Category Archives: Kinesthetic

Body movements

Dance – Portland, Oregon

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Portland, Oregon
Performance Date: October 30, 2007
Primary Language: English

The Crip Walk

An explanation of how to Crip Walk, or C-walk, is very difficult but videos can be obtained by going to www.youtube.com and simply searching for C-Walk.

Jude Graves is a friend of mine at USC who experienced quite a bit of gang culture back in his hometown of Portland. Most of his friends were affiliated with the notorious Crip gang, known for wearing the color blue and having a feud with rival gang Bloods who wear red. Jude told me that gangs are all about street credibility and respect, so in gang lore, any chance you get to disrespect a rival or assert dominance over an area, you take it. One way Crips stand out over Bloods is by performing a dance, called the C-walk, where they insult their rivals by spelling out Blood with their feet and then crossing it out. Crips also spell out their own names or their gang name, add special moves to the walk, or gesticulate gang signs with their hands while performing. Jude says the C-walk is not just performed to insult Bloods though; it can be used to show allegiance to the Crips, it is done at initiation, or in celebration of a robbery or killing of rivals.

The C-walk became mainstream around the same time as the infamous West Coast-East Coast Rap war was going on. Artists like Ice T, Snoop Dogg, and WC helped make the dance famous by performing it at concerts and shows or on television. Because of this, the C-walk caught on and quickly became a popular method of dancing to any kind of Hip-hop or Rap music. Since the 90’s, when the C-walk began gaining popularity, new variations have been added to it such as the V, the Shuffle, the Heel-Toe, and the Snake.

Jude actually taught me how to do the dance, which is not difficult to learn. Although it was once used only by the Crips to intimidate others and assert their name on the streets, it has now reached a level of popularity that dilutes the seriousness of its origins. The C-walk can be seen performed at parties and dance competitions alike, for it has steadily shifted from gang lore to mainstream Hip-Hop and Rap.

Hand Signal

Nationality: Black
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

“There’s a hand signal that we do. Basically, it’s an Alpha sign. Your thumb and pinky finger are extended, the others are curled in.”

Subject’s Analysis:

“It has a secret meaning that is undisclosed to the public. The meaning is only disclosed to the members of the frat. Minority college students can readily identify the sign with the Alpha Phi Alpha Organization. I learned it from older frat members. It’s a nationwide signal. It’s usually readily identifiable by black Greeks (black frat and sorority members). When posing for pictures, or trying to flag someone down on a college campus, we do it. It’s also meant to identify yourself as Alpha, it’s a privilege that you earn through pledging. I was happy to finally be able to do it.”

Collector’s Analysis:

The hand signals that African-American fraternities, and sororities do are very special to them. Each of the Divine Nine (the 9 major African-American fraternities/sororities) has their own hand signal. These are displayed mostly when they get together, and on a regular basis as a greeting. I agree with Jeremiah that the sign is easily identifiable, as are those of the other groups. I think that it’s good that they have something that identifies them as part of an organization that they worked very hard to be a part of. It should be noted as well that anyone who is not a member of the black Greek community, and mimics their hand signals, is asking for trouble. That is horribly taboo in the black Greek community.

Folk Dance

Nationality: Black
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Stepping

Subject’s Analysis:

“It has origins of West African traditions. It’s very popular in the black Greek community. You create rhythms and beats with stomping and clapping combinations, with dancing too. Different organizations have different styles, there’s energetic, precision, acrobatic, everything is synchronized. You have props that you use. Synchronization. There’s competitions, and you do it to represent your organization. It’s entertainment, as well as something done at gatherings. These include trains as well, these are like line dancing, some [trains] are complicated, and you perform them at competition. I love it, its fun. There’s some people that may not like it because they’re not good at it. I learned it after crossing, it’s not necessary to become an Alpha.”

Collector’s Analysis:

Stepping is a very exciting, unique, and fun part of the Black Greek community. The steps do actually originate from West African origins. The step competitions or “Stepshows” are highly entertaining and could be considered to be festivals. The “trains” are really fun to watch. The frat/sorority lines up, and then go into a routine that goes with the music that’s currently playing (it is considered a huge insult to join in on the end of a train if you do not belong to the organization dancing). Several of the props that are used in the stepshows are really interactive such as canes that are whirled around and tossed between each member. Sometimes the fraternities will even have themes to supplement their routines.

Music Genre – Silverlake, California

Tecktonik is a music style I observed in a Nightclub in Silverlake, Los Angeles. My informant claims that it is a style of dance that is a combination of hip-hop and techno dance style. It is done recreationally and is apparently extremely new. My informant claims to only have discovered it over the past year, as it has become extremely prevalent in Paris. Although tecktonic is not a genre of music but simply a dance style, the music that it is performed to is a genre of Electronic music, mainly Electronica and specifically French Electronica and Disco Pop. I say the word French electronica because the music that is used for this dance is mostly from French Artists and DJs. My informant told me that because this dance style is very new, it is witnessed extremely rarely even within the mainstream Electronic music community. It was emphasised that Tecktonic cannot be performed to House music, as the culture of that genre does not match the more “niche” electro culture. I would like to point out that footage of Tecktonic dance can be found on the internet, i.e. youtube and would like to make the assumption that it became widespread through the internet. I would like to point out that my annotation is a music video of a French pop artist named Yelle. In a remix to one of her songs, the official music video features Tecktonic dance entirely throughout the performance. My informant stresses that this music video is a major catalyst of the Tecktonic dance culture as it had never used and acknowledged on such a grand scale. As the artists success and popularity grew worldwide, the informant said that “tecktonic grew on an international scale”. On the official website, the video is advertised to “feature Tecktonic”. Internet research tells me that the Tecktonic has been copyrighted and that this is the first dance style to ever achieve copyright status. Attached is an image of the official Tecktonic logo.

Annotation:

Artist: Yelle

Song: À Cause Des Garçons (TEPR Remix)

Director: Bastien Lattanzio

Album & DVD: À Cause Des Garçons [Maxi] [Single]

ASIN: B000ZNW75S

Folk Dance – Russia

Nationality: Russian-American
Age: 55
Occupation: Professor
Residence: New York
Performance Date: April 10, 2008
Primary Language: Russian
Language: English

My mom said in her Russian community, all children had to have at least one artistic talent. The youth were expected to entertain their elders.

Her specialty was Russian folk dancing. The boys and girls who learned this dance were around 11 years old.

The costumes were very distinct. Boys wore special tunics, belts, and leggings. Girls donned elaborate headdresses adorned with real flowers and ribbons on each side. Both wore a lot of embroidery on the sleeves and aprons and danced in special boots.

The dance was passed on in the churches from the older women and performed on social occasions. The girls would dance in a circle with the boys doing kicks, leg lifts, and squats called “yesginka” in the center. Most of the time, they would dance to Balalaika music.

It’s interesting to me that this dance, unlike most folk dances, was not necessarily performed in a celebratory fashion. Instead, it was more to please the adults at a social gathering.

This concept speaks to the level of discipline and familial hierarchy in Russian culture, which contrasts greatly to American society, where kids are never forced to pick up a hobby merely to entertain guests. This is an old-fashioned idea that maybe prevailed in previous centuries in America, but certainly not during my mother’s time.

Perhaps this forced acquisition of a “talent” was a way to teach discipline Russian children. My mom also mentioned how some kids had to memorize long Russian poems by authors like Pushkin and recite them from memory. That must have been incredibly difficult to accomplish, and is certainly not something we even consider a kid capable of doing in America.