“Hip Hop – Don’t Stop” an arctic proposal

Please note that below is useful information on some of the guiding principals behind our work.  A detailed schedule of our 5 day workshop can be emailed to you upon request.

Steve@BluePrintForLife.ca

After the first project in Iqaluit our work was talked about by government officials as the most important youth initiative in 20 years !

       Click here to see documentary on the Iqaluit project

Outlined below are some of the connecting principles that revolve around youth involved in Hiphop and the positive changes that can be seen through the involvement of its participants.

More specifically the microcosm of a Breakdancing crew is explored and seen as a positive “Blueprint for Life”.  A positive peer group without all the negative aspects associated with a gang such as crime and violence. We do not profess to be experts on the issues and cultural considerations of Nunavut, but we believe there is universality to many of the issues facing youth and we believe in the universality and importance of music and dance all around the world. Hiphop has been adapted as an empowering voice for marginalized youth worldwide and has become a strong voice in native communities and with aboriginal youth around the globe. Youth like the native rap group “Red Power Squad out of Edmonton are good examples of this.

This proposal brings together the dancers of a famous Canadian Breakdancing crew called the “Canadian Floor Masters” (CFM), up front and personal with the youth of the North. Real youth from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds including “Universal Will” who himself is Status Indian and one of the longstanding members of the Canadian Floor Masters.” Universal Will has been involved in Hip Hop as a dancer and DJ for over 20 years. The crew operates under the guidance of “Buddha” who is the founder of the Canadian Floor Masters. Stephen Leafloor, aka “Buddha”, completed his Masters thesis in Social Work on the topic of Hip Hop and its implications for positive Social Work. Buddha, has over 25 years experience as a social worker with youth in group homes, in child protection, and a street worker in London England. Buddha continues to dance and help guide the younger members of CFM.   All of the members of CFM are passionate about life and have passionate stories about how Breakdancing has become much more than just a physical form of expression.  It has helped them cope with many of the issues that face youth today such as anger, frustration, self-identity, self-esteem, tragedy, substance abuse etc. We create an opportunity for this to be shared in a very direct way with the youth of the Nunavut and have strategies for the evolution and encouragement of Hiphop culture in a flexible way where it can be adapted as a voice for the youth of the North.

For those who are into Psycho/Social theories as to why we believe in what we do, Alfred Adler offers some good background reading. Doing a Google search on his name and Adlerian Center’s on the net will give you lots of food for thought.

• “Adler's primary index for mental health is the person's feeling of community and connectedness with all of life. This sense of embedded ness provides the real key to the individual's genuine feeling of security and happiness. When adequately developed, it leads to an attitude of cooperative interdependency and a desire to contribute. These qualities are essential for building a healthy democracy. Adlerian child guidance and psychotherapy strengthen this feeling of community.”
• “Adler's theory can be used to guide this work--to foster the development of a democratic character structure in the individual, and to prevent many of our social problems. Adlerian psychology was developed to realize the values of social equality, cooperation, and responsibility for the welfare of others. It can help revitalize our democracy”.
• The following are some of the principles to keep in mind that this proposal subscribes to. They are borrowed from the teachings of Adler and are principles actively subscribed to by many working in the helping professions.
• Belonging is the first basic need of all human beings
• A change in a teens behavior and outlook on life can have a powerful ripple effect throughout the next 4 generations
• People don’t stop behaviors, they reduce them
• Encouragement is the key to self worth
• Self-confidence and self-esteem are key building blocks for all human beings.

Many of the principals that we will talk about can be easily remembered as the Crucial C’s put forward by Amy Lew and Betty Lou Bettner (Copyright 1998)

1: Connect – I need to believe I have a place. I belong

2: Capable – I need to believe I can do it.

3: Count – I need to believe I can make a difference.

4: Courage – I need to believe I can handle what comes.

These are the building blocks that we believe can ripple through generations.

Connecting the issues

Teen suicide, additions, violence and youth crime are all complicated issues and will not be solved overnight. But with the commitment of governments, communities and elders, one can take some real steps in trying to combat some of the core issues.  Common themes emerge with youth who feel they don’t belong and that they don’t have a voice or an outlet for their pain and anger.

When youth have low self-esteem, they don’t feel like they belong, and they often exhibit some of the following characteristics listed below. These things get in the way of an individuals personal growth and will have consequences for those around them and their own children, as they grow older.

Low Self Esteem creates individuals that:

• Feel Unworthy
• Feel Powerless
• Are unsure or ambivalent about beliefs.
• Are easily influenced by others.
• Feel that others don’t value them.
• Blame others for their own faults and weaknesses.
• Avoid situations that provoke anxiety.
• Often need emotional support.
• Demean their own talents.
• Are pessimistic about the future
• Often cannot control their own emotions - sometimes acting out with violence and aggression.
• Approach new situations with caution and avoid risk taking
• Become defensive when frustrated.

Self Esteem

Self Esteem is created in many ways and comes about from receiving encouragement for taking risk and from feedback from others when we do things in life. We will demonstrate how Breakdancing is a strong influencer in building confidence and self-esteem and how the dynamic of the crew can be one of strong support and encouragement. Discouragement on the other hand creates anger in individuals, feelings of worthlessness and helplessness, apathy and sadness. Discouragement creates non-involvement and prevents motivation and initiative.

Role Identity

Self Esteem allows individuals especially teenagers to try on different roles and personalities as they try and figure out how they fit in and how they want to be perceived. This role playing is important as teens struggle with wanting to belong and be identified with a particular group – yet at the same time they also wish to put there own personal stamp on who they are.  Are they one of the Skater kids, the HipHopers, Metal heads, Gothic’s, Jocks etc.?  The creative outlet of a breakdancing circle allows for the trial and error of a range of emotions, personalities and humor, as youth experiment in how they will portray themselves as they dance among peers. The assignment of nicknames in the breakdancing community is also an important ritual, which helps cement dancers individuality. It has been said that the youth of the North have lost their sense of identity - not knowing where they fit between the world of their historical traditions and the new realities they face with exposure to a modern world.  We believe Hip Hop can be an adaptable cultural voice to help them define this. Also important to our approach is that the BluePrint teams always humbles itself when in contact with another culture. We will explore together with your youth how they can be proud of who they are and find their own voice through their culture in Hiphop. (a good example of this is Throat Singing down with Human BeatBox)

Alternative to Gangs

Gangs are appealing to youth when they feel like they have lost a sense of community and when family ties at home may be strained. We will demonstrate how the need to feel like you’re a part of a gang may have some positive aspects, but we will discuss the Breakdancing crew as a Gang like family  - without the negative aspects of a youth gang based on violence and crime.

Anger Outlet and Self Discipline

The physical nature of breakdancing itself is incredibly demanding with the sky being the limit as to how far one might take their dance skills. The nature of learning self-discipline leads to more self-control and self-control leads to better anger management. Breakdancing has also always served as a concrete physical way of channeling anger. Within this culture some strong codes of ethics around non-violence also exist. Re: What goes on in the circle – stays in the circle. It is also a well-accepted rule that no physical contact between dancers in a battle is allowed with this being enforced internally by the dancers peers. We will explain the nature of how this came about when Breakdancing was first starting in the early 1970’s in the South Bronx. Following a time of explosive gang activity in New York – it can be traced as a concrete initiative from within the community for self-preservation.

Creative Voice

Breakdancing and the other elements of Hiphop also serve the important need for human beings to create art in its different forms and to experiment with their own creativity. This dance is an incredible creative outlet, which allows for radical expressions of movement in ways that history has not previously seen. It is a dance form that encourages creativity, storytelling and humor. Hiphop is used by youth to help articulate through art there feelings about where they fit in the world and what their life experiences are.  Gangster rap has unfortunately overshadowed many of Hiphops more positive elements. Through the commercialization and the marketing of rap videos a glamorized distorted perception of Hiphop has been portrayed where gun-carrying thugs live their lives focused on fast cars, drugs and booty girls. We will help put this in perspective and dispel some of this imagery.

Control in ones life

Terrorist events in today’s world have created a climate of fear, where hope for the future is often lost as people start to believe they have no control over events and their own lives. Breakdancing helps structure an empowering situation where a personnel sense of control is learned.  The physical nature of learning new moves and creatively linking them together focuses on cause and effect, where hard work is rewarded with concrete results. It is control learned on a basic personal level but important as a building block for youth to experience. 

Commitment and Responsibility and Cooperation

Breakdancing is about pushing oneself in personal development but it is also about commitment responsibility, and cooperation. These elements all come into play as a crew grows together as they work on routines and perform shows, teaching and encouraging each other to excel.

Respect, Empathy and Encouragement.

The role of a Breakdancing Circle, (Cypher), is explored not only as a place where ones dance is shared with others but also as a strong physical circle of support and encouragement. It is a place where respect is received and given among peers. It’s interesting that the circle reflects strong symbolism for story telling and sharing within various cultures around the world. The most therapeutic social work is often talked about as taking place within a circle of discussion, where people can share their personal stories and give support to each other.

Sense of a larger community

Breakdancing is worldwide and although differences may exist, there is definitely a sense of brother and sisterhood among its participants. It has strong ideals about multiracial harmony, which can be seen firsthand in the composition of most Breakdancing Crews.  We hope to connect the youth of the North so that they feel are a part of this. As breakdancing continues to grow in your community there are important roles of mentoring that can be taken on in the future by your local youth as they gain experience and pass on their knowledge and skills on to younger generations. We will also discuss the role of young women in this culture and hopefully inspire more female breakdancers. 

Spirituality

Spirituality is an important human need that helps connect us to our history, culture and our sense of where we fit in the greater scheme of things. Breakdancing can become a passion which spiritualism is allowed to flourish and grow through. It helps youth put their world into a context that makes sense for them, and as a result some sense of inner peace can be achieved. Feeling a sense of spiritualism and feeling alive is often strongest when we are actually dancing and feeling connected to the music and life around us. It is one of the reasons so many of its participants talk about wanting to Breakdance for as long as their bodies will allow them. A sense of spirituality is infectious and you can feel this energy from other dancers. This spirituality translates into a passion for the excitement of life and a more positive worldview. People need to have hope and passion to combat depression and thoughts of suicide. Helping change ones perspective on how they view the world is perhaps the greatest of gifts. Many Social Workers believe it’s the relationship that helps people change – not the intervention.

The Canadian Floor Masters are committed to building these relationships over the next 5 days with the youth of your community.

We will bring up to 10 dancers from our crew along with a few of Canada’s top Graffiti Artist , Dj’s and Urban Poets (Rappers) We can accommodate approximately 50 to 100 youth from your community. This should include young men and women between the ages of 12 to 30.

     What we require

• Expenses for travel, food and lodging must covered. 
• A project facilitation fee needs to be determined depending on the scope of the project
• 1: A large gymnasium or community center to hold daily workshops.
• 2: A loud sound system with a CD player
• 3: A TV with a VCR and DVD for presentations.
• 4: A 9 x 5 ft wooden frame to attach the graffiti canvas to.
• 5: Two Technique 1200 turntables and a microphone for DJ and Rappin workshops
• Additional ideas

• Copyright 2008 BluePrintForLife. May be copied and forwarded by interested communities to various funding agents.

For more information contact Stephen Leafloor aka: Buddha at

613 592 2220 or email at Bboy@idirect.com

Cell phone 613 324 6940

canadianfloormasters.com

Videos, newspaper articles, letters of reference, and an extensive resume on the Canadian Floor Masters are available upon request.

Some of the Canadian Floor Masters history.

(They are Canada’s oldest performing breakdancing company just having celebrated their 22nd anniversary.)

 1: A private performance for the Kirov Ballet from Russia at Canada's National Art Centre. (Blew them away)

2: A number of appearances for Canada's Music TV Station (MuchMusic)

3: Opening for James Brown, Blackeyed Peas, Grandmaster Flash, and IceT concerts.

4: Opening for the world famous dance company, La La La Human Steps. (National Arts Centre Canada)

5: Performances in Detroit and New York.

6: Numerous national TV appearances including "Switchback: and "On The Road Again" (CBC productions)

7: Over one hundred nightclub shows.

8: Main Stage Show (Canada day celebrations on Parliament Hill 1986)

9: Performances for Cultures Canada and Festival of Spring in Ottawa.

10: Opening act for "Bust a Gut" comedy revue - Barrymores 2001.

11: Producers of Canada's largest street dancing event "Bboy Cypher North"

12: Canada Day festival (National Capital Commission 2001 and 2002)

13: Numerous fashion and Auto shows.

14: Frosh week events for various universities.

15: Ottawa's Winterlude and Franco Ontarian festival.

16: New York City Memorial Show (National Arts Centre Ottawa)

17: Opening for "Grand Master Flash"

18: Training and Dance workshops for “The Cirque Du Soleil and its La Nouba show in Florida.

19: Creative consulting to the “New Show Creative Team” at Cirque Du Soleil, International office, Montreal.

20: “Just for Laughs” Comedy Festival, Montreal Quebec, 2003.

21: Various workshops and guest speaking engagements.

22: Consulting and training of Cirque Du Monde’s social workers for their “Youth at Risk” initiatives. Part of Cirque Du Soleils commitment to socail action) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Project takes place!!!

HipHop comes to Nunavut 

 HipHop as an adaptable cultural voice for young people !  This is what a team of youth workers from Iqaluit and Stephen Leafloor (A social worker from Ottawa) believe, and they are bringing this message to the North.  The social issues facing young people of the North are substantial with suicide rates and a drug abuse being some of the highest in the country.

Working closely with a number of funding partners involved with youth issues, a series of weeklong workshops have been assembled for the week of Feb 20 to 25th.  Buddha is not only a social worker but also the founder of Canada's oldest and arguably the most famous breakdancing company in Canada.  Buddha is quick to educate people that the media coined the term breakdancing but Bboying is what it is called within the subculture. The Canadian Floor Masters have opened for James Brown, Rapper IceT, Grandmasters Flash and Black Eyed Peas.

 HipHop education is important and the Canadian Floor Masters are on a mission to reclaim some control over the negative images that often get presented in the music videos when the media focuses on the Gansta Rap and the Booty Shaking Girls. Buddha did his masters degree in social work and has over 20 yrs experience in the front lines, but he also completed his thesis in 1985 on the subculture of Hiphop. And at age 46 he is married with three kids, and he still performs with the crew and gets busy in the Cypher (A bboy dance circle). He currently does child abuse investigations for Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew county and he also consults and teaches workshops for Cirque Du Soleil.

 "I have seen first hand how the many positive elements of this culture can shape and mould young peoples lives, giving them the building blocks to become healthy engaging young adults. We believe that Hiphop is a gift that is shared worldwide, with a particular appeal to Youth at Risk.  It has always been chosen as a voice for marginalized youth and often aboriginal youth around the world.  We will share this gift as a voice and survival mechanism for the young people of the north".

 It has been explored throughout the planning stages of this project the many ways that Hiphop can be blended with a respect for the traditional cultural ways of the North.  A recent trial workshop at an Ottawa based school for Inuit youth confirmed the excitement for the project and that there is great creative flexibility in rethinking what Hiphop could mean to the North.

 Buddha: " We had Throat Singing blended with Human Beat Box, with backbeats laid down by a DJ called Nemo from Iqaluit.  Some of the schools students even brought in the Inuit drums added for the final flavor. It was spontaneous, creative and directly appealed to the youth of the school.  Crazy Smooth and Ben Jammin from the Canadian Floor Masters taught bboy workshops and we explored traditional dance and hunting movements as well as Arctic Games as stylized additions to Bboy dancing."

 Sylvia Cloutier is from Iqaluit and is another project partner. She is performing artist practicing throat
singing and drum dancing.  Sylvia will be involved in not only ensuring that careful cultural considerations are explored, but she will also be instrumental in helping continue the projects momentum after the workshops are done.  There is a strong sense among this team that any social change through Hiphop can only be done over time with ongoing support and encouragement for young people of Nunavut.

 In the arctic the real messages of Hiphop seem to get lost as the window on the world is largely tainted by the music videos on satellite TV.  The positive messages about racial and gender inclusion, respect of oneself and elders, and the promotion of non violence are just some of the real messages that need to be taught. 

 Buddha: "Hiphop developed as a way for the youth of the South Bronx to stand up and take control of their lives, in a world where they felt forgotten.  They developed their own art forms to regain self confidence and channel their creativity, and also as a result  - rebuilt a sense of community. In the early days of Hiphop we had no idea where it would end up, but I believed it survived and evolved not just because of the music industry but also because its needed by young people around the world"

. The various elements of HipHop present a broad range of artistic appeal to youth in the areas of Art, Music, Dance and Fashion represented by DJ's, MC's, Bboys and Graffiti artist, and Human Beat Box vocalist.

 Buddha: "People often talk about what is the 5th element of HipHop and what is the next level.  I believe the 5th element is the proper knowledge of HipHops history and knowledge of ones self.   With the next level of HipHop ultimately being what you give back to the world."

 More information and interviews can be arranged by contacting – Stephen Leafloor

Aka : Buddha 613 592 2220  cell 613 324 6940 email - Bboy@idirect.com

 A documentary is being made on this project by Tungsten Productions.

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