Dang damn, these kids are insane. Ok, sure, to have that energy level at 12 is not so surprising (yeah, that's right, 12... again I say, dang damn), but that control and that synchronicity is off the charts amazing. They stomp, they groove, they whack, they go hard old skool, they damn well do it all and I could not love it more. All of it.
Man, 20 years ago (i.e. when I was their age), I could have only dreamed of getting to do this sort of thing. Back then, if you had any interest in dance, the only way you got into hip hop that I knew of, was to get your friends together or your ass in front of a mirror and just get practicing. The notion of getting formal training just didn't really exist. Friends got ballet or tap or jazz lessons, but I never knew of anyone having hip hop or r&b dance lessons - honestly, I just never imagined it. My neighbours did routines for Variety Nights at school with their friends and we occasionally got to see video of that but my main recourse was to watch my favourite routines on VHS - in my case, tapes of Rage, Video Hits or the occasional Music Award Show - and do what I could to emulate each step, jump, kick and groove. When no one was looking of course because, duh, embarrassing. Hell, I found it so embarrassing, I barely tried even when people weren't looking. Hurrah self-conscious youth! I'm happy to say I've been able to head somewhat 'backwards' in the sense that the energy I never expended when I was younger out of sheer self-consciousness, has come out in spades now that I'm older.
Meanwhile, later came the dance comps (or at least videos, then DVDs of them), then dance TV shows, then YouTube and suddenly the people performing these routines weren't just in music videos or at the Grammy's. They were kids from my area getting out there and performing and doing what we all loved. They were kids who now had greater access to watching dance comp videos and YouTube clips. They were people through whom I found out there were studios that taught this stuff to begin with.
[And for a short period of time about 6 or 7 years ago, they were my own instructors from a couple of crews I actually respected (Groovesteps and Doppelgangers to name a couple). People who not only taught me how to handle an 8-count (however poorly I did!) but also made me better look up the history and made me grow in my appreciation of the real beauty of hip hop. D2MG mofos!]
These days, I love that not only do you know that people are out there teaching these amazing choreos and skills, but more people are getting to see just how amazing they are. And of course, there's always Ellen who, incidentally, featured two of the kids in this clip - Lucky and AC aka Lucky Aces.
So while the above ramble is a mere window into just how much I love this genre of dance, music and artistic expression, how much I always have and always will along with my joy that more people get the chance to appreciate, seriously look at those kids up there - their skill, their discipline, their energy and their faces. Far be it from me to pull out the Center Stage line about Jody's 'face' but there, it was plot lip to excuse putting her through despite her crummy feet. These kids do not have that problem. They are all in and it could not more freshh.
