Flying Steps: breakdance you?ve never seen before

Can you mix breakdancing, Michael Jackson style, with classical music? Yes, it you are a professional dance group like the Flying Steps. Life?s Onsiri Pravattiyagul caught up with them on their recent trip to Bangkok.

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Flying Steps: breakdance you’ve never seen before

The main story in today's Life section in the Bangkok is about a German breakdance group called Flying Steps. (Breakdancing, of course, is the kind of dancing made famous by the great, late Michael Jackson.) The group was in Bangkok recently for a Red Bull event and Life's Onsiri Pravattiyagul had a chance to talk to them.

You will see a short excerpt from the much longer story below. First, however, I suggest you check out this video which explains the Flying Steps latest project, combining breakdance and classical music.

"What we are trying to do here is to bring breakddance to the classical theatres and (Johan Sebastian) Bach to the youth in the streets." explains Christoph Hagel.

For the dancers, this meant learning a type of music that is far more complex than typical rock music. Choreographer Vartan Bassil says that while it might take 15 minutes to work out the dance steps for a normal three-minute song, it takes three or four days for a similar piece of music from Bach.

late – dead ที่ล่วงลับไปแล้ว
excerpt – a part of a longer story, speech, song, text, etc. บทคัดย่อ
combine – to mix or be put together รวมกัน
youth – young people considered as a group เยาวชน, คนวัยหนุ่มสาว
complex – having a lot of details or small parts that make it difficult to understand or deal with ซับซ้อน
choreography – the art of designing and arranging the steps and movements in dances, especially in ballet; the steps and movements in a particular ballet or show; a person who does this is a choreographer การออกแบบท่าเต้น

The audio is in German but there are English subtitles. Here are some words you will need to know.

appeal to – to cause someone to like or want something ดึงดูดใจ ทำให้สนใจ
mood – the way you feel at a particular time อารมณ์
counterpoint – (in music) the combination of two or more tunes played together to form a single piece of music
motif – a subject, an idea or a phrase that is repeated and developed in a work of literature or a piece of music แม่บท, ลักษณะสำคัญ
fugue – a piece of music in which one or more tunes are introduced and then repeated in a complicated pattern เพลงลูกเดี่ยวที่ประกอบด้วยหลายท่วงทำนอง
theme – the main subject of something ใจความสำคัญ, ประเด็นหลัก
gesture – a movement that communicates a feeling or instruction ลักษณะท่าทาง
beat – rhythm, a regular sound or movement, especially music  จังหวะ
lyrics – the words of a song เนื้อเพลง

Here in Bangkok, Onsiri talked at length with Bassil about breakdancing and here is what he said. If you are interested in more, you can find the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/music/348166/dancing-up-a-storm

Click button to listen to Flying steps and rightclick to download

Bassil, the team's choreographer, started the Flying Steps in 1993 after he fell in love with Michael Jackson's fluid movements, which had him rewinding his VHS tapes over and over to mimic the late King of Pop's steps.

"He was my big inspiration. Back then, there were no hip hop dance classes, so you had to learn everything from the TV by yourself. Then hip hop style came, and I saw a movie about breakdancing. I started to practice every day. Then I decided to become a professional dancer. I told myself it was what I wanted to do with my life," he said.

''Back in the day, there was no internet. You just had your TV and VHS tapes. So it was important for us to travel in order to see things that kids now can see on YouTube. For us, it was travelling around Europe to be a part of big jams and dance parties, learning new moves. Then you got inspired when you got back home, you started to be more creative with your dancing. Now it's more than easy, as young people can see everything on the internet, and they can start copying,'' said Bassil.

Bassil said he's witnessed how breaking had grown over the span of 20 years, and appreciates how the public is more familiarised with breakdancing, which started on the streets, but has now moved into the mainstream dance domain.

''It is now certainly more accepted than it once was. Breakdancing is featured everywhere. Now people understand that what we do is also an art form as well as a sport. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of work and a lot of heart. Breakdancing is definitely here to stay,'' said Bassil.

fluid – smooth and elegant ที่ราบรื่น (การเคลื่อนไหว)
mimic – to copy the way somebody speaks, moves, behaves, etc เลียนแบบ
inspiration – someone or something that gives you new ideas or enthusiasm to do something แรงบันดาลใจ
professional – doing something as a paid job rather than as a hobby  ที่ทำเป็นอาชีพ
jam – an occasion when musicians, dancers, etc. perform in an informal way without practising first การแสดงดนตรีร่วมกันโดยไม่ได้ฝึกซ้อมมาก่อน
creative – involving a lot of imagination and new ideas ซึ่งมีความคิดริเริ่ม, ซึ่งมีความคิดสร้างสรรค์
witness – to see something happen – เห็น, เป็นพยาน
appreciate – to understand that something is true ตระหนัก, เห็นคุณค่า, สำนึกคุณค่า
familiarise – to learn about something or teach somebody about something, so that you/they start to understand it ทำให้คุ้นเคย
mainstream – accepted or used by most people; considered ordinary or normal ทั่้วๆ ไป
domain – an area of knowledge or activity; especially one that somebody is responsible for ขอบเขต, ขอบเขตของความรู้ ความคิด ความสนใจ