Chapter 575: Terrible Dancing
Upon hearing Zhou Mi invited a ’big shot,’ all the members of the street dance club became a bit excited.
With guidance from a renowned teacher, they might improve their dance skills.
They are all enthusiastic youths who love street dance; otherwise, they wouldn’t have joined the club. Naturally, they’re excited to get advice from a renowned teacher.
After Lin Tian and Liou Qingcheng arrived, everyone greeted each other casually, then tidied up the room. Finally, they went to the dance rehearsal room to await the arrival of the ’big shot.’
While waiting for the teacher, Zhou Mi gave Lin Tian and Liou Qingcheng a simple introduction to street dance and practiced two simple moves.
Liou Qingcheng was naturally familiar with these moves. Lin Tian found them not too difficult and performed them with ease.
Zhou Mi checked her watch. It was already 2:45; the so-called renowned teacher was fifteen minutes late.
Zhou Mi frowned; she disliked people being late.
"Excuse me, is this the street dance rehearsal room?" Suddenly, there were two knocks on the door, followed by a somewhat androgynous voice.
Everyone turned their heads. It was a middle-aged man wearing a black gentleman’s hat, sunglasses, and sporting long, curly hair.
Having just come in from outside, his body was still covered in sweat.
Lin Tian thought to himself, isn’t this guy a fool? Wearing a black hat in this weather, it’s a wonder he’s not dead from the heat.
"This is the street dance rehearsal room. Are you Charlson?" Zhou Mi looked at him and asked tentatively.
Charlson sounded like a foreigner’s name, but he was undoubtedly from the Celestial Dragon Continent.
"You guys can call me coach. I’m not used to being called a teacher." Charlson took off his gentleman’s hat and sunglasses, smiled and said, "That’s me. Sorry, your school is too big, I took a long time to find this place, so I am late."
Despite his words, he showed no sign of apology. Instead, he strode over and sat casually on a chair with a back.
The first impression he gave was that he held himself in very high regard.
"Are you Miss Zhou Mi?"
Charlson’s gaze lingered on Liou Qingcheng, and he smiled, "You are indeed as beautiful as I imagined."
While speaking, he stood up from the chair and reached out to shake hands with Liou Qingcheng.
Zhou Mi’s face was filled with awkwardness; this was incredibly embarrassing...
"I’m Zhou Mi."
Charlson shifted his gaze to Zhou Mi. Seeing her beautiful face, his smile remained unchanged, and he reached out for a handshake.
"Sorry, sorry, your appearance and voice are equally beautiful."
He enthusiastically shook Zhou Mi’s hand and didn’t forget to compliment her.
Such ’enthusiasm’ made Zhou Mi a bit uncomfortable; she retracted her hand and said, "Coach Charlson, I think we should start the rehearsal. After all, there’s not much time left."
"Alright, no problem." Charlson nodded as he came precisely for that purpose.
Liou Qingcheng leaned over to Lin Tian and whispered, "Why do I feel this person is unreliable?"
"I feel the same, but he’s the one Zhou Mi invited, so let’s hear him out first," Lin Tian replied.
The dance rehearsal room was lit by around ten softly glowing white-fitted pendant lamps, equipped with four black speakers. A large mirror was hung on the wall in front.
The side walls were white, displaying a projector which could be used to watch videos.
Charlson stood in front of the mirror, looking at the nine members lined up, and said, "I’ll first watch how you all dance and then make changes. Is that okay?"
What he said was reasonable, so nobody raised any objections.
Lin Tian had never danced street dance before; he had only seen street dance videos that Zhou Mi had choreographed in the past, so he continued sitting on the chair and watched.
As for Liou Qingcheng, she also sat in the chair. Even though she had years of dance experience, street dance is different from other dance forms.
Street dance includes various styles like breakdancing, robotic, locking, freestyle...
On the Luan Continent, breakdancing was among the first styles to gain popularity, and others gradually gained acceptance by the people.
Among the many dance moves, there are standard actions like the headspin (inverting one’s body, using both hands to support the ground, rotating using the waist as the pivot, and propelling the legs to spin the whole body).
This single move requires diligent practice, mastery of technique, and solid physical fitness.
Aside from the headspin, there are side flips, backflips... without practice, these moves are truly hard to accomplish.
Of course, for outsiders, these exercises are very hard. They are much simpler for someone like Liou Qingcheng, who has a deep foundation in dance.
As the music started playing from the speakers, it was a Western rock song with a blood-pumping intro.
Heavy metal percussion reverberated through the dance rehearsal room, and Zhou Mi, Liou Qingcheng, and the others began to move rhythmically.
Street dance moves may look casual—flips, dives, rolls, and falls...
These simple moves, when choreographed and paired with deafening music, really create an enormous transformation.
It provides a significant visual impact on the viewers, prompting them to clap, cheer, and scream, and they may even feel irresistibly compelled to join in.
Zhou Mi became fond of this cool, extravagant dance due to the visual impact she experienced back in the day.
What Zhou Mi and the others were practicing was breakdancing. During the intro, they first performed a piece of robotic dance.
When a high-pitched soprano rang out, they suddenly executed a side flip followed by a one-handed jump (meaning, standing upside down, using the hand as if it’s a foot to jump on the spot).
The one-handed jump is also a rather challenging move, requiring not only ample arm strength but also the ability to maintain balance.
Just as Lin Tian was engrossed in watching, abruptly, the deafening music stopped.
Charlson’s agitated voice rang out, "Stop it! Stop it all! What kind of nonsense are you dancing? Is this supposed to be street dance?"
Even without Charlson’s words, when the music paused, Zhou Mi and the others ceased their actions and looked at Charlson with puzzled expressions.
"Teacher, is there something wrong with our dance?" Xiaomiao asked, puzzled.
"Of course, there is! Don’t you think what you are dancing is subpar?" Charlson said mercilessly.
Everyone exchanged glances, "We don’t think so."
"..."
"Teacher, what’s not good about our dance?" Zhou Mi asked defiantly.
Charlson stepped forward, stood before everyone, leaned against the mirror, and said, "What’s not good? Everything is flawed, of course."
"There are only nine of you, and your movements are already so uncoordinated. And your movements are too rigid; you haven’t learned the robotic dance, your limbs are stiff, how is this a robotic dance? There’s no flexibility! And the single-leg jump, with such a vast space, you all nearly kicked each other! Are you trying to dance or fight?"
Charlson pointed at a young man, expressing his dissatisfaction, "Your dance is too poor!"