I caught the tail end of Shabba-doo's locking class. Not enough time to see the locking, but just enough time to hear his words. There were several things that he said about dance, and just life in general, that stuck with me. These weren't their exact words but it was pretty much the same theme:
"Take it slow. Take everything slow. You have your life time to get better at it and do all the things you want to do."
"Do what you know well and don't worry about what you don't understand. Everything always comes full circle and it will all eventually make sense."
"Practice everyday. It's the only way you'll get better. Don't focus on learning the locking. Use the locking to help you unlock your inner self."
"There is not just 24 moves in locking and there is not always one way of doing it. In the original lockers, we were always creating new things. Moves change as you change. In a class of 60 students that I had, one student told me that he heard there were 24 moves in locking. I counted the class and there were about 60 students in that class. I told the class, there aren't 24 moves in locking, there are 84."
"Don't be afraid to venture out of your own style and try something new. Try other styles. Take classes in other things. You will find out that one style/class will help you to understand another style of dance because they are all connected." - Ana "Lollipop" Sanchez.
There was a reason for me to go to this class today. There were multiple reasons actually. I needed to hear these pieces of advice and apply them to my life and where I'm at right now. I needed to see that there is more than one way of doing a certain style, as there is more than one way of living your life and traveling down a certain path. I am fortunate to have taken a class from one of the original lockers today, and fortunate to have had Asia One, one of the original b-girls, recommend the class to me. I have to remember to recognize my blessings and open my eyes to what is in front of me. Looking forward to continue to build and improve my craft.
