Hip Hop Dance

Hip Hop Refers to dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that has evolved as a part of hip-hop culture. It is often improvisational in nature and dancers often engage in dance battles.

How did it get here? Slaves transported from West African countries to North and South America brought with them oral and musical traditions These traditions became an integral part of the use of music as a form of rebellion Hip hop dance comes from the arrival of hip hop music

What movements are included? Several elements of African dance appear in popular dance today All over body movement Earth-oriented movement Improvisation Pantomime

Hip Hop’s roots can be traced back to African American gospel, folk, blues, jazz and R&B music. In time, these music styles made their way to the Caribbean during World War II while American soldiers were stationed in Jamaica.

Mid 1800’s- early 1900’s Many African American dance styles eventually migrated to the Caucasian community Cakewalk- competitive line dance The Charleston- later led to swing dance Black Bottom- precursor to tap, jazz, and swing Next came the lindy hop, jitterbug, Savoy swing and eventually funk and disco All of these styles have influenced modern hip hop dancing, including breaking, krumping, popping

DJs in Jamaica Disc jockeys with large portable sound systems would set up temporary discos- competition for these traveling dance clubs was fierce DJs would try to “one up” their rivals by “toasting” (chanting over a drum beat)

Clive Campbell In 1967, 13 year old Clive moved from Jamaica to the West Bronx His knowledge of mobile discos and toasting DJs from his birthplace combined with a powerful sound system helped him lay the foundation of the hip hop movement Dancers would get “hype” during instrumental parts of a song (or a break in the music) and the dancers became known as “break dancers” Clive became known as DJ Kool Herc

Breakdancing Head spins, hand spins, back spins, the windmill, the worm, and the suicide (standing back flip landing on back) This form of dance brought a lot of media attention to the hip hop movement

Other influences Afro-Caribbean dance Brazilian Martial arts Kung Fu films

Today’s hip hop dance May include Popping, Locking, House, Freestyle, Breaking, Boogaloo, The Wop, Soulja Boy, Kid N Play, Jerkin, Shuffling, Tutting, Robot, Dub Step, Bone Breaking

Vocabulary Popping- contracting and releasing of muscles in your chest, arms, legs, and shoulders to create a jerking motion to the beat. Krumping- a high energized, free movement of the arms, legs, chest, and feet. Funk- an urban style of dancing. A cross between jazz and hip hop. Breaking- One of the earliest styles of hip hop. Street dancing, consisting of four kinds of movement: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. Tutting- movement originating from Egyptian positions in hieroglyphs. Body Roll- a dance move in which the entire body goes through a wave like motion.

Vocabulary- continued Locking- dancer holds positions longer, like locking in place and move again after a quick pause. Lyrical Hip hop- a fluid more interpretive version of hip hop done to slower music or R&B music. In-beat- Chest contracts in. Out-beat- Chest pops out. Level 1- dancing on the floor. Level 2- dancing in the middle level. Level 3- dancing on the high level. Crew- a group of street dancers who get together to create dance routines.