A Framework for Framing: Development of a Street Dance Technique

A Framework For Framing is an evolutionary outcome of the innovative continuum and creative energy of Hip Hop culture and street dance. Framing is a unique Tracing technique developed and codified by Vo Vera, a Bboy and experimental street dancer. Framing uses the hands as tools to interact with lines and points in space. An 11-rule framework identifies, defines, and distinguishes the vocabulary, technique, and theory from other techniques and movement practices. An intrinsic aspect of the technique is the act of constantly and subjectively changing the grid every time the hands Frame, which Vo Vera defines as Gridlining. Similar to the frameworks of Threading and Connects, Framing movement vocabulary may serve to add onto the Bounce, Rock, and Groove, and to add as layer over one’s own movement, such as over Top Rocks and Footwork. This thesis documents the process of Framing technique’s development, kinesthetically, somatically, pedagogically, theoretically, and methodologically. It explores the lineages, communities and practices that influenced and expanded the development of the technique, including Vogue, Hip Hop, Breaking, Trace Waving, Threading, and Connects. It also documents the roles that Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and Forsythe Technique had in expanding the conceptualization process of development. As a qualitative research study, Framing was used in various instructional and performative settings as the staple vocabulary. The developments of the research were analyzed through the traditional street dance lens, and through the lens of LMA. Developments included over 100 Framing moves––or movement patterns that were generated in alignment with the rules, to provide an indubitable proof of concept that not everything in dance has been done, and that the expressionist, transformational spirit of Hip Hop continues to thrive. Keywords: Breaking, Break Dance, Connects, Dance Technique, Dance Theory, Experimental Dance, Forsythe Technique, Framing, Freestyle Dance, Hip Hop, Improvisation, Laban Movement Analysis, Language Movement Synthesis, Movement Analysis, Somatics, Street Dance, Threading, Trace Vogue, Waving.