Hip Hop Dance

What is Hip-Hop dance? Hip hop dance is a broad category that includes a variety of urban styles. The older dance styles that were created in the 1970’s include uprock, breaking, and funk styles. Hip hop dance also originated through many other influences such as music, MCing (rapping), DJing (turntables), and graffiti writing. As breaking, locking, and popping gained popularity in the 1980’s, hip-hop social dancing was starting to develop. Novelty and fad dances such as the Roger Rabbit, the Cabbage Patch, and the worm appeared in the 80’s followed by the Running Man in the 90’s. Like hip-hop music, hip-hop social dancing continues to change as new songs are released and new dances are created to accompany them.

Styles of Hip-Hop Dance… Breaking B-boy stands for “break-boy” and B-girl stands for “break-girl”. These dancers were meant to dance to the break of a record. Breaking was created in the South Bronx, NYC during the early 70’s. It was the first hip-hop dance style. Breaking includes 4 foundational dances: toprock, downrock, freezes, and power moves. Dancers usually dance in a cypher or an Apache Line A Cyhper is a circular shaped dance space formed by spectators that breakers use to perform or battle in. An Apache Lines are used when the battle is between two crews (teams of street dancers). They can face each other in this line formation.

Break dance in the 80’s Break dance now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_ShwO10d6g Break dance now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBZAFJ-Q6Mw

Locking Locking was created in 1969 in Los Angeles, CA by Don “Campellock” Campbell. Was popularized by his crew The Lockers. Locking looks similar to popping and can be confused by the casual observer. In locking, dancers hold their positions longer. It is similar to a freeze or a sudden pause. Locking is more playful and character-driven, where as popping is more illusory.

Locking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AifQ64khhY4

Popping Popping was created in Fresno, CA in the 1970’s by Samuel “Boogaloo Sam” Solomon and his crew the Electric Boogaloos. It is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in a dancers body, referred to as a pop or hit. Each hit should be synchronized to the rhythm and beats of the music. There are many sub-genres of popping that include; animation, waving, ticking, floating, gliding, tutting. Dancers often integrate these styles with standard popping to create a more varied performance.

Popping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXXLZc7v2r4

Street Styles; Jerkin’ and Krumping Jerkin’ came out of Los Angeles and was popularized in 2009 by the New Boyz rap song “You’re a Jerk”. Krumping was created by Ceasare “Tight Eyez” Willis and Jo’Artis “Big Mijo” Ratti in the early 200’s in South Central, Los Angeles. Krumping focuses on highly energetic battles and movements and can be described as intense, fast-paced, and sharp.

Jerkin’ and Krumping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACpLrfVwCd0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqvXIiHj9MA

Commercial/New Style Hip-Hop dance became widely popular when it began appearing in music videos in the 1990’s. There was a high demand to learn and commercialize this type of movement so more dance studios began teaching hip-hop dance styles. Hip-hop dance pioneers argue that this is not true hip-hop, although many choreographers now take influences from such pioneers. Now dance routines are not specific to one genre (strictly popping or breaking) but rather an culmination of urban dancing and studio technique.

Commercial Dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mictcsU0Smw

Hip Hop Today Hip-Hop and dance in general is everywhere. TV, Movies, Commercials, Music Videos etc. Many new styles and dances come from popular songs such as; cupid shuffle, dougie, whip and nae nae… Hip-Hop dance goes so much more in depth. If you are interested in learning more about the origins of hip-hop or to see different styles, research hip hop and hip hop choreography on you tube.