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    Knowledge: The Urban Skillz Dictionary
    Knowledge: The Urban Skillz Dictionary
    Knowledge: The Urban Skillz Dictionary
    Ebook255 pages2 hours

    Knowledge: The Urban Skillz Dictionary

    By Sezai Coban

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    About this ebook

    What’s a ‘Swipe, Downrock or Scribble Foot’? Who was Rubberband Man and what did he contribute to the ‘Uprocking’ form of Urban Dance? From the outside looking in, Urban Dance and culture can seem like a big mystery, but the only thing you need to know to unlock the mystery is KNOWLEDGE. KNOWLEDGE: The Urban Skillz Dictionary is packed full of explanations, definitions, background information and tips to help bring the unattainable down to ground level and help you to understand what Urban Dance is really all about. KNOWLEDGE is a compilation designed for teachers and students of urban dance. Whether you’re just starting your Urban Dance journey, or already know a whole lot of moves but don’t really know where they all came from, KNOWLEDGE: The Urban Skillz Dictionary is for you. Don’t just learn the steps, learn what lies behind them. Here’s the KNOWLEDGE!

    LanguageEnglish
    Publishermach-mir-ein-ebook.de
    Release dateApr 13, 2014
    ISBN9783944309231
    Knowledge: The Urban Skillz Dictionary
    Author

    Sezai Coban

    Sezai Coban is a Holistic Movement Therapist and Dancer who was born in the German town of Friedrichshafen on the shores of Lake Constance. His early talent for physical exercise and dancing and his strong curiosity for people and their various cultures made him travelling to countries such as Japan, the USA and southern Europe where he also lived to gather experiences and to improve his knowledge. In his point of view experience and knowledge should be available for everyone at anytime to promote and maintain a healthy and comprehensive ideology.

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      Book preview

      Knowledge - Sezai Coban

      Knowledge - The Urban Skillz Dictionary

      Sezai Coban

      Copyright Sezai Coban 2013

      Published by mach-mir-ein-ebook.de at Smashwords

      ‘WHEREVER A DANCER STANDS READY, THAT SPOT IS HOLY GROUND.’

      – MARTHA GRAHAM –

      Click Here to watch the Introductory Video!

      (Subtitles in all Languages.)

      REMARK

      All information in this book was diligently developed and compiled by the author. All the same, mistakes cannot be ruled out. For the notification of possible mistakes the author is thankful any time. Commercial use is only possible with the consent of the author.

      No reproduction without permission.

      All rights reserved!

      The author does not assume liability for errors contained in damages arising from the use of the book.

      © 2013 Sezai Coban

      ISBN

      978-3-944309-23-1

      CONTENT

      Sezai Coban

      CONTENT-ASSISTENTS

      Gianni Esposito & Mike Saretzki

      COVER

      Tanzer Caylak

      PICTURES

      Sezai Coban, Fabian Kimoto, Fikri Gören

      Art & Design: Sezai Coban / Fabian Kimoto

      Translation: Sezai Coban / Franz Kortmann / Nicholas Gordon

      ARTWORK & LAYOUT

      Freaky design & Art – by ti-dablju-styles

      Thomas Wiesen

      www.ti-dablju-styles.de

      freakystreetwear.spreadshirt.de

      COVER ILLUSTRATION

      Marc Robitzky

      EBOOK PRODUCTION

      mach-mir-ein-ebook.de

      PERSON IN CHARGE

      Sezai Coban

      CONTACT

      Seza.Coban@googlemail.com

      Note: Please use publisher fonts on your device for best presentation of this ebook.

      Contents

      The Intro

      Top Rocking / Rocking

      History of Uprocking

      Footwork Fundamentals

      Powermoves

      Backgroundknowledge

      Campbell Lock/Locking

      Backgroundknowledge

      Popping

      Backgroundknowledge

      Hip Hop (Freestyle)

      Backgroundknowledge

      House

      Backgroundknowledge

      Bonus: Tricking / XMA (–No Dance–)

      Backgroundknowledge

      Organization & Music

      Excercises

      Influences

      Hip Hop Slang – Dictionary

      Internet Shortcuts

      Outro

      Sources

      Q’S & A’S

      image_toc

      ‘Heyyyyy! Let’s kick a round of six-step then move over to this, combine it with that and then that style I always do! Then after we’ll do this here and then everybody does this freeze. OK!’

      ‘Listen bro, I’ve seen so many other b-boys doing that exact same style!! How’s it gonna be if we kick the same thing? They gonna say we’re biters. Better if we do my style. It’s totally easy. Wait a second, I’ll show you!’

      ‘Yeah, ok. Let’s do that now and after we’ll have to think about what we do next! It might be some time before we have another show!’

      This is how the conversation went at show training not long ago. Today it sounds more like this:

      ‘Now a round of six-step in bellyroll-up. Kick-out into extended pretzel then kick-out into chair! Top rock choreo – we’ll do a new one too!!’

      ‘Got it?! So let’s staaaaaart! In two days the show has to be perfect!’

      It was the above-mentioned situation made me think about making a collection of complete basics/foundations that I had learned and to make a collection of background knowledge connected with it. I realized that I could use the knowledge I had learned. That I could teach it to people and that they could pass it on to others.

      In 1995, the beauty, complexity and creativity of b-boying, popping and locking put me under its spell! Even now, my fascination with this art continues. In the beginning we only knew a handful of basics such as the six-step and the kick-outs. The names of the powermoves were better known and easier to get to know: windmill, head-spin, flares and turtle. That’s why most of us were more occupied with powermoves in the beginning. We knew what they had to look like and what they were called! Footwork, popping and locking were simply more complex and not so easy for us to understand at the time. There were also a lot of moves that we just didn’t do because we didn’t want to be branded as ‘imitators’. So for years we basically ended up teaching ourselves. We trained according to our own ideas and basics, which were inspired by a diverse range of dancers, artists, combative athletes and others. We tried to create and adapt a flow of our own.

      Over the years we learned more and more basics. We learned from experienced dancers who we met at jams, battles and other events, or from videos which had been copied about 50 times before we got hold of them. Still a lot of basics/moves remained out of our reach! We made slower progress than many dancers today because we had to travel a lot in order to make contacts and to collect information. We also accepted having to sleep at train stations because the last train went too early and the first train went too late!

      Today it’s easier and most of this knowledge can be gained from the internet! The basics/foundations are not only a collection of movements, but also the means for passing on a part of a culture!

      The Hip Hop culture!

      Hmmmm … But what is Hip Hop?

      Some lyrics from the Krs-One & Marley Marl track ‘Hip Hop Lives’ (I Come Back) come to mind. It goes like this:

      Hip means to know

      It’s a form of intelligence

      To be hip is to be up-date and relevant

      Hop is a form of movement

      You can’t just observe a hop

      You got to hop up and do it

      Hip and Hop is more than music

      Hip is the knowledge

      Hop is the movement

      Hip and Hop is intelligent movement!

      We only attain wisdom when we decide to listen and to learn and, for this reason, every voice should have the right to be heard!

      In the song ‘Peace, Unity, Love & Having Fun’ by Afrika Bambaata and James Brown they sing: ‘What we need … is KNOWLEDGE wisdom!’

      The human ability to learn and apply movements or things like languages and mathematics is nothing less than an outstanding intellectual achievement. It’s independent of things like origin, educational, culture, social class or ethnicity.

      Every human has a desire for artistic expression, whether through language, music, painting, clothing, dancing or other means. The number of possible movement sequences and the possibilities for expression connected with them are infinite. This is attributable to the infinite possibilities for combining individual movements.

      Let’s think of powermoves, of the infinite number of possible combinations with windmill/(continuous backspin), which can be attained by continuous combinations with other moves.

      Windmill into Turtle …

      Windmill into Headspin …

      Windmill – Flare – Windmill …

      Windmill – Track …

      Windmill into ‘9t’ …

      Etc., etc., etc. …

      We don’t all have to look the same when we dance. We aren’t machines; we’re humans with individual characteristics. When we dance we should have fun and enjoy it.

      It’s important to dance to the music and to recognize and utilize accents in the music to help us ‘come out of our shells’.

      We’ve seen a lot of dancers and a lot of very, very good dancers, who gave up dancing for various reasons such as social pressure or financial reasons. These dancers saw only limited or very few opportunities for them to support their existence.

      In other countries such as France, the US and Denmark it isn’t necessarily easier, but just different. You can find a greater degree of acceptance and tolerance. For instance, in the US it’s possible to climb up the professional ladder from a dishwasher to a millionaire; in Germany it’s more a question of where you got your certificate.

      Not every dancer is cut out to be a dance teacher. You need much more than knowledge of the basics. A good dance teacher needs the right methods, techniques, approach and above all, a lot of patience and discipline. In recent years many things have changed and have been achieved! The scene has developed enormously. It has grown faster than anyone could have predicted and this has brought with it many new opportunities.

      Dancers have succeeded in getting away from their practice rooms. They’ve been able to make a job out of their hobby and to earn a decent living from it. Dancers have found jobs in diverse stage shows, in theatres, as street artists, in Cirque de Soleil as dancing teachers, through culture and social work, as advertising representatives for diverse brands, as organizers of new dancing events and also through videogames. The list goes on and on. The times have certainly changed!

      Most people live in a world of artificially defined limits. B-boys saw some of these limits and saw in them an opportunity to break through and explore something new.

      Just one example:

      More than ten rounds of ‘9t’ (rotation on one hand while in a handstand) with only one push; in the 90s, few would have thought this possible! Today there are some dancers who do 20 rounds with only one push!

      This is only one of many outstanding examples in the scene and for me also one of the current confirmations of the fact that we live in a world where anything is possible. ANYTHING!

      THE ORIGINAL TOP ROCKS

      BOIYOING

      OUTLAW STYLE

      OUTLAW ROCK

      OUTLAW LATIN ROCK

      INDIAN CROSS

      INDIAN PLAYING

      RUMBA

      RUMBA HOP

      SPANISH HUSTLE

      THE CHARLY ROCK

      BASICS ROCKIN

      STEP OUT (DOUBLE)

      INDIAN

      HEAL TOE SALSA

      MAMBO STEP

      SALSA GRAPEVINE

      BREAK EASY STEP (SLIDECROSS)

      DYNASTY STEP

      SLAP ROUTINE

      UPROCKING/JERKS

      STEP OUT

      SIDE TO SIDE

      HALF JERK (USE HIPS)

      FULL JERK (SPIN)

      JUST BEGUN

      DYNASTY BUSHWICK STYLE

      BROOKLYN ROCK (PUNCHING / CUTTING / SHOOTING)

      Those are the first Toprocks/Uprocks, now there are many more variations and there is no number to tell how many they are!

      HISTORY OF UPROCK

      Bushwick, Brooklyn, circa 1967-1968

      Throughout the mid-60s and mid-70s Brooklyn was home to many street gangs. Rubberband Man and Apache were all too familiar with these violent times, they grew up in the Bushwick area. They often hung around with the Devil Rebels and other local Brooklyn Gangs. Although they socialized within a dangerous circle of friends, getting into trouble was not their ultimate goal. They loved to dance; mainly to Soul and Funk music, and wanted to channel their energy and skill towards something new-so they created a new dance form called ‘Rocking’.

      Rubberband Man and Apache would dance on the street corners while listening to the radio. They used mixture of moves from Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Salsa and later the Hustle. As the dance developed, body movements called ‘jerks’ and hand gestures called ‘burns’ would be added to imitate a fight against an opposing dancer. Rubberband Man and Apache morphed these dance styles, movements, and gestures together to create a unique and original street dance. Many gangs, and more specifically gang members, began to perform this dance. It became commonplace

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