Circuit of Culture and Media - Report Example

Circuit of Culture and Media Introduction In the society where access to information is becoming a basic need for people, the role of media in the lives of individuals cannot be undermined. The connection between media and culture is clearly deep as there is a symbiotic relationship between the two; one influences the other. The dynamics of mass media and communication, therefore, cannot be complete without exploring various aspects of culture. From time immemorial, entertainment/ leisure is an aspect of culture that has been considerably covered within the contours of media. Music and dance are. Undoubtedly, significant practices of culture that gives communities their identities. Consequently, the media has been sought to extend this cherished cultural practice by creating programs that are oriented towards entertaining the public. In the contemporary society today, music and dance industry is one of the most active globally. ‘Breakdance style’ is a distinct dancing style that has been overwhelmingly embraced since its invention back in the 1970s (Beezley and Curcio, 2012: 106). This essay seeks to locate breakdance style in culture circuits and explore diverse socio-cultural issues surrounding it. Breakdance, also known as ‘b-boying’ is dancing art that existed fairly enough. Discovered in the year 1970 by young African-American individuals, the street dance has stood the test of time and hitherto, it is still practiced. The style can be attributed accurately to some few youths who previously, were participants in various dance crews such as Young Spade. Upon its invention, the style was adopted and developed by New York’s Puerto Rican, who transmitted and broadcasted it up to the 1980s making it spread across America and even beyond. The media then further aired across the world making it become popular. Today, the dance style has been used in millions of music videos by different celebrities. It is also taught by different schools not only as a street dance style but also as profession dance art (Schloss, 2009: 130). Circuits of Culture Production Although invented in the United States, breakdance has been able to sustain and spread all over the world and today almost everyone knows about or has heard about ‘breakdancing’. The early development of technological know-how and the existence of veteran media houses in the United States were some of the facilitators of this art across the world. According to Hegde (2011: 121), culture is only effective when it can be practiced by a considerable number of people. The fact that breakdance intrigued quite a number of people and pierced through several societies make this dancing style effective and dominant. Produced by youths at a time when the youths were identifying themselves with music that needed their flexibility skills, as well as energy, the style brought a major socio-cultural change in the entertainment industry. Several movies and video clips have since been produced and uploaded on YouTube demonstrating how it is performed. The deliberate efforts by the United States to empower the youth and nurture their talents are factors that saw breakdance generate, grow and sell in the global context. The government’s move to make technology available in every cranny of the United States enabled the pioneers to easily teach the relatively complicated moves to other youths. They could be recorded via video cameras and uploaded on internet sites such as YouTube. This became very easy for those who wanted to practice and learn the art to access the lessons. In the process, the dance style profoundly developed across other to other countries outside America. It even attracted the attention of the older generation who felt it could be used as a work out activity to keep the body fit. There several old aged persons who have entirely embraced breakdance as their only way of ‘appreciating’ music. Contemporaneously, several television stations have programs that demonstrate dance styles and breakdance tops the list. Similarly, hip hop and pop musicians have, from the past, extended the production of breakdance through their music video clips. Several music artists including Michael Jackson (a musician with a large fan-base) have used breakdance in different shows and capture the dance style in their music videos. Although there could be some alterations/ modifications in the origin breakdance invented in 1970s, the skeleton that structures the dance style has remained the same. As Schloss (2009: 81) highlights, the only thing that has changed is the stylishness of breakdance as the today’s is performed in different, trendy clothes. Globalisation has been an agent in making the music industry grow and this has in turn expedited the spread of breakdance across the international board. With many countries coming together through trade, the interrelationship and interaction between nations have gone up. Musicians can easily travel and perform in foreign countries and this way, the culture of breakdancing has been absorbed by people as far as Asia and Africa. Identity Culture serves the role of identity and breakdance, in this regard, is a significant symbol within the society. It is a tool used by the performers to socially recognise themselves as a distinct group. In the relation to circuit of culture, breakdance is encircled within the frameworks of cultural identity. As Himpele (2008: 79) puts it, different groups in the society listen and dance to various music in specific ways that reveal their identity. Depending on the age group, origins, gender, level of education, race among others, people enjoys various music and dance styles (Schloss, 2009: 119). Founding on the previous argument about the origin and spread of breakdance, it is evident that the influence the youths in United States had in the transfer of this style was massive. Hip-hop and the American youths come into mind whenever the word ‘breakdance’ is mentioned. Breakdance is for the youths and it signifies the American culture of entertainment that has deep roots in history. According to cultural identity theory, shared patterns of behaviour, similar thought patterns, identical dress styles, values and traditions are what define people who are of the same culture. They live in same geographical area, act similarly and are most importantly, guided by the same values and norms. It is accurate to claim that breakdance is an art that was/is used to identify particular youths in the American society. They believe in the same ideologies, think and behave the same way. As seen, not some many adults were into breakdance. It was particularly for the young African-American youths although Native Americans also associated with it. Significantly, the style is considered to be ‘trendy’ and a thing for the ‘enlightened’ in most societies where it was recently introduced. In such places, the youths who are able to make one or two moves are identified socially as modernised and ‘high-classed’. Those youths who are regarded to be of higher social status, therefore, identify themselves with breakdance. Hammer and Kellner (2009: 154) argue that cultural identity is created when different people or groups of individuals compare themselves with others. They, thus, label themselves with different identities. In this case, the ‘breakdance family’ is a high status social group that are unique and matchless. Those people who were not able to perform breakdance especially in U.S were mocked and ridiculed. Regulation Generally, breakdancing is legal and any person is allowed to dance it. However, with the growing influence that it had in the past, several social problems came with it that led the government to intervene. First, the culture was recruiting many underage teenagers who would boycott their social responsibilities and fail to meet their obligations such as attending schools. Crime as well as drug use became rampant that the government became vigilant on the culture. Most people became so passionate about dancing that they could hardly contribute to the society in other ways. This way, the United States government got alarmed and law enforcers would patrol to monitor the activities of those who were participating in this dance. The fact that it was a street dance and the performers would exhibit it almost everywhere also caught the attention of the government. The places would not allow it to be shown in public or government places where it would cause obstruction or facilitate any other social problem like robbery, traffic jam among others. It was freely carried out but in circumstances where the public would be at risk or indicated any danger, the government would intervene. The medical effects it brought to the performers also raised the eye-brows of health policy makers who, apparently, tried to convince the government to ban it. However, this did not go through as it is still widely practiced. Although, breakdancing is still and it is legal almost everywhere except in the Islamic states that probably due to their strict adherence to religion, would not want to mix another culture. Some behaviours that are, in most cases, associated with breakdance such as dressing might not be fully incorporated in such societies. According to Scheff, Sprague, and McGreevy-Nichols (2010: 147), hip hop culture, was seen by some members of the public as an industry that nurtured criminals and they thus called for its proper regulation. This brought fear among some people prompting them to abandon breakdancing. The issues of stereotype in media and society come up from this. There was a general view, based on how the media portrayed hip hop and breakdance, that the people associated with these were either potentially or actually criminals (Holt and Perren, 2011: 119). The campaign to bring down hip hop and the dance styles related to it were stereotypically formed. It raises a question about the extent and magnitude to which the media can perpetuate negative messages about particular cultures, religions, race, and gender/sex among other social groups with unfounded/unjustifiable reasons. Journalistic objectivity becomes questionable. Even today, there are several cases where media houses have been sued having misreported or misinformed the public about particular groups through their use of insensitive words that creates a wrong perception of some people. Representation The moves made in breakdancing have different meanings. There are so many symbols that are used that can be interpreted in various ways to make the dance meaningful. To best understand this circuit, it is proper to use the semiotic theory. This will help give a comprehensive and justifiable analysis. Semiotic theory posits that signs and symbols are real indicators that illuminate and project meaning in a message (Holt and Perren, 2011: 77). The importance of signs and symbols cannot be downplayed in communication. According to Durst-Andersen (2011: 99), signs are representatives of the intended messages and the fast the recipient interprets the signs, the effective the communication. This, therefore, implies that in arts such as music and dance, signs and symbols are very significant. In the world of breakdance, there is a lot of body movements and flexibility exhibitions. This is a direct connotation of how much ‘youthly’ the dancers are. It is a sign that shows those who are intrigued by this dance style should be persons who can free their bodies to move. It is a representation that sends meaning that the style is definitely for the young persons. Consumption As earlier noted, breakdance is, at now, consumed in almost every society although it had its origins in the United States. Celebrities from all over the world; from comedians, film producers to musicians have endeared breakdancing. Evidentially, there are millions of music videos on YouTube that have one or two instances where an individual is breakdancing. Specifically, the youths are the most consumers although it has also been identified by some old age adults as a way of keeping fit. In some professional dancing school, breakdance is the first program that students are taken through due to overwhelming response it gets from the dance audience. Conclusion In summary, the essay has explored breakdance as a cultural practice that has the attention of the media. It has located breakdance on the circuit of culture by covering various aspects that relate to this style. The comprehensive outlook of culture and media-related issues provides a deeper insight into the trepidations that are likely to challenge the alignment of the two so as to work for best for public interest. As seen, breakdance is an art that has got engrained deep into culture and it is a worthy subject of examination. The essay has expansively unfold various underlying issues as far as breakdance is concerned. The circuit of culture in regard to media is widely covered. References Beezley, W.H. & Curcio, L.A. (2012) Latin American popular culture since independence: an introduction, Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield. Durst-Andersen, P. (2011) Linguistic supertypes: a cognitive-semiotic theory of human communication by, Berlin, De Gruyter Mouton. Hammer, R. & Kellner, D. (2009) Media/cultural studies: critical approaches, New York, Peter Lang. Hegde, R.S. (2011) Circuits of visibility gender and transnational media cultures, New York, New York University Press. Himpele, J.D. (2008) Circuits of culture: media, politics, and indigenous identity in the Andes, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Holt, J. & Perren, A. (2011) Media industries history, theory, and method, Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. Scheff, H., Sprague, M. & McGreevy-Nichols, S. (2010) Exploring dance forms and styles: a guide to concert, world, social, and historical dance, Champaign, IL, Human Kinetics. Schloss, J.G. (2009) Foundation b-boys, b-girls and hip-hop culture in New York, New York, NY, Oxford University Press. 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