Street / Hip Hop Dance Lesson
By Angus Watson
I’d always thought that I looked good on the dance floor. Recently however, a ‘friend’ covertly videoed my dancing. “Like a camp orang-utan at an early nineties rave” he said. Depressingly, the footage supported his claims.
So, with the guilty feeling I had no rhythm, I became like most other blokes. I was suddenly nervous about looking rubbish at the coming summer’s dancing events, particularly at my previous favourites, weddings, because weddings are where you’re most on display.
I needed help. I had to learn some simple moves to avoid murdering my reputation on the dancefloor.
The Cure
“Girls dance because they enjoy it, guys dance to show off” Andrew Corbet Burcher, founder of Fulham’s Dance Attic, told me.
I’d spent the morning talking to London dance schools. The best way, I heard, to convert a “bank manager dancer” (Andrew again) into a Dance Commander are Hip hop or Street dance lessons. The former is like Janet Jackson, the latter like Eminem. Whatever that means. I thought Eminem just stood in one place and made empathic arm gestures, and who knows what Janet Jackson does? But all the dance schools agreed, so Street / Hip Hop it was.
The following Sunday I found myself at a beginners’ Street / Hip Hop lesson at Andrew’s pleasingly old-school Dance Attic.
Are we Human, or are we...
The other Street / Hip Hop dancers were 16 women, aged about 15 to 30. I was the only man in a gang of fit young ladies. I’d just have to grin and bear it.
“It’s totally mixed ability here,” 24 year-old TV production assistant Laura Holt told me as we waited for the instructor, “which is really nice. I don’t feel intimidated like I might at the more well-know places. And it’s really cheap.”
She’d been taking dance classes twice a week for six months. “When I started, I was broken after every class. But after a while you smash through the pain barrier and it becomes fun.”
Broken? Pain Barrier? What had I let myself in for?
18 year-old student Susy Lee reassured me. “I thought it would be awkward and embarrassing when I started, but it’s really friendly and relaxed. And don’t worry about being the only boy. There are usually a couple. But they’re always much more malcoordinated than the girls.
In the beginning, when we were winning
The instructor, 31 year-old Lana Avis, bounced in, looking very Street in bandana and cap. Her every move zinged with springy dance capability; not surprising since she’s been professional for 10 years, and backing-danced for Dizzee Rascal.
Lana launched us straight into a sweatily taxing warm up. We did sit-ups, star-jumps and press-ups until I wasn’t so much warmed up as ready to lie down.
Then the lesson began. Right knee up, left knee up, then repeat. Not so tricky. My kind of move. I don’t usually dance without first downing several litres of champagne or lager, but, with all of us there for the same purpose, it wasn’t embarrassing (not, at least, until I changed into my morning suit to get the whole wedding dance experience).
We repeated the move to Lana’s count, then to music. We were all facing in the same direction, at the all mirror wall. We looked slick. I was proud to be part of this gang.
Dancing with tears in my eyes
“And now arms!” Said Lana. Over the four beats, while remembering which leg to stomp, we had to piston our arms up and down, snap our heads to the left, pull arms up into a archer pose, then stretch both arms out. Not easy.
I nearly had it after about nine goes, then it was the next manoeuvre: MC Hammer ‘the crab’ legs with jellyfish arms. And so it continued. As soon as I’d almost got one procedure, we moved onto the next, learning legs, then arms, then adding the new moves to the whole routine.
I never quite got it all – the spin while punching move remained beyond me - but parts felt fantastic, like I was in one of the better Britain’s Got Talent dance acts. Others did get it. Susy, dancing next to me, was so skilled that she got all the moves, AND had eonugh brainpower left over to laugh heartily at my ineptitude.
New Order
“The more you go, the easier it gets,” Laura explained at the end. “You learn the moves quicker, you stop focussing on them so much, and it becomes more fun.” Lana said I’d done very well for a first-timer. I was happy. I’d learnt some new moves, and was flushed with endorphins.
So would I recommend dance classes? Definitely, to people looking for a workout that’s more fun than a gym class. “My body’s changed: in six months I’ve completely toned up and trimmed down,” said Laura.
In terms of improving your dancing in the outside world, everyone I spoke to agreed: Street / Hip Hop classes give you more dancefloor confidence, and you can throw in the odd move, but none would launch into a full routine in front of friends.
I’m not so sure. I’m now trying persuade my girlfriend to come to next week’s class, so we can learn a routine to break into ‘spontaneously’, and wow the summer’s wedding dancefloors. But she’s not keen. Something about just wanting to enjoy dancing without showing off....
Dancing Tips for guys
- Go to a dance class to pick up some moves
- Smile, unless you’re having a Dance-Off battle, in which case a scowl is appropriate
- As John Wayne said, never apologise (for bad dancing) and never explain (weird dancing)
- Relax, don’t think about what you’re doing too much
- Close your eyes if necessary. It’s better to look unconscious than to be self-conscious
Copyright London Lite, photos Angus Watson
