Is there Freedom in Your Dance?
Breaking Free from the Left Hemisphere
Good day folks, Aquaboogy here with a new article that delves into the modern Street Dance Phenomenon. Before I begin this brief analysis, I must adhere to a tiny disclaimer: the motives behind this article are purely objective to the understanding of “Freedom” and/or how it pertains to “Creativity” and what these terms mean to a dancer or an artist. Secondly, if these words insult you in any way, please analyze your own reaction and find whether your reasoning is based on reason, or your ego. Therefore, I would like to begin with brief information on the human brain.
Exercise Both Hemispheres
Studies show that the right hemisphere of the human brain is in control of all creative brain functions. The left side controls most of our day to day functions. The majority of people have an underdeveloped right hemisphere because they do not use their creative skills on a day to day basis. Fact is, most people are not living off their creativity, so they do not need to utilize them. Their brains are wired to solve problems and initiate work-related skills to maximize speed and efficiency, not to exercise expression or imagination. But I’m just stating the obvious (most people are not professional artists.)
However, the brain capacity of every human allows for every one of us to become a remarkable artist. Everyone has a right hemisphere and its here that creativity spawns new ideas and approaches – here is where visions are born – it’s the imaginative spirit in all of us.
Now the beginning of dance requires a novice dancer to mimic to learn. Thusly, for learning moves and steps, the left hemisphere is employed which allows us to record, recall, organize and anticipate. However, the evolution of dance (and the evolution of style) requires artistic expression, which comes from freeform experimentation based on imagination. These are areas controlled by the right hemisphere. So the key to understanding the full concept of “dance” (especially Hip Hop) is being able to exercise both hemispheres of your brain.
Earliest Roots
Dance was not always done to entertain people (to this day many cultures revere the dance experience as a holy one). The earliest forms of dance were more ceremonial than today’s popular cultures. They were often incantations, rituals meant to draw fortunes in many forms (plentiful harvests, reversal of droughts etc.). Some early forms of dance represented the sexual copulations of female and male energies, thrust into the heat of courtship. Other forms of dance were routines of history-telling, logging myths and traditions.
In Africa , early tribal dances were shamanistic movements, where the dancing itself (fueled by the beats of tribal drums) would evoke spirits that would bless the dancer in various ways. These deeply religious dances were recorded by oral and physical translation. So in essence they were set patterns that had to be learned that were singular to each tribe. Therefore, since those early dancers, cultures have been identified by many different styles of dance. And we know of them today because of “routines”. The existence of routines is the key to learning and preserving dance, since the earliest roots.
Rhythmic Possession
Within these ritualistic dances (some of which have been preserved and evolved in Afro-Cuban dances that are performed today) the act of a spirit descending causes a dancer to break away from patterns, to enter into a freeform dance of pure expression, where the steps are not pre-calculated and are done as a true release of the possessing spirit. These moments in dance history, to me, are the preludes to freestyle dancing and the “zone” phenomena; where the dancers might not consciously be possessed by spirits, but by Rhythmic Possession.
The phenomena I call Rhythmic Possession happens when a dancer enters a zone induced by a beat. A door opens in their mind that releases the imagination and every action is in tuned with highly creative energy. Because of this, dancers (in the heat of this “zone”) create moves that they may never be able to replicate (in exactly the same way). This is because this deep trance we call “Rhythmic Possession” or the “Zone” is a different state of mind: it’s freeform – a freestyle - a trance-like tunnel vision - a pure release – done without conscious thought. The rhythm, or a song, enters our psyche, only to be instantly personified without conscious thought. It was as if our bodies are just filters of the music and beats, creating a physical representation of audible energies. That is the apex, when you are there in the vortex of pure creativity. This place, my friends, is the passion that created the concept we know of as dance. This place is in the right hemisphere of our brains and it represents, “Freedom!”
I see so many dancers that are great at following choreography, but when you play music and tell them to create, it’s all over for them. This means, while they have a well developed left hemisphere like most people, their right side is underdeveloped.
However, I know some dancers that work so much on freestyle, that their left side is underdeveloped. A good dancer is balanced and exercises both sides of the brain. But, I definitely see why there are more dancers that are better at choreography than freestyle: the majority of us are wired that way. Usually, people that develop their creativity naturally have artistic characteristics that make them amazing dancers – dancers that pioneer and create dance movements. While left-dominated brains make scientifically and mathematically inclined individuals. These dancers can become dance technicians (mastering a myriad of techniques) that can perfect any preconceived dance form, but not create one.
Quiz Yourself: What type of dancer are you?
Now I ask of every dancer that reads this article: which brain hemisphere governs your dancing? The following is a small list of self-evaluating questions. With a pad and pencil, create two column headings for both hemispheres and give yourself a point for either the left or right side of the brain based on your answers (LH = Left Hemisphere, RH = Right Hemisphere). At the end of the short quiz, tally up. The highest score determines which side governs your dancing. Answer honestly:
1.) Do you get scared when you think about free-styling?
Yes/LH – No/RH
2.) Do you always have counts running through your head when you dance?
Yes/LH – No/RH
3.) Can you play music, close your eyes, and visualize free movements in your imagination? Yes/RH - No/LH
4.) Have you ever, “let go,” while you were dancing or found your “zone”?
Yes/RH – No/LH
5.) Do you always plan your rounds and/or every move?
Yes/LH – No/RH
6.) Do you ever dance off different parts of a song other than the beat (i.e. the lyrics, horns, synthesizers etc.)? No/LH – Yes/RH
7.) Have you ever done moves in the heat of the moment that you were never able to replicate in exactly the same fashion? Yes/RH – No/LH
8.) Have you ever forgotten that there were others watching you dance?
Yes/RH – No/LH
9.) Have you ever danced for yourself without caring what others perceived of you? Yes/RH – No/RH
10.) When you hear your favorite song on the radio, do you jump into the routine you learned from the music video, or you just start dancing randomly?
►Yes to Music Video Routine = LH
►Yes to Random Dancing = RH
11.) If you knew you were going to dance for the very last time, would you perform a routine you have mastered? Or would you try to express yourself freely through new moves for the very last time?
►Yes to a mastered routine = LH
►Yes to express feely = RH
Tally up the points for both hemispheres. You should have an idea of which side of your brain controls your overall dancing and which side needs to be developed. Chances are the majority of studio dancers are governed by the left hemisphere. Many dancers I have met at studios only dance at the studio, or at a performance and/or recitals. The act of dancing did little with self realization, but more of being good at it, or competing with other students in a scholastic fashion, to see who learned it the best, not who really learned to explore and evolve their own creativity and style.
Theology of Creativity
Every dancer has the ability of being an amazing choreographer, if they finally learn to tap into their creative source, that inner artist. I again reiterate that everyone has the power of creativity. And where does this power come from? Well if you believe in God, then you must realize that God was an artist. Only an artist could create such wondrous things that live in such perfect existential harmony – such beauty that only a being with an immaculate imagination, and an eye for detail, could possibly conceive. When we tap into this creative energy, we personify the ways in which we are created like God, because we become creators ourselves. So don’t fear tapping into this creativity, don’t doubt that you have it, because you do. You can become a pioneer of your own frontier. It’s inside of you, and through your own imagination, you can conceive mighty and terrible things. “Express yourself, don’t repress yourself,” like Madonna said (the 80’s Madonna, not the mother of Christ). Don’t fear or doubt the power that is inside us all.
In conclusion, I wrote this article symbolically on July 4th, our national celebration of “Freedom.” The motive behind this article is for every dancer out there to one day experience that zone, that freedom. Because you’ll experience an overwhelming, exuberating feeling when you hear the entire crowd scream for you, but in your head you’re like, “What the hell did I just do?” And if after reading this article you find that you do not possess freedom in your dance, don’t be mad or frustrated. Just teach yourself to “stop thinking” when you dance. Get away from the mirror sometimes, put the music on and teach yourself to tap into your creativity. Bottom line is: only you can teach yourself how to freestyle. That’s the one lesson no instructor can teach you. But trust me, to experience dance to the fullest, you’ll have to experience the joy of both Choreography & Freestyle! “Free your mind and your ass will follow!” I’m off to catch the fireworks y’all enjoy your holiday!
Peace, Love & Respect!
Aquaboogy
