"The show picked up, as a large crew of break-dancers, body-poppers and hip-hoppers roboted their way onto the stage and filled the ADC with pumping energy" - Varsity on the CU Breakdance Crew, 2009.
Whether you want to be part of an unusual community or perform regularly at events during your years at Cambridge, the Breakdance Club will provide a relaxed atmosphere to teach the art of body movement. Please browse links on the right hand side of this blog for details and GET INVOLVED!
The Cambridge University Breakdance Club hosted their first ever party on November 28th, gathering keen breakdancers and other interested audiences (who do not necessarily pursue the dance) at the Graduate Union Lounge.
The music during the course of the evening was provided by Daniel, a former MIT student and currently a graduate mathematician at Homerton College.
In the second half we were able to invtie DJ Rez, a former Cambridge student and the original founder of this society.
The party was a good bonding opportunity for recent members to mix with the already existing crowd, as well as an opportunity for those interested in our society to come and see who we are. One cannot forget the importance of the music - old skool hip-hop represents the true art form in the culture of breakdancing, which seems so hard to find these days.
This year, the popper Special K was the winner of Urban Sinfonie and UCF Sheffield, 3rd place in Breakfest Birmingham and 4th place in ClubDanceStyleOff Manchester. He is currently teaching extensively teaching up in the northern part of England, and is part of the Justice League Crew. Before he ran away up north, he was part of the breakdance crew here in Cambridge; you will have to chance to meet and learn from him on this rare occassion! Come along to Lee Hall, Wolfson College, between 4 til 6pm on Saturday 22nd November.
Entrance Fee; Members - £3 Non-members - £6
You can join membership on the day (£10) and participate upon the discount price. Membership also offers free classes and training sessions, reduced prices to attend workshops and other events throughout the year. As it is annual, the sooner you join, the more profitable it will be!
For those of you who don't know what it is, here is what it is all about;
Hi, I'm Mari or Mazza, a second-year Music student at St. John's. During my days at music school, I spent most of my time practicing the piano as I wanted to become a professional classical performer. Therefore I never had any training in dance at all; I started attending funk classes as soon as I got to Cambridge, but since the start of Lent Term freestyle dance dominated my life outside my musical studies. Since then I've been hanging out with the small minority of breakdancers here in Cambridge and all I can say is that they were a nice bunch of guys to chill out with!
Me and my committee this year really want the society to pass down the skills of what we have in this dance to the students at Cambridge University ; we hope to accommodate for all levels, so please come and check our classes and training sessions out and get involved (N.B you don't have to be a student at the University to attend our sessions)!
Marcus (below) is the Vice-President and Workshops Co-ordinator. He will be here to give you a hand in classes and invite some amazing dancers for workshops you can take part in! If you are also an experienced dancer and is interested in giving us a workshop, email breakdance@cusu.cam.ac.uk
Ali is our Events Organizer - if you would like us to perform at your ball, college bop, talent show or charity event, he will respond on breakdance@cusu.cam.ac.uk
Naveen (or Nav, as we call him) takes care of the financial aspects in the society.
The treasury role will soon be taken over by Matt, a fresher! Don't be scared first years...there are some around.
Josie is the secretary of the society; any advice on rooms should go to her, we are always looking for better places to train and have our events in!
. Nathan looks after the official webpage, which is currently under construction.
This Saturday I went to a jam – no, this isn’t something you spread on your toast (dum-dum), a ‘jam’ is a dance event. This jam is the UK B-Boy Championships, a global breakdance competition that has been running since 1996. Qualifiers are held in each country and the best dancers go through to the world finals in London. There are team battles, solo battles, popping battles and locking battles. ‘Popping’ and ‘locking’ are different dances from breaking (or ‘b-boying’) which are now considered party of hip-hop culture, but that’s another story.
The finals are a two-day event with a ‘warm-up jam’ or ‘pre-final’ on the Saturday and the actual finals on the Sunday. I went to the Saturday event because (a) I don’t have the time and money for both; and (b) the finals is more about watching the dancing, rather than doing it!
I spent most of my time watching the ‘footwork battles’ in one of the two rooms – these battles focus on techniques done on the floor which don’t involve dynamic power moves such as headspins, backspins and so forth. It’s a real test of skill and style, as you have to have as many combinations as possible and to avoid repeating any moves.
In between the battles the DJ plays music while everyone spends time drinking, talking and dancing. People form circles on the dance floor, which B-Boys and B-Girls called ‘cyphers’ (I have no idea where the name comes from). People take turns dancing in the cyphers while everyone else watches (see video above). Understandably, this can be a little nerve wracking, especially when there are some really, really dope B-Boys and B-Girls going in before you! At the same time it’s a chance to show your style, to be appreciated and to appreciate others. It also inspires you to practice and you may even see some new moves you’d never thought of before!
The winning team on the final on Sunday were Top 9, a Russian crew who has been coming up in recent years. Last year they came second to T.I.P, a Korean crew. The winner of the solo battles was B-Boy Kosto, also from Top 9 crew! The winner of the popping competition was Gucchon from Japan, and the locking winners were Lock and Lol from Korea.
Check out the freebie – the Sony Ericsson reps were handing out fat laces all night: marketing genius!
To watch more videos from the event, visit the youtube channel here.
Members of the Cambridge University Breakdance Club kick-started the year in style by performing at the FLIPP Project Launch Party Event at Keynes Hall, King's College in Cambridge.
(FLIPP LOGO HERE)
The FLIPP Project is based at Centre 33 in Cambridge. Centre 33 provides confidential advice for young people; FLIPP is a new project which aims to reach out to young people through the medium of creative workshops. The Breakdance Club have therefore been invited to collaborate with hip-hop related workshops, which will motivate hidden creativity among teenagers and raise skills to work in groups.
To find out more about FLIPP, click to read the report below;
www.flipp.org.uk
If you want us to perform at your College Ents/Bops, Society Events or May Balls please contact us on breakdance@cusu.cam.ac.uk
The Cambridge University Breakdance Club would like to welcome the freshers of 2008/09 and other students who have just signed up to the mailing list to the Freshers' Squash which is happening this coming Wednesday , on 15th October! NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF BREAKDANCING IS NECESSARY!
Come to the Palmerston Room in the Fisher Building, St. John's College at 7pm. Porters or students will be able to direct you, just ask them where the Fisher Building is.
We will give you a free class on basic footwork, as well as an induction on the culture behind breakdancing.
We will head to Lion's Yard for a jam afterwards (by 8.30pm), then drinks at a bar for some more chilling out and general bonding. Will be good to know new names and faces properly! (If you are new to Cambridge but advanced in breakin', we would love to meet you too!)
Clothing; anything loose, e.g. Tracksuits or baggy jeans, t-shirts, hoodies and trainers. Any accessories such as caps and armbands are more than welcome.
Bring £10 in case you want to become a member - if you feel that you want to continue classes, you will need to pay this annual fee. There will be membership forms you can fill in. You will also need to pay for your own drinks when we go out afterwards.
From 2009/10, you may choose to select either of the following memberships; - Annual Membership (£10) - Life Membership (£15)
To attend any classes or training, you must pay one of the above memberships; this will make you a member of the society. First class you attend will be free - there is no loss in just turning up and giving it a go! Membership also entitles discount prices to attend workshops and events (including parties)! There is an application form you must sign; they are available to fill in during classes, just ask for one!
N.B. Those who have paid the annual membership fee in 2008/09 may upgrade to annual membership by just paying an additional £5
Whether you want to learn for fun, be part of an unusual (and unexpected!) community or perform regularly at events during your years at Cambridge University, the Breakdance Club will provide a relaxed and fun atmosphere to teach the art of body movement in breakdancing.
We provide classes for beginners to advanced students; ranging from classes, regular training and workshops. If you want to get involved and start attending classes/training on a regular basis, you must pay a membership fee - for details on all this please browse links on the right hand side of this blog.
Breakdancing is not as scary as it looks - there are surprisingly many different aspects within the dance you can concentrate on. First class you attend is free - come and check us out, you have nothing to loose!
N.B. You do not have to be a student at the University of Cambridge to be part of our community - as long as you are living in Cambridge, you are more than welcome to be part of us if you pay membership!
The party was a good bonding opportunity for recent members to mix with the already existing crowd, as well as an opportunity for those interested in our society to come and see who we are. One cannot forget the importance of the music - old skool hip-hop represents the true art form in the culture of breakdancing, which seems so hard to find these days.
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