DEJAN TUBIC

Today is Tuesday, the slowest of the days in the week for us because it often goes as follows:

French class (3 hours), return to the Villa Jasmin, lunch, nap, beach, read (or not). Very nice, if you do it right.

However, today I did not nap. I wasn't feeling particularly tired. Instead, I decided to YouTube a formidable handful of songs by the "folk music project" Timber Timbre (ding) which just finished downloading, starting with "Woman". Check out the pretty artsy video that comes with the song. I expect to listen to their newest album, Creep On Creepin' On, later with my boyfriend. He is a musician. His name is Kyle. He is obscure e.g. from Delaware. He is a stud.

So things are going along nicely and the (*counts*) nine YouTube tabs open are set and ready to be heard but as things tend to go with the Internet, I wind up between Facebook, Gmail, and YouTube (1) and eagerly watching the choreography of the one and only Dejan Tubic. And I have to say, I am "wow"ed every time.

Dejan is a hip-hop/funk/body choreographer living in Los Angeles (2) and, apparently, often bleaches his hair, making him edgy and recognizable. I can image this is good for his dancer-students in class (3). Here are four pieces he has choreographed, the ones I've seen, but you can find all of his fun videos on his website here.

Choreographed to "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith

Choreographed to "Bloody Mary" by Lady Gaga

Choreographed to "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool

Choreographed to "Outta Your Mind" by Lil Jon and LMFAO ["vulgar"]

You can see for yourself how talented Dejan is and how many people he inspires to move.
Here is his fan page.

Honestly, dance in general is a great way to keep active while having a great time, meeting lively people, and appreciating popular music with a depth not many can achieve, especially since popular music gets the blunt end of the stick from a lot of people a lot of the time. Consider giving a dance class a try, be it hip-hop, swing, funk, jazz, tap, ballet, modern, African, East Asian, Bhangra, anything. Dance comes in so much variety and captures such a wide audience, it's amazing the kind of culture and history you can experience and become apart of just by dancing.

These last few hours just leave me thinking, "Inspiration overload: good thing or bad?" Obviously, both, but there is no time to sort out why. You just have to "go and do something with you life" (Dejan Tubic).

I myself will finish listening to Timber Timbre.

tree falls in a forest... and it lands on my head,
rossi



UNDERSCORES
(1) Facebook, Gmail, YouTube: WARNING. Commence the devouring of at least two hours of your time. Be aware.
(2) I wonder how many people actually say "Los Angeles" with what is probably the correct accent "L-OH-S AHN-JE-LEZ".
(3) Info on classes found here: "Come Take Dejan Tubic’s Class at IDA Hollywood. EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 730pm - 9:00pm. www.idahollywood.com"

"CHUNK OF CHANGE"

So, admittedly, I really enjoy the use of the word "blog" now, contrary to what I wrote in the first post since I re-commenced BTG. Part of why is because I have awakened to the usefulness of blogs to get in touch with individuals in what could be one of their purest moments: what they choose to put online to reflect them, what they do, who they are. Despite it being still a funky word, blogs really do bring me enjoyment. The other part is because I've kept the pleasant habit of listening to music to start off my moment. (Here is one of those pure moments that let me reflect who I am to everyone outside of me!)

I'm the kind of guy who thinks that you should listen to the music I am listening to now, as I type, because it will bring you that much closer to me in this moment,  feeling me. 

If you want to try, I am listening to Passion Pit's EP "Chunk of Change" and there is a nice breeze at sunset and the mosquito bite from a few hours ago doesn't itch. Feeling pretty good... 

(Just returned from a petit hiatus: just stormed through la Rue de Pietons with a blindfolded girl with all eyes on the parade. More about that later.)

Sorry, a little inconsistency there. I am not French, but I am in the French riviera, by the way. Specifically, I am in Menton ("chin") a morning's jog away from Monaco, or Italy if you go in the opposite direction. It is a quaint (read: small, as evidenced by the fact that it almost never appears on a map; see below) town-village that is composed rather exactly by all of the casually glamorous photos found with a quick Google Image search. I have become quite fond of it, but I think to me this means looking at it rather that living in it. That's okay. 

. . .

I just recalled that before joining the parade of colleagues--we are here studying i.e. beaching, drinking, generally living--I was looking out over the balcony of my room and on the old-style shingled roof there was a bird fumbling with his feet. Maybe her feet, I don't know. Birds are less obvious than humans to me. S/he was walking down the slope of the roof and kept slipping. It was amusing to watch not because I don't like birds but because this was a formidable looking bird. When I mean formidable, imagine a large hawk with the detailed grey feathers of a forest owl competing with seagulls for food. (I did a quick Google search hoping for just a photo; but good luck with this.) Watching birds look silly is nice. I often look at them and see some sort of majesty, freedom of flight and all that, so seeing the opposite is pretty fun. Makes you wonder what ridiculous human behavior city birds see all day long. Endless humor...

. . . 

Anyway, I have been living here since 4 Juin after spending 1 June traveling from Paris to Nice via TGV (thanks Eurostar!) and indulging in the beautiful Nice for a few days. Stayed in a great hostel i.e. free breakfast and soft bed and water, temperature-indifferent. Sat on the beach objectifying and philosophizing with the Mediterranean. Then, I thought about keeping up with my experiences, typical as they were, perhaps, on the blog, but I had already begun a written journal invested with drawings and doodles. I like what's contained in it-- probably will like it much more in a year or two, provided it doesn't burn away (note: scan page-by-page into computer ...) After being established here for some time now and gaining a reasonable work load for class, I don't write in it as often. Translated, that means that it has transformed into the occasional poem and a handful of ink sketches. This pleases me; it shall continue. 

I will put up two more comprehensive posts for those patient enough and wanting to "put themselves in my shoes". Selling point: my father has issued me a "1000-photo" challenge, as he knows that I am rather bad about documenting with photographs. I now have a reason to carry around my phone, it having been on "airplane mode" pretty much since I got off of the plane. So, you can rest assured that any post concerning France will be as engaging as an illustrated book. 

Random last note, check the website this rather beautiful photo was taken from. LOL.

written by the re-inspired,

rossi

Break Down No.1: Kaba Modern/Body Rock 2010

Not too long ago I resurrected my YouTube account and starting a half-organized effort at keeping track of music videos and videos in general that I found interesting or memorable. Eventually, this meant that I started rather exclusively hoarding videos of choreography and dance troupes. Keeping track of anything is just the brain and body's way of saying, "I will return to this" and all too often we don't. But hurrah! I have returned to a video sent to me through Expressions Dance Company at Harvard. Aside from the flashy stage, there is some sick choreography in this 4:44 piece, and some details that easily worth noting. You may end up watching an interval 2 or 3 (or 50...) times. Whatever. You will enjoy.

---

"it's gonna be the day" 0:07-0:10 - I think it was a superb choice to have all dancers isolate their shoulders like they did. It was super soft and super effective. I think that was definitely a great way to start off the piece (can you believe it's only 4:44?). With so many dancers on stage your eye is immediately drawn to the three showcased ones in the center. Not only because of numbers and lighting, but the levels help create the dynamic texture on stage. While most dancers are kneeling, several are standing legs hip-width apart and--here is my favorite observation--they aren't just in the back row! They are in the middle row, too, making the layering almost 3-D instead of flat. 

hard house music 0:10-0:32 - So, for those who don't already know, I am really a fan of house music and techno in choreography for any style of dance. It is entrancing and persistent, and makes a good canvas for repetitive motions executed canon style, like in choruses. These dancers did the music justice by virtually staying in place instead of bouncing all over the stage-- they really made it easy to see all the cool body extensions and playing they were doing. Oh, and the two moments were a horizontal line forms across the front of the stage? Brilliant and visually very effective 

"the hoochie leg" 1:01-1:03 - I just really like this move. They executed it well, again, with all dancers doing it.

four part ensemble 1:16-1:31 - So, not only is this approach pretty visually effective, it's very easy to do and do well as long as the groups of dancers know their choreo step for step. But what made this even more awesome was the subtle thread of the dancer in the grey jacket and scarf moving imperceptibly from group to group until the very end, when everyone rotates over their left side. So dope.

formation(s) 1:31-1:39 - For me it was a little messy. I could tell what they were going for, but their right/our left side was a bit late and off-spacing for, like, a second, but then everyone gets back into it at 1:39, which does indeed look hella cool.

footwork! ahhh! 2:02-2:05 - I LOVE ISOLATED TORSOS AND BOUNCY FEET, AHH!

and right after that, the audience goes vocal for the first time, ACTUALLY, where the beat drops at 2:05, after "Mr. Hugh Hefner," and I think I've finally figured out why. 

So, the beat picks up, maybe even double-times, and the girl SMACK in the middle with those ridiculous boots really brings out that quickness because of how her head sort of rocks back at forth as almost an after-shock result of what her legs are doing (stomping one at a time). It really is a nuance that she nailed down hard. Almost all of other dancers do it too, but to a less crazy degree. The girls that do it best are the middle girl and the two girls at the top of the formation, closest to the stage, not quite on the outskirts. A girl that seems to not do it is the one in the white jacket on the far left/our right: her head doesn't rebound as hard, and the double-time effect is that much more lost. Fortunately, the young lady in the center has enough rebound and stage crunk for everyone.

It's all just super baller.

And, note the music:

Intro: Peanuts Enhancer (Mobbing Remix) - Benny Benassi

Walking on a Dream (Treasure Fingers Remix) - Empire of the Sun

Losing My Mind - Cold Flamez

Bitch You'll Gag - Jay Karan Pendavis

Closer: Cheap and Cheerful (Fake Blood Remix) - The Kills

It's funny, really, because a friend of mine just sent me "Ohm-O-Genik" by Alle "Mobbing" Benassi, Benny (Marco) Benassi's cousin. 

This is all around a really, really great video.

always rock your body,
rossi