When Jeff Vinokur left New Jersey for college in Madison, he brought a relatively new love for dancing with him. Soon after arriving, he had an idea: to teach Madison how to dance. But not just any style of dance, a specific type of freestyle dancing, also known as popping and locking.
Vinokur, along with Chicago native James Gavin, started ""Freestyle Funk Sessions,"" a free, once per week outlet to teach this rare style to students in Madison.
""We're just trying to spread freestyle dancing."" Vinokur said. ""There is break dancing on campus; UW Break Dance Club and Hypnotiq does choreographed hip hop, but nothing for the in between ground of freestyle dancing.""
According to Vinokur, their goal is ""to foster a dance community here in Madison.""
Freestyle Funk Sessions recently became a Registered Student Organization, and has its official kickoff meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Student Activities Center multi-purpose room in University Square.
Vinokur's teaching philosophy follows his own experiences with learning how to freestyle dance.
""I had no previous dance experience at all,"" he said. ""I was actually that kid who was afraid to step foot on the dance floor.""
Vinokur credits starting slowly and taking advantage of the opportunities around him for learning to love this type of dancing.
""I've only been dancing a year and a half, and I actually learned how to dance from YouTube,"" he said. ""Living in New Jersey, New York is only about a half hour away. So I started going there, and I learned from some of the best in the world.""
Freestyle Funk Sessions is free of charge—at least for now. Because of the group's recent acceptance as a student organization, Vinokur has been hard at work looking for funding.
""We've talked to ASM, and right now I'm working on an Event Grant that would work on a weekly basis,"" Vinokur said. ""If the grant doesn't work out, we will probably have to charge a membership fee. But we really don't want to do that because it's part of our mission to teach dancing completely for free.""
Vinokur added that he also plans to apply for an ASM Operations Grant to fund the 2010-11 school year.
He also said, ""Dancing is an expression, and we think that people shouldn't have to pay for that.""
For those who want to go beyond just learning freestyle dancing, Freestyle Funk Sessions also provides the opportunity of a performance group that meets twice a week. The group's first performance is Friday, March 6, in Memorial Union's Great Hall.
Overall, Vinokur emphasized the ease of learning this type of dance.
""It's a dance style that most people learn when they don't have any other dance experience,"" he said. ""It's really welcoming to beginners, and not too difficult to pick up. It just takes practice. It's a lot of fun.""
