Spreadin' tha Love

This holidays, we have done much work in spreadin' tha love of hip-hop...



Government funded workshop in Singapore. I'll be damned. If you asked the Malaysian government to fund such a thing, they'll think its funding booty-shaking lessons. It's time we'd be more open minded, yeah? Randy's in black behind me. Lovynn is the girl in white to his right. She's probably the dopest dancer on that island. The girl in the black shirt and pink words was hot. Should have gotten her damned number, but I had obligations at that time. Apparently the cats on the left just served some Malaysian crews in a competition held in KL. Don't worry, I am here to save us!

Another Singaporean Government funded workshop, this time for beginners. This one was particularly interesting because there were a number of old folks there, which made Randy delve into some history of Clownin' and Krumpin'. Suprisingly, they didn't fall asleep. They didn't absorb the dance styles very well, but they became more aware of the deep history that hip-hop has aside from what pop culture portrays it to be.

This was the first workshop in Malaysia which was held in, believe it or not, the Federal Academy of Ballet. Some talented and passionate dancers here, just no avenue to expand their skills and style. One whole crew that consisted of 5 fellas and one cutie came all the way from JB just for this. Now who can deny that there is a market here?

Second workshop at the Federal Academy of Ballet. More kids and beginners this time round, but Randy's choreo was still merciless. Maybe he should understand that unlike African Americans or Puerto Ricans, groovin' just ain't in our blood.

Ning, if you are reading this, it should be useful for you. Here it shows Malaysian kids trying out a style called Ragga (not Raggae), which is used for a style of music with the same name. It's better known in pop culture as DanceHall which I think was popularized by Sean Paul. Rando incorporates this style very well in his choreography.

After all this time teaching people with Randy, I find that his skills and style is really greater than his resume. Many times he said to me he could be at the top back in the states and that the reason why he isn't is because he was tired of the politics. On top of that, he preached that if he got to the top, he would fall really quickly and hard like many choreographers today.

Half of me always thought that his claims were just excuses for not being good enough. That was until I started comparing his style to the hottest choreographers today. Then I realized that he indeed was a master of his art. I saw clips of Marty Kudelka freestyling which made me go "Huh?". But when Randy does his thing for 5 seconds in his classes, I can always hear numerous gasps from the crowd of students. Now I find that I am being taught by one of those hermit kung-fu masters who hide in the mountains, away from all the glamour and hype.

That's right. Hype. You can ride on it, but don't believe in it. Just do your own thang.