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Hip-hop dance group Foundations Choreography teaches basics to beginners

Foundations Choreography is a dance group that aims to teach hip-hop specifically to beginner-level dancers.
(Max Himmelrich/Daily Bruin)

By Ruhee Patel

Dec. 5, 2014 7:42 a.m.

Dancers Alexander Tang and Vincent Tang started out with virtually no dance experience. After much practice, they eventually joined ACA Hip Hop and VSU Traditional, respectively.

Now, they teach aspiring dancers the same fundamentals that got them first moving, through a new organization in UCLA’s dance community: Foundations Choreography.

Foundations Choreography is concluding its fall workshop series with workshops on Friday and Tuesday, held in Parking Lot 4, Floor P1. This organization focuses on teaching hip-hop choreography to beginner-level dancers.

Over the past summer, the two founders of the organization, third-year neuroscience studentVincent Tang and UC Berkeley alumnus Alexander Tangdanced at UC Berkeley for the hip-hop dance group Aspirations, Family, Experience.

“(Vincent Tang) wanted to start a group at UCLA, basically a hip-hop organization that taught beginners how to dance, primarily because UCLA doesn’t really have a group that caters specifically to beginners,” Alexander Tang said.

Alexander Tang said that the AFX directors put Vincent Tang in contact with him because the two shared an interest in helping beginners. The two then reached out to their friends, second-year electrical engineering student Mrinal Chawla and second-year industrial engineering and operations research student at UC Berkeley Sophia Morgan, to help them lead Foundations Choreography.

The four leaders had enough connections in the dance community through the various teams they belonged to in order to start spreading the word and contacting choreographers for the workshops. This culminated in the formation of Foundations Choreography this quarter.

“(Dance) is completely foreign to them and their goal is to get from no dance experience to some, so that maybe later on they can join a different team,” Alexander Tang said, regarding the majority of the team’s members.

Although other UCLA dance groups accept people who are new to the hip-hop style of dance, Alexander Tang said those accepted typically have some sort of movement art experience, such as martial arts or gymnastics.

“There’s no other type of team on the UCLA campus that will take in any members and slow down and teach them because it’s so competitive,” said Julianna Bianes, a fifth-year biology student and member of Foundations Choreography.

During the workshops, Vincent Tang said the directors begin with introductions, followed by an opportunity for the attendees to socialize as the group waits for people to trickle in. The group stretches and warms up before the choreographer steps up to teach his or her piece. Once the choreographer finishes instructing, the members break off into smaller groups to perform the choreography.

“(Performing) is really fun, everyone cheers for each other,” Vincent Tang said. “It’s a really supportive environment.”

After the performances, the workshop’s choreographer performs solo and discusses his or her piece and inspiration. Vincent Tang said this discussion component is important, in particular for the beginning-level members who want to know what keeps the choreographer dancing.

Although the first workshop, which was taught by Alexander Tang, only had 10 participants, with each week and each additional workshop the organization has grown to around 40 people. Alexander Tang said, as of now, Foundations Choreography advertises its workshops through word-of-mouth.

While Alexander Tang said Foundations Choreography revolves around hip-hop, the exact type of choreography varies based on the style of each choreographer.

The Friday workshop features choreographer Hesed Cabornida, a UCLA alumna who was on the Samahang Modern dance team. Cabornida said she plans to take things slow during her workshop and use Bruno Mars’ song “Treasure” to accompany her piece.

“Communication goes a long way in executing how you teach. It makes a world of difference in your choreography,” Cabornida said.

Choreographer Michael Bonifacio, a fourth-year neuroscience student who previously danced for the KASA Dance Off and Samahang Modern teams, will lead the final workshop of the fall quarter series on Tuesday.

Bonifacio said the style of hip-hop he plans to teach will be very fun, playful and kind of groovy. He said he wants his students to challenge themselves while also still learning the fundamentals of hip-hop.

“I hope that (attendees) feel welcome to learn, rather than the pressure to get (the steps) right the first time,” Bonifacio said. “I hope more that they feel encouraged to keep dancing and let other people appreciate their effort and talent.”

Next quarter, Alexander Tang said the directors plan to make Foundations Choreography an official club. Their goal is to create small teams of around 20 to 30 people, each led by two choreographers for the quarter.

“They’ll be basically like a miniaturized version of the construction of a set from a competitive team,” Alexander Tang said.

Those interested in being placed on one of those teams will have to audition next quarter. Alexander Tang said the audition process is primarily to see what skill level each member is at and that the acceptance rate will depend on how many choreographers they get.

“We want to make sure the skill divide is evenly distributed so that even people who have a little bit of experience can help out the people who are completely new to dance,” Alexander Tang said. “That will make everybody feel more comfortable, as a result, and hopefully closer as well.”

In addition to this new team-centered program, Foundations Choreography is still planning on holding beginner workshops next quarter. Alexander Tang said the directors plan to create a system to determine which choreographers will be assigned as team directors and which will teach workshops.

“We’re a stepping-stone for hopefully greater things for our dancers,” Alexander Tang said.

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Ruhee Patel
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