Ok last night I subbed for our studio's other "hip hop" teacher, she mainly does lyrical. Her hip hop is mainly street jazz. The girls all love it because it is mainly pom arm moves, butt shaking, and diva walking around.

My hip hop is REAL hip hop. I returned from Monsters of Hip Hop Sunday to have to go sub for this teacher, no problem. But when I get in this Jr.High/High school aged class. And start to teach a hip hop dance from Monster's Intermediate level, the onslaut of complaints started. "I'm a white girl, I can't do this", "This is so Ghetto"....
Then one if the high and mighty high schoolers, says "When is the Pulse, I am so going to THAT one." I told them when and where it was, but I'm sitting here thinking, you dumb___ you can't even make it through a dance Kevin Maher taught to kids half your age and you think you can handle The Pulse!!!!?????"

Once again I would love to say, I am SO tired of the Street JAzz being called hip hop, and trust me it doesn't fly at compeition, Most of those kind of dances we took to comp and called hip hop, the judges comments said "This ISN'T hip hop." Duh. With all the shows out now like SYTYCD and ABDC studio jazz/street jazz isn't going to pass for hip hop much longer....

Thank you for letting me vent...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I 2nd the "pom arm moves, butt shaking, and diva walking around" this is what has let me to a no hip hop policy. Not in an area where any one knows or can teach it the right way... And I am a "white Ballerina" so I am not going to try LOL But that is what the kids want and they don't want to bother with techinque classes

I agree kids want Hip Hop but when the real thing is presented to them, they are scared because its too fast, or too complicated. If they would just try it will just happen.

dwd34mv wrote:

"I'm a white girl"

Did you reply "ummmmm....so am I!!" ? This is assuming your avatar is you. hehehe.

Oh my goodness, I hate that 'but I'm a white girl' response that I get from my kids sometimes... I look at them and ask if I'm purple to them or something? Honestly, I tell them it's about soul and pain and happiness - not color. And of course the "it only looks good when you do it" - then practice it and listen to my tips!!

I share your frustration about fake varieties of your dance form. There are a good deal of fake Irish classes in my area, where teachers who don't know a thing about Irish set their tap numbers to Irish music, dress their dancers in green, and call it Irish dancing. I get a lot of these kids, who expect to move into my upper levels and are flabbergasted to discover they don't know any Irish dance at all. Some of them have spent years in these ersatz Irish classes.

Yes my avatar is me. I am white. It makes me mad when students think if you are a certain color or ethnicity you can dance. Color has nothing to do with it! It is your passion. And none of these students seems to have passion for dance these days. I mean have they ever seen a dance and watched it, and sat bawling with emotion that it brings to you. Or watched a talented dancer have such great technique you get chills? Come on, love what you do or get outta here.

I feel your pain. When I sub at other studios I either get students that have learned a "funky jazz" or mainstream crap like jerkin'. I understand that not everyone has the money to take master classes or get certified in hip hop but I feel you shouldn't teach it if you don't know the proper technique. That's like me going into a ballet class and teaching something that could be "passed off" as ballet. Not acceptable. So why is hip hop any different?

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I hate when people say, "that is ghetto" when they probably haven't come within 1000 ft. of a ghetto in their lives. That really bothers me...

*sighs*

Anyway, I don't know how comfotable you feel, but have you maybe tried discussing your feelings with the instructor? Not like bashing her, but maybe sharing your thoughts or maybe giving her a hip hop dvd to watch? Pointing her in the right direction? Or is she one of those types that knows it all?

ms_tiffy wrote:

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I hate when people say, "that is ghetto" when they probably haven't come within 1000 ft. of a ghetto in their lives. That really bothers me...

When I first moved here, I auditioned for a hip hop instructor position at an Acting Academy. I had to teach a group of students a routine at one of their auditions for a play.

I was being observed by the same panel observing the kids auditioning for the play.

When I was done, one woman says "oohhhhh....I just loved that...it was so ETHNIC!"

hahahahaha!

I was like "heh?...did you just say that it was ETHNIC?"

I got the job...I turned it down.

I am not sure I can talk to the teacher I subbed for. I don't know her story all that well, but my SO (nondancer) says she went to New York and danced. I can tell she didn't study at a company or anything that serious. And I mean that like she doesn't have the technique of a prima ballerina or anything like that, she good but not exceptional. But what does that mean exactly? Did she go to Braodway Dance Center and take one class? All I can say is that whatever she is teaching is not real hip hop.

Ah, I have seen people teach tap who could not, ballet who could not, etc., why not hip hop? LOL

When subbing, I just do my thing and IF a student was rude like that, they would be reprimanded and given warning. I have removed a child from a class that I have subbed, if they are rude.

Not much that you can do about it, though. Unless you are hired by them, permanently, just like sub teachers in regular school, you do your best for your time there and move on.

i_am_me wrote:


When I first moved here, I auditioned for a hip hop instructor position at an Acting Academy. I had to teach a group of students a routine at one of their auditions for a play.

I was being observed by the same panel observing the kids auditioning for the play.

When I was done, one woman says "oohhhhh....I just loved that...it was so ETHNIC!"

hahahahaha!

I was like "heh?...did you just say that it was ETHNIC?"

I got the job...I turned it down.

Good Lord! Ethnic? I don't blame you. I would have turned it down too.

Sorry for the hijack!

I totally agree with your vent! I feel like hip hop has been mainstreamed into jazz with a better beat and it's not going to fly with judges. Hip hop is its own entity of dance and should be treated as such!

I am not trained in hip hop but I know what good hip hop is and when I judge a competition, they will get the comment that this is not hip hop, it is a style of jazz and it will bring their score down.