Summer classes at the Warehouse
Break-dance and graffiti fans take note. The Warehouse Teenage Club is spreading street culture this summer.
The organisation will be offering break-dance workshops, graffiti courses, skateboard lessons and more.
A four-session break-dance course will start on June 8 and an eight-session course will begin on July 6. Both courses will be taught by Don Li, a full-time professional break-dancer.
The course will focus on break-dance fundamentals, such as stretching and footwork, turns, flips and special techniques. Participants will also be taught about safety.
'Beginners shouldn't be too ambitious with the more advanced moves,' said Li, who has been break-dancing for four years.
'They should learn the basic steps first. It takes some time before they can do the cool stunts.'
He added that without warming up, you are likely to hurt yourself. 'They should always practice while holding onto a pillar; and wrist bands are a must,' Li said.
Li, 19, discovered his passion for break-dancing after seeing it on television. He was so inspired by some of the moves, he started making up his own once he had grasped the basics.
'I can now turn on my head, balance on one hand, turn in the air and do one-handed flips,' he said.
Spinning on your head can be a little painful. Li said beginners usually practise the move wearing a helmet. And, he added, you soon get used to it.
For the less athletic, 18-year-old Tim Yam will be teaching graffiti skills.
Like Li, Yam has indulged in his hobby for four years.
'Technically, graffiti only refers to designing letters on walls. Images don't count as graffiti,' said Yam, a design student at the Hong Kong Christian Service Kwun Tong Vocational Training Centre.
The course will teach the history of graffiti, design composition and spray paint usage.
After designing their names using simple lines, participants will be taught how to use shadows and bold lines to create a 3-D effect.
'This technique is called tagging. Another method we'll teach is 'throw-up'. This involves painting very quickly with two or three colours,' said Yam.
There are few public places in Hong Kong that allow graffiti artists to display their talent.
'In the past, graffiti was used as a means of expressing anger towards society. But this is not the case anymore. Now, we just take it purely as an art and draw whatever comes to our mind, without the intention of being rebellious,' he said.
'My greatest satisfaction from teaching the classes comes when my students do better than I can. It's very rewarding.' he said.
The four-session and eight-session break-dance courses will take place on Fridays from 7.30pm to 9pm. The Graffiti workshop runs from July 7 for six consecutive Saturdays from 2pm to 4pm. The courses cost HK$160, HK$320 and HK$370 respectively.
