Breakdancing is back

Officially I have a 'posse' now, and following the lunchtime breakdance spectacular now I have found a way to engage youth in a positive capacity that is not football or rugby, and involves no sticking your head betwenn the bums of fatties, nor the arrogant retorts of terrible centre-backs towards misery-plagued whistle touting jockstraps.  Dance is a way forward that cuts through both gender bias and creative stalemates.  Shall it prove to be an evangelism tool...of course, though not as I would have envisioned.    Following many logic-oriented discussions in which many young people conceded the possibility that God may exist, I have opted for a new way (in my life) to show them Jesus.  This is no trickery nor idealistic claptrap in which I may be accused of having wrong motives: rather it is a fantasic opportunity to establish relationships that are mutually beneficial, and allow me to express creativity through a medium that is inexhaustible and culturally-relevent.   At midday letzte tag, I was summoned to the hall by my Honours English Students to 'put up or shut up'.   For many months I had been suggesting that dance was as accessible to the teacher in his twenties, as it is to the youth of our school.  Their retort was one of disdain and humour; and they suggested that I first ask Matron to stand by.  They all think I am in my thirties - FYI.  So, 4 students were there, wide-eyed and eager to see the mockery that was to come.  Surprised they were, and as we pumped up the Jam - utilising the beats of MTV Europe - and got down to the essentials I found that within minutes, I was staring at a crowd of 60.  Teachers came, senior personal came by, and all stood, completely dumbfounded by what I was doing.  Now, this is not to say that any one of this Blogg's readership could not pull off such a feat.  I believe that all were more amazed by the fact that I was amidst students during my lunch break, all of whom were laughing, and enjoying the spectacle of watching an 'old guy' breakdance.  THis was new to them, for the teacher in the UK has become a Staffroom junkie, opting for the squaller of the coffee-chambers rather than the grass roots of the the concrete jungle that is an English playground.  Essentially I believe that teachers have the opportunity to do more than they actually do.  I have found myself majoring on the minors; and while I do not say that academic instruction is a minor, I do categorically state that relationship-building outside the classroom should be its tonto.    Fear of our students has let us down and put teachers on the defensive.  For me, in the small community that is my school, I believe that revival is coming.