Publications
Publications
- 2008
Being B-Boys: Style, Identity, and Respect Among New England and Miami Street Dancers
By: Curtis K. Chan
Abstract
This study examines the phenomenon of a street dance known as "b-boying" to explore how dancers locate, negotiate, and perform identities, as well as the tensions that occur concomitantly. Drawing on data from participant-observation, interviews, and diverse archival sources including newspaper articles, videos, flyers, websites, and forums, this ethnographic study focuses on the lived experiences of New England and Miami practitioners of the street dance, who call themselves "b-boys" and "b-girls." This street dance community finds unity and draws boundaries delineating what is culturally legitimate by rejecting the historically- and materially-tainted label "break dance" in favor of the label "b-boying," which to this community has positive connotations around artistry and passion. At the same time, however, the sense of community is threatened from within by the very nature of the learning process; dancers learn moves by watching and copying other dancers, but as dancers' individual senses of identity and selfhood are entwined with the uniqueness of their "style," this copying causes conflict and accusations of "biting," or plagiarism. Additional tensions arise between b-boys' vivid performance of masculinity and the social poetics of b-girls' performance of a liberated, reconfigured femininity. In all, by articulating the mechanisms through which these dancers find meaning – as a community, as individuals, as men, and as women – this study places into context how performing artists find a place for themselves in the world.
Keywords
Social Psychology; Identity; Negotiation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Boundaries; Conflict and Resolution; Arts; Northeastern United States; Miami
Citation
Chan, Curtis K. "Being B-Boys: Style, Identity, and Respect Among New England and Miami Street Dancers." Bachelor's thesis, Harvard University, 2008. (Winner of 2008 Thomas Temple Hoopes Prize.)