URBAN DANCE CREWS
There seems to be a lot of urban dance crews around today. This probably accurately reflects the popularity of choreographed urban dance moves.
There are crews that don't do choreographed routines in particular bboyin crews however most other hip hop and street dance crews do choreographed performances.
Being in an urban dance crew often involves rehearsing on a regular basis and preparing for future performances.
Bboy crews might loosely put together ideas, practise together and compete regularly in battles with rival crews or at public battles and competitions.
Many street dance crews and hip hop crews will also often battle in competition. As they have routines they do, the members have to learn the routines in each set which can take up a considerable amount of time.
It is not uncommon for crews to rehearse more than one month in advance of competitions so that they can be as best prepared as possible.
However the vast majority of the time is not spent learning the routine, most of the time is usually spent improving the routines by getting the dances more in scynchronization, making sure everyone is on time, in the right position and the finer aspects of performance.
Different crews rehearse different amounts but more or less every dance crew or troupe will rehearse weekly, with maybe some time off in the summer (or maybe not!).
Crews can form in different ways though they are usually based around dancers with a geographical location in common.
They may come from the same city, or the same town within a city. Some also have other things in common. For example they may be an all male crew, an all filipino crew or anything else!
Another thing they will usually have in common is that they will have an interest in similar dance styles. If they are doing choreographed routines then many or all members of the crew will have to be skilled in the dance styles they do.
Many crews will also have specialists such as acrobats and breakers in their crew, even though the whole crew may not necessarily do these styles.
The way of recruiting by members might be limited to friends or people within their circle, or they may put out audition notices to find new people to join.
A lot of crew members are already friends or become very close friends. They spend a lot of time together in rehearsal and may also do so outside of rehearsals, eating together and going out together as friends.
There is usually one main choreographer in each dance crew who will make the routines or sets, or else choose who they want to create the routines from within the group.
The main choreographer runs things and must decide where and when they rehearse, how often, which performances and competitions they enter, which dancers to recruit and which dancers to include in each routine.
They also have to sort out other details like arranging costumes, getting music mixed and booking rooms for rehearsals - choreographers have a lot to take care of!
Sometimes these responsibilities may be split. They may have a secretary on hand or they may give the dancers in their groups different responsibilities.
If you join a dance crew expect regular rehearsals, if you're thinking of setting up a dance crew yourself make sure you are organised and have enough time on your hands!
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