THE FOLLOWING BLOG IS FOR THE INTEREST OF DANCERS ONLY. MY RESPONSE TO ALL THE TRICK BASHING THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING. It’s time for me to take a stand against the “trick bashing.” I need to put this into perspective for a few people whom I don’t believe are looking at this phenomenon from all angles. As somebody who is employed full time in the act of teaching gymnasts and tricks to dancers and other artists/athletes who want/need to learn tricks for the progression of their passion I must speak up and defend this craft. I have watched people bash it in increasing numbers in the last two years, without speaking my voice. Here is my response to the ever growing posts I see about this topic: 1) YES.. IT IS CHANGING DANCE. Of course it is! But is the problem really the tricks, or your resistance to a natural changing world? I attribute this to the increase in access and exposure to technology, Youtube videos and television shows. At the start of the millennium you only saw what you and your classmates or others at local events were doing; now you can see what the whole world is doing. That will change how any game is played, nobody in hockey is saying “but it’s changing how we do this.” If anything we can now offer more classes and programs, so stop complaining about change, it is inevitable. Ten years ago all I taught all day was side aerials, now all I teach is front aerials; I’m not particularly thrilled about this because my job got a whole lot harder. Don’t think that tricks aren’t evolving within tricks too, everything is evolving, ALWAYS. 2) “It’s changing the art of it”: Since when did art not change? Let’s not forget how medieval methods and practices transformed and lead the way for liberal arts and fine arts and applied arts and classifications of art within classification of art. If you don’t think dance has changed naturally over time (with or without the aid of technology) you need to get yourself on Google and learn some art history or I can lend you my pre-highlighted mind numbing SFU textbooks. It is therefore safe to say that ‘tricks’ are all part of a new transition; it is just the way things are being done in this new era. Will it be around forever? Maybe, maybe not. Nobody thought Hip Hop would stick around when classes started to spring up at studios everywhere, look where it is now. People enjoy it, so they do it. People enjoy doing cool tricks, people enjoy watching cool tricks, so more people are doing them than a decade ago. This is a natural evolution. It may fade out, it may not. 3a) “You shouldn’t need tricks to win”.... I disagree with the entire fundamental philosophy of this statement. Who ACTUALLY knows what is needed to win? Like actually? Isn’t every judging panel different? Is there some kind of formula that will guarantee a win? I have most definitely had “winning routines” that I personally thought were awful and I have had “losing routines” that I thought were pretty epic. 3b) I believe making the above statement is basically the same thing as saying “you shouldn’t need flexibility, solid technique, facial expression and athleticism to win.” And actually that is the truth, you don’t NEED anything to win. There are things that are desirable to have to aid your chance at winning, but do you NEED something? No. The winner wins because the judge(s) liked them best, and every judge has different likes and opinions. That does not mean that the next judge(s) will feel the same way. There are tons of judges out there that hate tricks. That’s a beautiful thing. You win some you lose some, I thought this was for fun? 4) Be careful about targeting your comments about the tricks rather than the choreographer. I have seen so many ‘anti trick’ posts lately and it seems like people don’t make the connection that there are two factors here. Again the tricks aren’t the problem. It is the choreographer that is making the choice to suffocate a jazz routine with tricks. That’s their prerogative. Dislike the choreographer not the tricks. Tricks done with class and style and fluid transitions are a whole other thing. Nobody ever says “did you see how graceful and smoothly that trick was integrated into that moment in choreography?”... which is exactly what we should be saying but we’re not. So to all my fellow trick teachers out there: Keep your head held high! You are awesome and you are developing some of the most strong and versatile dancers the world has ever seen. We are not the problem, the tricks are not the problem, it is the resilience to change that is causing this problem. And to the trick bashers: Nobody thought Hip Hop would take the world over the way that it has, I don’t think tricks are going anywhere either so either jump on the boat or stay in the 70’s, the choice is yours but stop bashing the tricks. The tricks aren’t the problem, blame Darwin and evolution if you have to, it just happened to dance like humans did to dinosaurs. Tricks happen. Now get out there and get your cartwheel on. Sincerely, Advocate for people who are just doing their job while others bash us.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:58:37 +0000
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