Are You KIDdin'? you forgot..
The Draft Lottery event was dope! Much respect was given in regards of its success. Everybody pulled through and made it a positive and memorable event.
One of the important reasons I wanted to do the event was to create an outlet for the young kids under 12 to dance. Too many times, they do not have a place to express themselves at such a young age. Nowadays, the b-boy culture is being run by the young adults (18 & over) and in doing so, have different agendas in their b-boy career. The culture has definitely shifted to an older crowd. Recalling the 80's, we saw a new growth of professional skateboarders (18 & over) and in comparison, the new millenium is ushering in the older, more professional b-boy or b-girl. As one truth states: "As the history of a culture grows, more people become loyal to its movement." This is an awesome feeling to be a part of movement and substantial growth. Unfortunately with growth, there are some tradeoffs. The kids have been left behind in the agenda and simply forgotten. In reference to the early 80's scene, Crazy Legs (Rock Steady Crew) spoke the truth when he said, "I remember when a b-boy's retirement age was 16". In other words, it was definitely odd to be b-boying past your twenties. You were outcasted as outdated if you abruptly asked the crowd to lay down some cardboard if you were clearly over 18. However, nowadays, a 20 year old b-boy is simply scratching the surface of his b-boy career. As you excel and get older, the b-boy's blood runs deeper and he begins to see that there is more to the dance than the dance itself. Its not at all crazy to see a 40 year old rockin' it out.
But now with this newfound growth, kids are now put on the backburner. The reality is, kids had ALOT more freedom to b-boy in the 80's. There wasn't any fear of criticism from adults. Majority of adults simply could not do it because they had never seen this movement before. Kids were empowered by this new creative outlet in the 80's. I definitely wanted to bring that back.
With that in mind, I was absolutely happy to see that the kids were able to enjoy the dance and were applauded for their talents at the event. Although the kid's portion was a short segment of the program, it truly was the most important part of the program.
I hope in the future I am able to throw more jams geared towards the youth. It cannot be argued that they truly are "the future." It is my understanding that the way we conduct ourselves in front of the youth, they will mimick our actions as they get older. Ask yourself: Do we really want to throw jams that tend to uplift our fame or to throw jams that uplift the community? Fact of the matter is, we should respond quickly before they get older...
One of the important reasons I wanted to do the event was to create an outlet for the young kids under 12 to dance. Too many times, they do not have a place to express themselves at such a young age. Nowadays, the b-boy culture is being run by the young adults (18 & over) and in doing so, have different agendas in their b-boy career. The culture has definitely shifted to an older crowd. Recalling the 80's, we saw a new growth of professional skateboarders (18 & over) and in comparison, the new millenium is ushering in the older, more professional b-boy or b-girl. As one truth states: "As the history of a culture grows, more people become loyal to its movement." This is an awesome feeling to be a part of movement and substantial growth. Unfortunately with growth, there are some tradeoffs. The kids have been left behind in the agenda and simply forgotten. In reference to the early 80's scene, Crazy Legs (Rock Steady Crew) spoke the truth when he said, "I remember when a b-boy's retirement age was 16". In other words, it was definitely odd to be b-boying past your twenties. You were outcasted as outdated if you abruptly asked the crowd to lay down some cardboard if you were clearly over 18. However, nowadays, a 20 year old b-boy is simply scratching the surface of his b-boy career. As you excel and get older, the b-boy's blood runs deeper and he begins to see that there is more to the dance than the dance itself. Its not at all crazy to see a 40 year old rockin' it out.
But now with this newfound growth, kids are now put on the backburner. The reality is, kids had ALOT more freedom to b-boy in the 80's. There wasn't any fear of criticism from adults. Majority of adults simply could not do it because they had never seen this movement before. Kids were empowered by this new creative outlet in the 80's. I definitely wanted to bring that back.
With that in mind, I was absolutely happy to see that the kids were able to enjoy the dance and were applauded for their talents at the event. Although the kid's portion was a short segment of the program, it truly was the most important part of the program.
I hope in the future I am able to throw more jams geared towards the youth. It cannot be argued that they truly are "the future." It is my understanding that the way we conduct ourselves in front of the youth, they will mimick our actions as they get older. Ask yourself: Do we really want to throw jams that tend to uplift our fame or to throw jams that uplift the community? Fact of the matter is, we should respond quickly before they get older...
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