Kings of New York

Link to Collage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0EgIqNahb0

Kings of New York is a jam that has been held for the last seven years in New York City. Dancers from all over the world come to this event in hopes of reigning King for one year. However, this year was the most crucial Kings of New York to be ever held because it would be the last, whoever wins this year, would rein King forever. Kings of New York does not attract your conventional dancers; it attracts a more underground form of dancing that could only be truly experienced in New York City.

The types of dances range from popping to break dancing (bboying) and a culture follows each dance. The roots of many of these dances originated in the Bronx itself and were forms of rebellion. Gradually the dances branched off and formed different styles that were unique. During Kings of New York there was a clash of cultures, however, hostility was not a feeling that these dancers felt towards one another. There were poppers watching the bboy competitions and bboys watching the locking competitions. Different forms of dancing were united for one night.

My collage focused mainly on urban dance culture. The various forms of dancing and the different moves that are incorporated into a dance form a collage unto themselves. It could be said that what I essentially have created are two collages, one collage of all the dances and another of the different movements each dance uses. Getting the scenes for this collage was the most difficult part of making it. I attended the jam at around 10pm and it last until 5am on a Monday morning. In the end it was worth it because the experience was one that was very different from a conventional dance competition. After I recorded the scenes I decided to put many dance forms and dance moves into the video creating a collage of movements; however, I wanted to remain true to the dance form so I decided to let the video flow in continuous motion. Dance is a continuum and I felt that if I cut the video into many different segments I would not be respecting the art that is dance.

I chose to do my collage on dance because I felt that dance was a changing collage. It is rare that we ever see a dancer use the same movements over and over. Dancers must be able to free style and follow the music. Since music is always changing throughout a melody a dancer must be ready to react properly. I also wanted to expose everyone to the underground forms of dancing. Too often we are presented with mainstream dancing such as hip-hop, ballet, or salsa. There is another world of dancing outside of mainstream dance that gets little attention and those dance forms are popping, locking, and bboying. If these forms of dance do get media attention, the media destroys the culture and meaning behind these dance forms. Everyone that bboys or pops are brought together through these forms of dance and we become a community. We know each other and respect the original meaning of the dance.