Published: Published Date – 12:15 AM, Tue – 31 May 22
For David Jerome Xavier, it took one-and-a-half years of
dedication to get the move, which is known as ‘Flare’.
Hyderabad: At some party or the other, we have all danced in our lives. But what does it take to balance your torso on a single arm while your legs move in continuous circles? For Hyderabad’s noted breaker David Jerome Xavier, it took one and a half years of dedication and practice to get this move, which is known as ‘Flare’, right.
For the uninitiated, break dancing is just another dance form. However, in reality, ‘break dancing’ is also called ‘Breaking’ and dancers who pursue it are referred to as ‘breakers’, ‘B-boy’ or ‘B-girl’. And when you see them perform moves that challenge the concept of gravity, you would realize that this dance form, which originated in the 70’s, is much more than just dance.
It is a tradition that every performer has a different stage name they go by, Jerome is known as ‘B-boy Shadow’. The word ‘shadow’ comes from the lyrics of his favourite song, Beggin by Norwegian musical duo – Madcon.
Contrary to every dancer’s story, Jerome was not that typical kid who’d dance at the drop of a hat. It was when he saw his sister and her crew called ‘Proximity’ practise breaking, he was drawn towards this physically demanding dance form.
“When I do all those moves, I feel like I’m not any normal human being. I feel like a Super Hero,” says Jerome who later joined Proximity Crew, the first breaking crew in Hyderabad as a member and continues to take part in multiple events representing the crew.
Jerome started learning breaking moves in 2011 from YouTube videos. He would hit the spacebar on his keyboard umpteen times to pause the video and replicate the moves.
“Back then I did not have any proper guidance. I learnt moves from YouTube and later from my fellow crew members. Dancing community here in Hyderabad is small but intact. However, you will find very few breakers. If there are around 100-150 breakers in other cities, here there are only 20-40,” he says, emphasising that it is not a very easy dance form and people often give up midway.
To do his bit in changing the status quo of breaking here in the city, Jerome teaches his dance form apart from working in a corporate company.
“At Proximity, we don’t really dance for the sake of earning money. Most of us are working professionals who work all day and then practise after work. We dance because we enjoy it. And the reason I take these classes is because I want to be that mentor for others that we did not have,” he says.
After his several wins in the city and around the country, he says, “I believe that there is more to my breaking journey. I want to compete in more cyphers and win them.” The city in total has only three breaking events – Blame it on the Boogie, Cypher Hours and Spit Your Game. The eleventh edition of Cypher Hours will be hosted on June 25 and June 26.
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