Dance, dance, dance!
I grew up on the dark criminal streets of Ryazan and as you could guess dancing was not something a cool guy would do there. “Men don’t dance” is especially true about Ryazan men. I did not even think about such stupid thing as dancing when I was a teen - even though I always adored B-boys at the summer camp discos. It was still a taboo to me.
I came to the feeling that I want to try dancing after I got a surgery after a repetitive shoulder dislocation and was not able to train martial arts for a while. I was already 20 years old, and it was a huge mental war with myself each time. Even just a dancing person looked stupid to me, and what could be worse - only a person who learns how to dance. I lived in a dorm and the only place I could try my moves was a free space in the main hall, totally open to the prying eyes of the public.
After about half a year of self training I thought that it was the time to learn from someone more experienced with me, and went for several classes to a breakdancing school Volnorez in Moscow, and then I went to a several week long summer camp with them. My eyes truly opened up to a hip-hop culture - breakdance is just a part of it. For some, this culture may be associated with gangsta rap only, criminal gangs of Brooklyn and West Coast - however it is very deep and peaceful life philosophy, moving the violence from the streets into dancefloors (mostly still on the streets…), where you can battle your opponent not with a gun, but with dance moves. Breakdance is much more than just acrobatic moves, it involved your artistic abilities and the sense of music - even though admittedly I was better in the former than the latter.
I attended one more summer camp that year - this time not a breakdancing one, but more general, involving dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz funk and others. The community - light-hearted and friendly - was such a strong contrast with the community of martial artists I was used before! It was less concentrated on explosive power than breakdance, more about not looking around you, not thinking how do you look - just expressing yourself in a dance.
Since then I had a large network of dancers and participated in several music videos - due to my acrobatic skills.
Surprisingly I was invited to one of the music videos as an…instructor in ballroom dances!
How did I learn ballroom dances? Well, after I got comfortable with breakdancing, I decided to try partner dances too. I attended some classes in ballroom dances as a sport and, while studying in the Moscow State University, I attended maybe ten of the seasonal grand balls there. It has absolutely different energy and does not really involve any artistic expression, on the opposite side, the movements have to be done in a coordination with your partner - however, there is something in it too, I attended all that I could, which proves - it was fun.
