Watch the video provided here, and in a blog post, comment on how the video demonstrates subversion/subversiveness. After you make your own post, comment on ONE of your peers, entering into a conversation with her. By doing this, you will EXTEND what your classmate has said in her post.
HINT: Think about what you learned in the very first unit about culture -- more specifically high/dominant culture versus low culture. Also, read the information in the video and listen to the explanation of the dancer's background. Where does the dance form he mentions originate? What other dance forms does he seem to combine with it? Pay attention to the space he is using and what he is doing in that space. All of these considerations should assist you in considering how this video demonstrates subversion and subversiveness. Be sure to use the form of the word correctly.
Forms of the word:
subvert - verb
subversion - noun
subversive - adjective/adverb
subversiveness - noun
In other words, it's not enough so simply say you agree or disagree or that what the other student has said is "good". Instead, while you may certainly pay compliments or disagree, you must ADD information to what they are saying, EXTENDING, COMPLICATING, OR REFUTING what another student has said.
Here is the video:
This video demonstrates subversion because he learned how to dance from an underground hip hop group and then branched out to learning ballet. These forms are dichotomous because in a way, ballet is representative of high-culture and hip hop can be seen as low-culture. However, the subject blends the two forms in a quite beautiful way. I also found the light/dark of the scene around him interesting, as he travels through a mostly white building wearing only black clothes, and at the end he comes to a room full of white, but with one darker red piece in the middle. This also represents a degree of discomfort, but overall, speaks to the dichotomy of high culture and low culture and how the two can mix.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this comment. We can see the how two contrasting genres of dance can be combines into something beautiful. The dancer overthrows stereotypical ideas of hip and ballet. We can see the light and dark motif surrounding the two subject of dances but eventually combining into one
DeleteI agree and also saw the light dark motif with the white walls/lighting and his all dark clothing.
DeleteWe can see subversion in the genre of dances he is capable of doing. He was a hip hop dancer who made a deal to teach a group hip hop in trade for ballet. We see subversion in two different cultures of dances. Hip hop generally is not considered elegant and ballet is not considered a street style dance but the dancer changes social stereotypes of these dances making the mixture of two into a beautiful performance. The dancer overthrew social stereotypes and proved the similarity within each dances.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely see a subversion in the two cultures of dancing but you can also see a subversion with the two different racial cultures and the types of dancing that were able to assimilate, which also happens in society with different racial cultures. He did overthrow social stereotypes and was able to show the similiarities AND differences of hardship and how and what he went through to achieve the perfection of his dance style. Well done Claire:)!
DeleteI agree with your point on the overthrowing of social stereotypes— My response to the general post corresponds to this. Nice points!
DeleteAfter watching this video, my eyes began opening to understand and see the subversion displayed throughout. As a man who lives in a society with high expectations, due to racial hierarchy he may be looked down on. He started with a sliver of this talent portrayed and with practice and hard work he was able to develop it into a completely beautiful and awe inspiring dance. As the viewers can see his is dancing in a white building and wears black clothes. The walls could represent the people around him who blandly assemble into "normal" people whereas his black clothes are different and sho him standing out with his unique style of dancing. He subverts our attention from what could be considered the norm and shows a whole different style of what else is out in the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this statement because it is true that he may have been looked down upon by others which is portrayed by the white walls. He was the outcast because of his style of dance which is why he wore the black clothing and that stood out.
DeleteThe guy in the video had to learn ballet in order to teach hip hop. Even though he grew up in a town where a certain type of dance was created and that's all he knew, he still adapted himself to learn a whole new style of dance.
ReplyDeleteBut how does that show subversion to a authority or stigma?
DeleteIt shows subversion through the combination of hip hop and ballet, not the elimination of one and introduction of the other.
DeleteThe Proformer shows subversiveness towards the traditional stigma surrounding traditional ballet and new age hip hop. By combining these two dance forms he raises the dances to a new standard. He also isolates himself by not conforming to one of the two arts but would not be outcasted because his dance can be qualified as modern. HIs way of dancing is mirrored by his environment, a museum that holds important and possible old artwork but has a modern age architecture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with his, but the thing is, I feel like the museum wasn't entirely showing of his style of art since it was clearly a modern art museum. Also, your comment about a new standard quite confuses me.
DeleteHis background is first hip hop, and then he learned ballet. His style of dance incorperates both. This is different than any other normal style of dance. In this video, he is dancing in the Louis Vitton museum, which has high culture art. His dancing is representing low culture, in the sense that it is not known and has an origin that is not held at a high esteem. This can be subversive because can be a "low culture" style of dance, but it is seen as high culture with the classical music and the art work in the museum.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this insight. He can be seen as subversive due to his "low-culture" dance, but becomes high-culture because of the music, the background "high-cultural" paintings and artwork, and the delicate dance style of ballet.
DeleteI agree. By combining the two forms of dance, he subverts the low culture of hip hop and the high culture of ballet and makes them equal. This is shown where he says before he starts dancing that all dance is art.
DeleteI agree with this comment, and I like what Claire wrote about equalizing the two types of dance. The dancer creates a new standard when he combines ballet and hip hop
DeleteThe video demonstrates subversion through the comparing and contrasting of the dance styles of hip hop and ballet. While the two may seem like complete oppposites, the dancer brings them into perfect harmony, integrating elements from both styles, creating very elegant but powerful movements.
ReplyDeleteIf you can, is it possible to edit your response so that you can add your name somewhere?
DeleteThe video demonstrates subversion/subversiveness because Lil came from a lower class society and mainly danced to hip-hop, which can be viewed as low-culture. He is now dancing for and is funded by Louis Vuitton, a wealthy business industry, and added ballet to his original hip-hop. He is socializing into the wealthy society.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Smart way of looking at the situation
DeleteThe man in the video shows subversion because he came from knowing hip hop and actually learned ballet through that. It's dichotomous how the two forms of dance are so different. Ballet is very elegant and soft, while hip hop movements are little more harsh and sudden. But, he manages to bring them together to form one dance.
ReplyDeleteThe dancer demonstrates subversion when choosing to learn to dance ballet. He's from Memphis and is used to hearing heavy hip hop. He knows how to dance hip hop but he still takes an opportunity to learn how to dance beautiful ballet. By combining this two different dance genres he shows us a different perspective of not just heavy or beauty, but both.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this video demonstrates subversion because, he seems to be dancing in an amagilation of sort of hip hop ballet. Subversion is e idea of turning something on its head. And by dancing in such a manner that he combines the two, he subverting ballet. Originally a very elegant, upper class, style of dancing, and it's turning it into something more familiar to him. In a way, he's adulterating both ballet and hip hop by changing them fromtheir original roots, to something more blended. Hip hop becomes a bit more refined, a bit more high society, and ballet becomes a bit more common society.
ReplyDeleteAnother way this video demonstrates subversion is by him dancing in a museum, museums are places that one wouldn't commonly dance in. In fact, the idea of dancing in a museum would most likely be something frowned upon, but by him dancing, he's subverting high culture and the common ideas of what a museum is for, though, at the same time he's using a museum in the exact way it is for, just not the traditional idea. He's using the museum to show off art. But not the normal idea of what art it,
In the video, Lil Buck is subverting the stereotypes that come with different forms of dance. He started out dancing to rap, and his ethnicity and background fit the stereotypes of a hip hop dancer. However, when he takes up ballet (which is typically associated with white females), and then merges the two dichotomous of dance, he subverts The stereotypes associated with each type of dance.
ReplyDeleteIn the video "Nowness" Lil Buck talks about the start of his dance career and how he developed his style. The setting, the Louis Vuitton Foundation/Museum, demonstrates subversion; a museum usually contains classical pieces or old artifacts but this is where lil Buck dances in his video. This shows how he successfully mixed two different styles/genres together to create his dance style. In the beginning of the video, lil buck explains how he incorporated classical ballet into his Memphis underground hip-hop dance style to create something completely different.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree. Good point about the old artifacts mixing in classical ballet and modern hip hop
DeleteThis video demonstrates subversion by showing a dancer raised in Memphis, Tennessee, who learned to dance from underground hip hop. He now dances ballet, a dance that can be considered practiced by more upper class people. Ballet contrasts with the street hip hop, yet both dance forms contribute to each other. Incorporating moves from hip hop and ballet while dancing in the modern Foundation Louis Vuitton represents the dancer's assimilation and dichotomy of living in two different dance cultures. The Foundation Louis Vuitton is mostly white and bright on the interior, which can represent cleanliness. Cleanliness is associated more with ballet than hip hop. The dancer's solid black clothes stand out in the museum, associated more with the hip hop. However, as both dance types are incorporated, they blend together beautifully in the number, just as the dancer found ways to intersperse ballet culture and hip hop culture.
ReplyDeleteIn the video, the dominant culture versus the lower culture are presented in the forms of dance as the viewers are shown the a few of the many different types of dance. The dominant culture, in terms of dance, is the bigger and more well known types of dance, such as ballet, which he took as he got older. Hip hop, the type of dance he mainly focuses on, is the subversive culture as it acts as one of the smaller and more subverted groups of dance.
ReplyDeleteBy combining a traditional dance form, ballet, with a more contemporary dance form, hip hop, the dancer is subverting the stereotypes of both cultures. He dances a new kind of dance, a fusion of the two. It's ironic that he's performing this new creation for a wealthy company in a fancy art museum because these things are usually seen as traditional. In the design of the museum, the color scheme is all white, which could represent dominant culture. The dancer is wearing all black, which might represent the lower culture. By dancing in such a place wearing what he's wearing, the dancer is breaking the stereotypes commonly associated with both types of dance.
ReplyDelete