among fellow performers.
“The dopest street dancers—they’ll laugh at you unless you battle,” Faulk says. “[Having performed in] a Britney [Spears] video means absolutely nothing in the underground.”
When Ysais was growing up in the ’80s, people could count on battles taking place at specific clubs—Odyssey, Sugar Shack, Ozone—but in the era of YouTube and shows like America’s Best Dance Crew, the locations shift based on who’s performing in or promoting an event. “The dance community always wants to see who’s on top of their game,” says Jed Florano, a member of the dance crew Team Millennia, which appeared on seasons two and three of ABDC. “When a company has a popular crew come out and perform, it draws other dancers.”
One such company is 2XL, which holds events at clubs like Level 3 and The Highlands Hollywood, near the famous Chinese and Kodak theaters. 2XL’s coordinator, Myron Martin, also oversees the World of Dance tour, a show that travels all over the country and features breakdance battles and freestyle competitions.
The variety of dance styles at events like these has arguably accelerated the division of hip-hop dance into subgenres—a natural progression for many underground phenomena (just look at music). Florano, for instance, started in krumping, a stompy, exaggerated style that originated in LA in the ’90s and has since appeared in videos for Missy Elliott and the Black Eyed Peas. Jerking, a knee movement-centric dance, is the newest LA-born style to really take off.
Many of these variations achieve renown on the Carnival stage, as anyone is welcome to submit an audition DVD to Ysais, no matter what the dance style. Tonight, the performances include everything from faux martial arts and house dance by people in jester hats to smooth, Justin Timberlake-like hip-hop and an act that riffs on Grease.
When Robert James Hoffman III, a notorious jokester known for viral videos in which he pretends to be an urban
ninja, performs a hilarious, synchronized breakdancing routine with fellow choreographer Nick Wilson, it’s obvious that the cheering, screaming audience members—who come from all different kinds of dance backgrounds—are here to have fun.
But then the Beat Freaks take over the stage, eliciting a series of gasps and whispers of admiration for a routine that features perfectly synchronized robotic maneuvers and daring flips, and the dancers in the crowd begin discreetly mimicking the moves from where they stand watching.
The hip-hop scene may be more mainstream these days, but this is still Hollywood. These young dancers have big dreams, and wherever there’s a stage, the only place they want to be is on it.
PREPPING FOR BATTLE
If you’re going to make a name for yourself in LA’s hip-hop underground, you need to learn the basics.
POPPING/LOCKING
The moves: These styles, which link smooth movements with sharp stops, were made famous during the Soul Train days. Learn it from: Tony Tran (Thursdays, 7pm) at TEAM MILLENNIA DANCE STUDIO (www.tmdance.org)
VOGUEING
The moves: This style was inspired by the catwalk culture of the ’80s and involves lots of posing and large arm movements. Learn it from: Kumari (Thursdays, 9pm) at INTERNATIONAL DANCE ACADEMY HOLLYWOOD (www.idahollywood.com)
JAZZ FUNK
The moves: Hair tossing, body rolls and sharp movements are characteristics of this style, which is similar to the kind of dance you often see in pop music videos. Learn it from: Tessandra Chavez (Mondays, 2:30pm) at EDGE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (www.edgepac.com)
VANGUARD
6021 Hollywood Blvd; 323-463-3331; www.vanguardla.com
THE CARNIVAL CHOREOGRAPHERS BALL
www.thechoreographerscarnival.com
LEVEL 3
6801 Hollywood Blvd, ste 369; 323-461-2017; www.level3hollywood.com
THE HIGHLANDS HOLLYWOOD
6801 Hollywood Blvd, ste 433; 323-461-9800; www.thehighlandshollywood.com
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