 |
|
April 25, 2005 Vol. 76,
no. 14S
|
|
| HIP
HOP AND IT DON'T STOP: MSE/ME sophomore
Andrew Favor performs hip hop with a student dance team in Lower
Sproul Plaza April 6. Favor learned of campus hip hop teams last
year and now performs with The Movement, a student dance organization.
|
He rocks!
MSE/ME sophomore catches the flow on hip hop dance team
Check it out: MSE/ME sophomore Andrew Favor is not studying. He's in
front of a good-sized crowd on Lower Sproul Plaza with a group of other
student dancers. There are no fancy costumes here. On this sunny day,
it's mostly jeans paired with whatever shirt is available in brown or
turquoise. For a dance performance, there are a surprising number of
guys.
A deejay gets the crowd's attention. The song starts, the beat drops,
and the students launch into their choreographed moves. Favor is flowing.
He whips his hands out, spins, and slides. He struts, crouches down,
pops up, and suddenly "locks" - or freezes in a dramatic pose. The crowd
cheers; a few whistle. Favor is pointing now, just briefly, into the
crowd. He throws a fierce look and the beat thumps on.
Favor is a member of student dance group The Movement, which has traditional
jazz and swing dance as well as hip hop. But it's the hip hop team that
has the most dancers and draws the biggest response from a crowd. Maybe
that's because hip hop isn't that far removed from
those crazy moves you make on the club floor or when you bust out dancing
in your room with the door closed.
Favor admits he was previously one of those "door-closed" dancers until
last spring, when he performed in a hip hop dance during Berkeley's
Pilipino Cultural Night.
"It was fun," he says. "It had energy and was more freeform. I always
listen to hip hop on the radio because it's something I really feel.
I connect with it."
Last fall, he tried out for Movement's hip hop team and was accepted.
Favor says he's learned to be a better dancer from his colleagues. "Hip
hop is all about the details," he says. "A look in a certain direction.
Pointing with one finger instead of two. And you assume an attitude
with your facial expressions."
Favor spends approximately six hours a week practicing dance routines.
He says he's enjoyed meeting people outside of engineering and likes
the exercise. It's all about having fun, he says, and he encourages
engineering students to try hip hop. "Find a song you like," he says,
"then just move to the beat. Just because you're an engineer doesn't
mean you can't dance!"Oh, what a feeling... To check out The Movement,
which offers periodic classes, or to learn more about the teams, go
to http://movement.berkeley.edu/.
|
|
