History

Picture of all the Founders of Element 1
Top: Phil Wang, Chad Dillard, Greg Krankurs, Tim Hong, James Choi
Bottom: Aaron Anderson, Irwin Tran

Element One begun during the 2000-2001 Michigan school year by James Choi, who then was just a freshmen from New Jersey. He was already a big fan of hip hop music, and came to the school expecting others to teach him the dance styles bboying (breakdancing) and popping. He was surprised that no dance groups existed yet that practiced these dance styles on campus, so he started his own from scratch by himself. To create the club and recruit members, he had practice sessions all around the school campus; every chance he got, he asked everyone that he met if they were into these dance styles or knew other people who were into them. He and the several other founding members such as Chad Dillard, Aaron Anderson, Irwin Tran, Greg Krankurs, and Tim Hong are responsible for establishing the club. All of them learned how to dance and improved by holding regular practice sessions which have always been open to the public.

The club's name Element One grew bigger every year with more recruited dancers and performances for other student organizations and charities. Before most of the founding members graduated at the end of the 2003-2004 school year, they successfully organized an event they named "Master the Art, something that had been one of their visions from the start... a large and very dope bboying and popping competition and event. The event was a huge success with over 1000 people packing the Michigan Union Ball Room and dancers from all around the midwest dancing for the $1000 dollar cash prize. This event will now happen annual in the fall.

Our goal as a student organization is to promote hip-hop culture as a whole, but particularly its styles of dance such as b-boying/b-girling ( incorrectly termed “breakdancing”) and popping, as legitimate performing arts.

The club's mission is to promote the dance styles known bboying and popping as respected art forms, through teaching at practice sessions, performing around campus, and hosting events.

Following the graduation of the founders of E1, Dara Chan became the new president for the 2004-2005 president with the officer core of Elijah Peterson (MTA head), Scott Tolinski (VP), Matt Jennings (social chair), and ChiChi (secretary). The club strengthened as the number of members grew, and they networked with more members of dance community outside of campus. Following the 2nd Master the Art, Element 1 connected with the brothers Anthony and Leo Thai who would create the crew Lunchbox Jams, along with Sean and Richie..

In February 05, Dara co-facilitated the Hip Hop workshop at APIA Highschool Conference, where he met JR who would found Free Soul Tribe, which later grew into Canton Clan. They joined the Element 1 performance group later that year, and led the growth of the Canton bboy scene.

Matt Jennings was elected president for the 2005-2006 school year. His work and John Zhu's greatly imrpoved the professionalism of the E1 performance group. The choreography in the shows improved dramatically that year, by demonstrating that these dance styles which emphasized individual creativity and style could be just as coordinatined and choreographed as any other. Robotops Crew was also founded that year by the E1 members Scott Tolinski, Joel Mangao, and John Zhu. Lara Prodigy introduced Tom Morowsky aka "Tom-Morrow" to Element 1 that year, and he would build the bboying scene from his hometown of Howell.

In 2005 , Dara began to organize more b-boying and popping jams starting with Battle of Ann Arbor 1 on October 1. It was a successful fundraiser dedicated to the victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Dante was introduced into the Michigan bboy scene, and helped Element 1 by networking it with the other elements of Hip Hop. On December 3rd, 2005 he organize the first Michgan Matchups. The main idea behind the event series was a free jam consisting of exhibition battles between the upcoming bboys, so that they would have continual motivation to practice and improve. Because anyone can organize the next one and Element 1 will provide the guidance, the Michigan Matchups series gives future event promoters the chance to learn the organization skills needed to throw a larger scale jam.

On March 17th and 18th, 2006, Dara organized the largest and most successful jam that Michigan has ever seen...the third Master the Art. Over 5 special guests were flown in, including the judges (Poe 1, Abgirl, Alieness, and Flat Top), and DJ Basic. The first day had a bboy workshop by each of the judges, and the second day had over 20 crews and 30 poppers battling it out for the grand prize. The crowd of over 700 saw talented crews from as far as Minnesota, Toronto, and Atlanta compete.

The 2006-2007 school year was led by the E1 president Sean Laurencelle and vice president Tyler Dancer. Thanks to their coordinated efforts at teaching and revamping the Elementor project, the club core membership grew tremendously. With Nicholas Kovach joining Dara as the Events Co-Coordinator, there also were more bboy events this year than the previous, such as Matchups 3, BOAA2, Dante's Release Party, and a free UMIX dance workshop (with Stringz, Sneeks, Casper, and Cryzko).

Element 1's current school year (2007-2008) will be lead by incoming freshman Eric Couillard. The events will be coordinated by Nicholas Kovach.