In October i travelled to Finland to present my new lecture "cypher - space, meaning and movement in Breaking" at the HipHop Ecologies and Politics Symposium at the University of Helsinki and the University of Turku, organised by the research network "HipHop Finland". I reflected on the role of the cypher in urban dance cultures and especially in Breaking, the cultural meaning and the possibilities to use the cypher for teaching dance. Keynote speaker was Jeff Chang and it was great to meet and exchange with him - he is a very well known and respected HipHop researcher and wrote the famous book "Can´t stop, won´t stop".
The symposium was very interesting and combined various subjects in the research of HipHop music and culture in finland and abroad. Next to interesting talks we had a good time at the dinner and in funny named bars like "the bank" or "the school".
Of course i met up with the local Breaking scene and went to practice with BGirl Ramona and BBoy Pluto, and made a sightseeing tour through Turku and Helsinki. It was a great time!
