The Pioneers 2007

report by Ben Jammin'

I arrived in London with friend & mentor TrubL Roc, in the early hours of Monday morning. After a couple of bus rides, walking in the rain & mashing up our trainers, we approached our fellow Sinstar, Raquit’s flat where we spent the week. On arrival we were greeted by another member of the crew, a wee bonnie lass who goes by the name of Remady. Wet & tired I was shown to my bed for the week… The floor! Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers. So I zipped up my sleeping bag and cotched there till the A.M.
After waking up late TrubL, Remady & myself booted from Elephant & Castle bare fast to get to Sadler Wells in time. It only really hit me on the tube that I’d be working with Kenny again. I was hungry to learn more foundation, with the focus this time on how to teach it. After working with Ken Swift twice before – Firstly in 7Gems Breaklife studio, Brooklyn and secondly at Process’06 in Manchester, I knew I was in for an eye opening week.

So, we finally got to Sadlers Wells, and the course started by Ken introducing himself, saying a little bit about his history and why he’s here this week. As he was talking I looked around the room to see if there was anyone I knew… yea, I saw me old mate Swifty, Lil’ Tim, Robert Hylton and a few other peeps but I’m useless with names. Ken emphasised that this is a bboy/bgirl teacher training week, to brush up on existing foundation & to understand the history to pass down through the years. We then got on to basic toprock styles, really using the music and letting the feeling of the tune drive you to spaz out and go off, or to chill on the beat and get real funky with it: Music is the key! Throughout the first day we were taken through various fundamental moves & text, stopping at relevant points to discuss teaching methods and hear Ken’s stories on the history of the technique.

Day 2:

On Tuesday we started going over material from Monday, which we then developed. We spent a lot of time in the A.M looking at how Bboy’s originally entered the circles, and used the arrogance they carried off like a weapon. After that we looked at various toprock arms including; truck driver, python and wrist rolls… In the afternoon Ken took us through original drops, footwork and footwork styles like spin downs, cork, front sweep to knee freeze, helicopters, half sweeps and kick-outs... We looked at how to breakdown a movement to make it easier for someone learning the dance. All of the things learnt on Tuesday has improved my teaching when working with beginner dancers, vital things that can easily be forgotten about.

Day 3:

Today things started a little differently. The morning’s session was aimed towards injury prevention (specific to bboyin’), led by a gymnast who had studied breaker’s injurys. I enjoyed this session as it was all about how you warm up the correct muscles for certain activities, and how to warm down. He also gave us tips on how to help the pupil feel the stretch in the correct place. And we discussed the use of of RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation). In the afternoon we spent a lot of time on footwork rounds, concepts & combinations with Kenny. He split the class in half so that we all could get a go drilling the move, also so we could see different people’s techniques. Another good technique for improving a beginner dancer’s form.

*Foundation: The ability to take old moves and add your own style & flavour.

Lecture:

I attended the lecture with my crew SIN Cru which consisted of Sinstars, JNR Sinstars & dancers from our beginner & improver classes. I thought this was ideal for someone who is new to the culture. Ken’s personal experiences from the past have always helped me paint a better picture as to what it was like back then. All this knowledge adds on to how a Bboy/Bgirl should look, move & feel when he/she is dancing…

Days 4&5:

Were very similar to previous days (in a good way). We spent time going over bits & bobs from previous days, again vital for people learning to break as it helps them to remember and develop a move. Ken also pasted some of the movements into short routines. He explained how easy it is to do and how effective it can be to do with peeps who are new to Breakin’. Kenny also emphasised character & style coming first and foremost before everything else… or at least that was how bboyin’ used to be and that’s what is lacking nowadays.

Day 6:

So this was the last day of The Pioneers… The whole course seemed to have gone really quickly, as the saying goes “time flies when your having fun!”. On Saturday we refreshed and developed material from the days before and towards the end of the day we had a couple of circles. These weren’t your normal circles though. The first one was focusing on individual moves and throwing it down straight away without having time to think - the person before you would say 3 different top styles, footwork styles, a move and freeze etc… You would then go in and link the three movements together, either by doing the phrase back to back or putting small transitions in between. The second circle was just a freestyle circle, but we were freestyling the movements learnt during the week. Both of which were very interesting concepts and are ideal for a workshop enviroment.

The week came to a close with many pics and signed tees etc.. as you do! Over the week I got to know some peeps I’d never met before which was safe. Robbie & Nico/ Dr Beat representing Scotland were both nice chaps.

So I’d like to thank both Jonzi & Kate @ Breakin Convention for giving me the chance to do The Pioneers. What I learnt over the week has already started to go a long way and improved my teaching & dancing. And always mad love for Bboy pioneer Ken Swift, he’s one of a kind and is always seeking to find out more about the dance he loves. Peace!