FOUNDATIONS: 

THE YIN & YANG PRINCIPLE:
The Groove & The Move

The foundations of our dance will be built upon an ancient principle that has been shared for thousands of years, that being the principle of Yin & Yang. Most dance classes and programs teach foundations of dance from a technical sense. But our approach to this dance draws from ancient wisdom traditions, namely that of Taoism. In Taoism it is said that the dance of Yin and Yang gives birth to everything in existence. If we apply the idea of Yin and Yang into our dance, our dance then becomes a representation of Natural Law and can help us become the best dancers we can be. 

1. FOUNDATIONS: YIN & YANG INTRODUCTION

Yin & Yang, as you may have heard from the ancient Taoist Philosophy, is a fundamental principle of how the Universe works. It is not a dualistic view of life, but rather a way of seeing how the polarities of life depend on and rely on each other to create the ultimate balance and perfection that we see operating in Nature all around us. Yin is likened to the polarity of the feminine, the cold, the dark, the subtle, the yielding, the water, ect. Yang is likened to the polarity of the masculine, the hot, the bright, the aggressive, the forceful, the fire, ect. The dance of these two energies is what creates supreme harmony and balance in infinite manifestations of life as we know it. And within yin and yang is a small piece of its opposite, which can be seen in the small dot within each side. Within Yin, there is a small part of yang, and within Yang there is a small part of Yin. There can never be one without the other. When we ignore the yin and yang dance of life and do not go with the natural balance of life, we become unbalanced and cause suffering in the form of disease and unhappiness. 
So what does this all have to do with Dance? Well in order to be a true balanced dancer and movement artist, one must truly understand the way of Yin and Yang and apply it to their dance. The way of Tao-Pop sees the Yin/Yang as the ultimate ideal of achieving true perfection as a dancer. Meditating upon Yin and Yang when it applies to dance, one can conclude that the most basic understanding of dance can be broken down into two of it's most basic components:

Yin is the Groove. 
And Yang is the Move. 

The Groove is dancing, feeling, free from play of movement. The Move is technique, thinking, and a disciplined approach to movement. All dancers, no matter what the style, is dancing between grooving and technical movements. You feel with your heart to the music and allow it to give you the groove, then you think with your mind to apply technique and the special moves you have practiced over and over again. Groove is the Heart. Move is the Mind. When Heart and Mind come into unity, true balance and harmony is achieved in the story of your dance. ​

2. FOUNDATIONS:
​Yin-Groove : What is Groove?

Groove is the feeling and emotion one feels in the heart and soul when the music turns on and you dance naturally. There is a small technique to different types of groove and how you want to groove. But the foundation of groove is to be free and allow yourself to truly let go into the music, regardless of technique. To Groove is to move from the heart and soul. If you have no groove, but have tons of moves, then you are not truly dancing. Your dance loses a type of spirit or soul. Without groove there is no feeling, it becomes stale and lacks emotion. To groove is to freely dance with your emotions and set your soul free. 

In this tutorial I also share with you a basic beginners exercise on how to groove with different parts of your body. We cover grooving with the head, shoulders, chest, hips, legs, and feet. This is a great practice for those with no previous experience in grooving at all. So if you are beginner with little to no dance experience, this is a great place to start. 
If you are an already experienced dancer, then feel free to move on to the next tutorial. ​

3. FOUNDATIONS:
Yin - The Groove Warmup

In this tutorial we will do a basic-to-intermediate level Groove Warm-Up. Unfortunately during the recording of this video my audio went out, so instead I edited the video with visual instructions. Do your best to follow along! This tutorial is less about getting the grooves down perfect and more about simply warming your body up, getting your blood flowing, and your energy awakened. So lets get to dancing! ​

4. FOUNDATIONS: 
Yang - The Move: Introduction & Dimestops Exercise

Move is the technical application of movements and dance. It is the disciplined approach to the movement and what makes one a “refined” Dancer. Anyone has the ability to groove, but only the most dedicated dancers can truly have good moves. Move is proper foundation, technique, and form. It is your specialized styles and blowups which take time, dedication, and practice to master. When a dancer has no Move or technical ability, they can just be an average person simply dancing and having fun. But when a dancer has good technical ability, they rise above the masses and step into an elite world of true world class dancers. The Yang-Move aspect is directly linked with the Mind, for it is the Mind that aids us in perfecting the movements and guides us to when we properly apply the move in our groove. 

In this tutorial you will learn THE most fundamental aspects of technique training within the Popping and Animation styles. We call it: The Dimestop. 
The Dimestop is simply a clean-technical stop , using any body part or the entire body at once. Continue on with the tutorial to learn some drills and exercises to help develop and train your dimestop ability. ​

5. FOUNDATIONS:
Yang - The Move: Isolations

In this tutorial you will learn one of the most fundamental aspects of the Popping and Animation dance styles: The Isolation. The ability to isolate different parts of your body at will is one of the greatest keys to obtaining movement mastery and high-level of illusion in your dance. In this course I teach you an amazing drill/exercise that has been passed down to me from previous Dance Masters who also use this in their own practice (I learned this from a dancer called Jsmooth - an international dance champion, who learned it then from Poppin' Taco - a triple OG legendary dance figure, considered to be the best dancer of the 1980's era). 
I call it: The Isolation Drill Exercise
​Enjoy~

6. FOUNDATIONS:
Yin & Yang Conclusion 

Now that we have defined each individual side of Yin and Yang, we must now explain how the two interplay with each other and how a dancer can achieve total balance. For Example, when the music comes on, you first allow yourself to relax and drop into your body, drop into your heart, and allow your soul to come alive with the Music. The music starts to guide your body to move, based upon how your heart-felt emotions react to the music, and thus the Groove begins. The Groove can be anything, any repetitive movement that your body feels naturally inclined to dance in and sets the stage and the theme for your dance story. But if you simply stay in the groove and don't apply the Move, you can only stay at a certain basic level with your dance. Do not allow yourself to get so “lost” into the groove that you start to lose all form and technique. At some point your Mind comes into play and starts to apply the Move. The Move begins to come in, strategically at a perfect moment, ideally matched to a transition in the music. As you allow yourself to first groove and build up the energy, you then use your training to apply a Move (whether that be a blowup, or a unique style, or something else). Your dance then goes into a higher level of evolution. The story evolves, and now you are truly dancing with the Yin and Yang energy. ​

THE YIN-DANCER VS. THE YANG-DANCER

Let me get one thing straight: it is not necessarily a rule to have equal parts Yin-Groove and Yang-Move in your dance. You don't always have to be half and half. If you are inclined to be more Yin in your dance, then so be it! And Vice Versa. In fact there are classifications of dancers that choose to be more Yin and/or more Yang. Here are some explanations:

The Yin-Dancer: The Groover  

​​In the popping world, there are two classifications of dancers, The Boogaloo'ers, and the Animators. The Boogalooers are the Yin-Groove style dancer because they mostly rely on a feeling and groovy/funky type of approach to the dance. The focus is more on feeling rather than high technique. It values more loosness and relaxness in your body and interpreting the music with your emotions and heart rather than the mind. The Groover type dancer is able to go deep into their emotions and dance with their heart. But too much groove and the dancer can get too wild and lose all sense of technique. Remember, there is a small amount of Yang within Yin, and such...there must be small amount of technique in the groove so that there remains a clear visual of what the dancer is doing rather than just “flopping around”. 

In our example of the Groove Dancer we have here Hoan from Korea, considered to be one of the best poppers in the world. Although he displays here a ridiculously high level of technique, the underlying essence of his dance is in the groove. Notice how he effortlessly captures the feeling of the music. Even though he technically hits every little sound of the song, in between the movements is a beautiful grace in his groove. 

The Yang-Dancer: The Mover 

​In the Popping world, the mover is associated with the Animation type dancers. These Animaters are the Yang-Move style dancer because they mostly rely on high technique, proper form, body illusion, and a very systematic approach to the dance. The focus is more on high technique rather than feeling. It values more cleanliness, tension in the body and interpreting the music with the mind and strategy. The Move type dancer is able to access such high levels of technique that they are able to WOW the audience with amazing isolations and illusions that seem unreal. But if the Mover type dancer gets too deep into technique, it can become devoid of soul and spirit and lose its essence, thus losing the hearts of the audience. Remember, there is a small amount of Yin within Yang, and so there must be a small amount of groove in all the technicalities of the Mover. We do this so that there remains a sense of emotion and heart felt connection with the music rather than just Moving your Body in different places. 

In our example of the Move-based dancer we have Poppin Joh, considered to be 1 of the most popular dancers on youtube with views in the millions. Popping John is, in my opinion, one of the best animators in the world of body illusion. His technique is flawless and all his moves appear highly illusional and synced with the music. In this video he displays his classic "Popping John" style which is now a trademark dance style. 

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