Okay, I just happened to read the little section on the dance circles article on this website. And quite frankly, I am dissapointed. I may not be from North Carolina, but my understanding of raves is that it is supposed to be a unity of all dance cultures coming together to have some kick-ass fun. I am a breakdancer from Irvine, California, and I have just started going to raves a couple months ago. The people that I have met at races show me nothing but good, positive energy when I am dancing on the floor. In my humble opinion, breakers and ravers are able to get along just fine. They are both practitioners of two different arts, and when the two come together at a rave, it is truly a dynamic mixing of dance cultures. I don't know who this Jodie Webb is, but the breakers you must have seen must not have been real b-boys. Breakers like all other dancers must dance on beat. Yes at rave, trance and house music is not the ideal music to dance a hip hop art form to, but a breaker must still be able to hit the beat on his footwork, otherwise he's not dancing, he's just doing tricks especially if he goes straight into his power moves. But anyways, if a rave is supposed to embrance peace, love, respect for all dancers and dances, (and I believe it does) then why all this hating on breakers? I have nothing but love and respect for all ravers, and when I go to a rave, it gives me a chance to see their culture and why they love it so much. In the same way, when I break at raves, I feel as if I am letting other ravers know a little about hip hop, and why I love it so much. If through my movements and style, I can get the crowd to start vibin' off me and feeling the power of the music, then soon enough, I start to draw off of this immense positive energy of the crowd, and when that happens, it is the greatest feeling in the world, and nothing in this world can come close to matching it. Also, it gets me hyped up when I see other ravers going out into a circle and doing their solos as well. In other words, IT'S ALL LOVE!!! In my humble opinion, raves should be a unity of all dance cultures, and circles or no circles shouldn't be a fac

-- Anonymous, April 22, 2000

Answers

i agree with you... Breaking is part of dance culture.. but don't you find out when you break in the raves it's so hard cuz it's too crowd it ? Have you learn any raver's moves yet ? the raver moves are call---Raver steps,liquid,glow liquid,box,and hats.. did you ever ask youself why Raver differ from Hip hop dancers ? well if you pop E then you should know.. CUZ THOS MOVES RAVER DOES TRIP YOU OUT.....ESPECIALLY WITH BRIGHT OBJECTS LIKE GLOW STICKS... If you ever learn them .. TRUST ME YOU CAN GET CHICKS ....FAST AND FAMOUS FAST... P,s :If you have a friend who know how to do liquid....tell him to teach you the basic and trust me....it's Addictive... ^_^ yup that's all ...

-- Anonymous, December 16, 2000

I'm with you, doll face! I'm no breaker, but I'm always on the floor, and for me there's nothing better than to make a little room for you! Break dance is awesome and takes some skill, and I respect it and I love to watch it. I go to watch the competitions! Part of dance is respecting the groove of those around you and sharing a common freedom in movement. I like to Belly Dance at raves. swiftness on your shoes, friend... sunshinedance

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2001

so, i don't know how i stumbled upon this, but i feel i must explain my statements on the NCraves page. firstly, i fully respect anyone who goes to parties to have a good time. whatever that means to each individual is different. but, i do not have any respect for people who go out to show their stuff or compete through what they think is dancing. i am fully aware that some b-boys (the "real" ones, if you will) breakdance purely to have fun and express themselves through a hip-hop styled dancing. but, the people to whom i was referring who merely take up space and piss people off are those who feel they must, through "breakdancing" (sometimes i can't even call it that), become king of the party. that is not respectful of other people and is not anything i want to see or experience when i'm at a party to feel the music and connect with other people. rave is a unity, not a competition.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

Word, I feel you Jodie on your response. I've seen plenty of bboys, (and other dancers in general) who feel like they must "control" the dance floor. And hellz yeah, it kinda sucks when that happens, especilly at party. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that the people whom you are referring to (taking up space to be king of the floor) aren't solely limited to the breakdancer catagory. Here's a funny story I got. I was at Together As One (rave in LA on New Year's eve) and my friend and I started freestyling a bit in the techno/house area. Pretty soon, without any other input on out part a big ol circle had formed around us. Then, candywalker after candywalker started going out. Which was cool I guess at first, (personally i think the candywalk is kinda boring) but if that's how those cats choose to feel the music then I'm cool with it. BUT, then, this one girl and her friend stepped out. They danced around for a bit, then one of them left. Then, a candywalker dood came and started doing his thing alongside her. I guess she must have thought he was calling her out or something, because then, (finally this is the wierd part) she started walking around the circle DISSING EVERYONE in sight! And she wasn't even dancing at all, she just walked around mad dogging everyone and looking at people with this stuck up attitude, like "why the hell you coming into MY circle"? SO, every candywalker there went out one after another dogging her back, and it was kinda funny cause she wan't even dancing, just walking around. This one Asian girl was even flipping her off behind her back while she continued to walk around. My friend and I chose not to take part in this. We were just like, "Oooooooooookaaaaaaayyy....." Finally, her boyfriend grabbed her by arm and PULLED her out, to the cheers of every candywalker there. Sorry, I know this post is way too long. But yeah, from this experience of mine, I totally feel where you're coming from. I can't speak for all breakers, but for dancers in general, it can be addictive (possibly the best natural high) when you blow up the circle with a set of moves and the crowd is going nuts for you. Some dancers may crave this feeling too much, turning into the "floor kings" you speak of. My dancing may come across differently to different people, but I try to avoid this as much as I can. Because I know that everyone digs different things, and my style may not be what everyone wants to see. If people feel my style, then I've got nothing but love and respect for them. If they don't feel me, then I've still got nothing but love and respect for them. In this age of biased media and negativity from the non-rave community, I think it's really important now more than ever that all ravers be able to respect one another.

Mark "Love the music, not the drugs" Frequency-8, SF

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

ok. that's a really weird story. i hope never to witess anything like that.

the thing about dance circles is just this:

"but for dancers in general, it can be addictive (possibly the best natural high) when you blow up the circle with a set of moves and the crowd is going nuts for you."

i think the crowd should be going nuts for the dj. or a few people who are dancing near some kick-ass dancer going nuts for him/her while s/he blows up. but, for several people to focus on one or two people at a time and just stand around watching and more than likely not participating all night just isn't what i think rave is all about. i think it's about everyone participating - no one just watching. how many times have you been to a party where people come and just stand on the side or wander around gawking at you? doesn't it seem weird? and, as a dj, i know that when some kid stands up by the booth *all night* trainspotting (we've all done it, but to do it all night is not cool), i get a little pissed. i understand that the people in the circle are pumping up the ones inside the circle and you might call that participation, but why not use that energy to express yourself instead of feeding it to someone else? i guess experientially, i feel that a bunch of people standing around in a circle perpetrating like they're "hard" (again, not solely directed at breakdancers) while 2 people "battle" in the middle takes up valuable dance floor space where 2 times the number of the people in the circle could be dancing but cannot. it also sucks energy away from the rest of the party, the music and the vibe. i'm not saying that all breakdancers do this or encourage a circle to form around them. what i'm criticizing is the mentality of the people who go to parties to be "entertained", who want to stand around and watch someone else dance. why not just stay home and watch it on 20/20?

p.s. what is a candywalker? is this a candy-raver move?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2001

i consider myself a house dancer, NOT a rave dancer...as far as i'm concerned most, not all, but most rave dancers are just a waste of space!!! i give props to those of you who look good, but as far as those of you out there flailing your arms around like you're having a seizure, just plain get on my nerves!!! if your at an arena where there is plenty of space then go ahead and take up 50 ft of space, but when i'm at a club i don't want some sweaty ass dude knocking people over cause #1 he can't dance to begin with and #2 he's too cracked out on E to even relize it!!! Love to all the REAL dancers out there!!!

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

i'm responding to kerri browns statement...lol! i cant even believe you would come up here on a site and say that someone cant dance..lol..do you realize how many people look at you and laugh when you dance....you and just about every other butch lesbian i have seen on the dance floor scares me and gives off weird vibes to everyone else..before you talk about dancing why don't you learn to dance...try dancing to some dnb or breaks then maybe youll get some respect, because as far as the gays and the soerrity and frat people and the little kandy ravers..you will always be looked at funny and made fun of....go back to doing whatever it was you were doing a few years ago before the underground became a trend for you mainstream fucks

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

I agree that a rave is a kind of unity of everything and everything. I plain old love to dance, I try not to make anyone mad and I also try to give everyone there own space. I dont get mad if someone bumps into me, or asks me to scoot over. I simply love the fact that I love dancing so much, that the bullshit doesnt even bother me anymore..

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2002

In response to the original post a few years back<< Im a raver, always have been, my brother when i was a lil kiddy, back in the day when breakdancing became fresh, used to teach it.. and as a result feeded my mind with the vibes.. I at the time, was Ballet dancing>>Im also a guy<<.. ..but today, 15+ years on, now 25, still rip it up proper, with breaking>up-rockin all over the show, all over the world!! >>Strobia.com will soon be released, dedicated to my dancing from all cultures..

Oh, went off the point... Yeah, a rave, by definition, is an illegal party, there are many different varieties, and all cater for different categoris of genre, but ultimately, the rave should be open to all, from sgag-head mo-fo -> polite upper-class!! >>less of the arse-wipes who get fcuked on acid and gang-rape young girls!!

But, then.. what kinda rave are we here defining??

-- Anonymous, September 13, 2003

I guess you never heard of Power Dancers. It's an East Coast Canadian thing. It's a combination of Hip-Hop, Breaks, Liquid and Martial Arts movement. It's an awesome site to watch this guys go. Even our B-Boys are impress. Make Usher look bad. Anyways, this crew can dance to any Genre, they adapt to it quickly. The showdown consist of mixing the music Genre. The Power Dancers must be able to adapt to the music with good style.

-- Anonymous, January 22, 2005