Get Groovin with Urban Groove

17 July 2009

Global Business Park

By Lim Sue Ying

“Get Groovin with Urban Groove” is a charity dance concert that my brother was participating in.  This was to be his first public performance so I was very excited to support him.

The charity event was the brainchild of Lions Club of PJ Metro and the National Kidney Foundation, and supported by Urban Groove Street Dance Academy, to raise funds for dialysis patients. Tickets were sold at RM25 and RM50.

When I arrived at 7pm, the house was already full. Before the event started, audience was fed with facts and figures prepared by the National Kidney Foundation such as signs and symptoms, causes, and other important information on kidney failure.  Besides raising awareness amongst the donors, the organizers managed to raise RM15,000 from ticket sales.

This dance concert was mainly supported by instructors and students from Urban Groove Street Dance Academy and also other studios from Seremban and Ipoh. There were seven segments of performances for the night. It includes funk style and free style such as Hip Hop, breaking, locking, popping, wacking, krumping, new jack swing, Broadway style, and cheerleading, among others.

The enthusiasm for dance and the heart for the charity were clearly seen through the facial expressions and rhythmic body movements of the dancers especially the b-boys and b-girls. B-boy or b girl, or breaker or dance-breaker, are dancers who practice break dancing. They don’t merely perform dance steps, but they tell a story too. Without speeches, they presented their story and messages clearly.  They also used spiritual dancing movement to interact with audiences. This was why I was so mesmerized with the performance.

Other than breaking, the Hip Hop performance grabbed my attention too. The Movements of hip-hoppers wasn’t as ‘dangerous’ as breakers, I would say. Nevertheless, the periodic beat-breaking to the music was awesome. My brother was one of them. I felt that he was not as good as some of the other dancers, but there are always rooms for improvement. Keep going!

On and off during the performance, the emcee, who is also the owner of Urban Groove Street Dance Academy, Joel Tan, explained the brief history of street dance and its variants. Street dance is no longer performed only in the streets anymore but also in the studios and stages.  Hip Hop started in the United States and it was associated with gangsterism back then. But now it is a dance allied to interest and enthusiasm; and perhaps a platform to release stress. Locking and popping, also a funk dance and street dance style evolved in California. Popping is partly inspired by locking.

One of the most important segments which should be highlighted was the performance by Aziz Zakaria, Teen Ambassador of the National Kidney Foundation. He and his team sang a number of songs such as One Love by Blue, I’m Yours by Jason Mraz and his own songs – Sentiasa and Kamu Semua.

The dance segment I liked most was the Reggae.  As I was told, reggae is neither part of funk style nor street style. But from my research, it could be a hip-hop reggae, jazz reggae punk reggae, rock and roll reggae and other derivative. Their performance attire was different from all of the rest. It was more artistic and unique and exudes a sense of freedom. Unlike Hip-Hop, it conveyed a rebellious feeling; perhaps influenced by some more aggressive street cultures in the United State. The reggae also featured some resemblance to African dance. The similarities include the large body movement, jumping and leaping, and bending down on ‘crooked knees’. 

Other fascinating performances were cheerleading, kids’ style hip hop, line dancing and so forth. This is a great initiative to help the needy and to immerse in dance performances making this a meaningful and enjoyable night. Well done!