Hip-hop dance refers to social or choreographed dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes a wide range of styles notablybreaking, locking, and popping which were developed in the 1970s[1][2] by Black and Latino Americans. What separates hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle(improvisational) in nature and hip-hop dancers frequently engage in battles—formal or informal freestyle dance competitions. Informal freestyle sessions and battles are usually performed in acipher, a circular dance space that forms naturally once the dancing begins. These three elements—freestyling, battles, and ciphers—are key components of hip-hop dance.
More than 30 years old, hip-hop dance became widely known after the first professional breaking, locking, and popping crews formed in the 1970s. The most influential groups are the Rock Steady Crew, The Lockers, and the Electric Boogaloos who are responsible for the spread of breaking, locking, and popping respectively. Parallel with the evolution of hip-hop music, hip-hop dancing evolved from breaking and the funk styles into different forms: moves such as the "running man" and the "cabbage patch" hit the mainstream and became fad dances. The dance industry in particular responded with studio/commercial hip-hop, sometimes called new style, and jazz funk. These styles were developed by technically trained dancers who wanted to createchoreography for hip-hop music from the hip-hop dances they saw being performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is now practiced at both studios and outside spaces.
Internationally, hip-hop dance has had a particularly strong influence in France and South Korea. France is the birthplace of Tecktonik, a style of house dance from Paris that borrows heavily from popping and breaking. France is also the home of Juste Debout, an international hip-hop dance competition. South Korea is home to the international breaking competition R16 which is sponsored by the government and broadcast every year live on Korean television. The country consistently produces such skillful b-boys that the South Korean government has designated theGamblerz and Rivers b-boy crews official ambassadors of Korean culture.[3]
To some, hip-hop dance may only be a form of entertainment or a hobby. To others it has become a lifestyle: a way to be active in physical fitness or competitive dance and a way to make a living by dancing professionally.
Breaking/B-boying
Main article: B-boying
Breaking was created in the Bronx, New York during the early 1970s. While African Americans are responsible for creating breaking[4] it was the Latinos that kept the momentum of breaking alive when it was considered "played out" in the late '70s.[5][6] It was Afrika Bambaataa that classified breaking as one of the five pillars of hip-hop culture along with MCing, DJing, graffiti writing, and knowledge.[7][8][9]Due to this status, it is considered the purest form of hip-hop dance. Breaking includes four foundational dances: toprock, footwork oriented steps performed while standing up; downrock, footwork performed on the floor using the hands to support your weight;[note 1] freezes, stylish poses done on your hands;[note 2] and power moves, difficult and impressive acrobatic moves.[note 3] In breaking, a variation to the traditional cipher is the Apache line. Ciphers work well for one-on-one b-boy (break-boy) battles; however, Apache lines are more appropriate when it is crew versus crew. In contrast to a cipher, opposing crews can face each other in this line formation and execute their burns (a move intended to embarrass the opponent, i.e. crotch grabbing, during a battle). In 1981, the Lincoln Center in New York City hosted a breaking battle between the Rock Steady Crew and The Dynamic Rockers.[13] "This event, which was covered by the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Daily News,National Geographic, and local news stations helped b-boying gain the world’s attention."[14]
Dance crews
A dance crew is a group of street dancers who get together and create dance routines. As hip-hop culture spread throughout New York, the more breaking crews got together to practice and battle against each other. It was during this time that the different dance moves within breaking would develop organically.[45][note 7] The same can be said about different dance moves within the funk styles – popping and locking – and decades later with krumping. Being a part of a crew was the only way to learn when these styles began. Forming and participating in a dance crew is how you practiced, improved, made friends, and built relationships. In the beginning, crews were neighborhood-based and would engage in battles in their respective cities. Today, crews can battle in organized competitions with other crews from around the country and around the world.
Crews still form based on friendships and neighborhoods (ex: Diversity). They also form for a variety of other reasons such as theme (JabbaWockeeZ), gender (Beat Freaks), ethnicity (Kaba Modern), and dance style (Poreotics). Crews are not exclusive. It is common for dancers to be involved in more than one crew, especially if one particular group is style specific (popping only for example) and a dancer wants to stay well-rounded.[note 8] Furthermore, dance crews are not just formed within the hip-hop context anymore. The FootworKINGz is a dance crew that performs footwork, a style of house dance, and Fanny Pak does contemporary.
Although dance crews are more prevalent in hip-hop, dance companies do exist in both the United States and abroad. Examples include Culture Shock (USA), Lux Aeterna (USA),[note 9] Boy Blue Entertainment (UK), Bounce Streetdance Company (Sweden), 2Faced Dance (UK), Funkbrella Dance Company (USA), Blaze Streetdance Company (Netherlands), and Zoo Nation (UK).[note 10]
Entertainment
See also: Hip-hop theater
Breaking started to become a form of entertainment shortly after its birth in the '70s. The first hip-hop films Wild Style and Beat Street were made in the early '80s. Wild Style was the first movie centered around hip-hop culture; however,Flashdance was the first Hollywood film to feature breaking.[note 14] The movies Breakin and Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo, also released in the '80s, introduced the funk styles to the big screen. The new millennium produced several hip-hop dance films. The Freshest Kids, B-girl, and Planet B-Boy all showcased breaking. Films such as Honey, You Got Served, How She Move, Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, and StreetDance 3D showcased all forms of hip-hop dance especially studio/new style hip-hop. Rize, The Heart of Krump, and Shake City 101 are documentaries about krumping and the street dancers who developed it. These movies/documentaries are all examples of films where the plot and theme surround hip-hop dance and how it affects the characters' lives.
Hip-hop dance later moved from cinemas to the television. Soul Train, which premiered in the 1970s, was the earliest dance show that showcased the funk styles on a consistent basis. Other hip-hop dance shows that came about in 1990s and 2000s were Dance Fever, Dance 360, MTV's The Grind, The Wade Robson Project, and Nickolodean's Dance on Sunset. America's Best Dance Crew(ABDC) is a reality hip-hop dance competition on MTV created in 2008 by Howard and Karen Schwartz, founders of Hip Hop International the organization that runs the USA and World Hip Hop Dance Championships.[34] On the show different crews from across the country compete in dance challenges and battle against each other each week. ABDC has contributed to the exposure ofJabbawockeez, Quest, Kaba Modern, Beat Freaks, We Are Heroes, Fanny Pak, and Poreotics. These crews now have official websites, make club appearances, perform in different locations/competitions, and appear as guests on news programs.
The reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) encourages dancers from all backgrounds, including hip-hop, to compete. It has a similar premise to the American Idol series of singing competitions, with nationwide auditions leading to the discovery of the next big star. "Bringing these styles together in a competition that also features ballroom, ballet, and jazz helps to legitimize hip-hop dance as a serious form of expression."[8] In 2008 poppers Robert "Mr. Fantastic" Muraine and Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb auditioned during season four. Neither made it to the final "top 20", but the judges were so impressed with their dancing that both were invited back to participate in a popping battle against each other on the show's live finale.[72] Dancing to Kanye West's StrongerMuraine impressed the judges with his fluid mime and contortionist style while Chbeeb responded with quick transformer-like moves. According to Muraine this was the first popping battle that was nationally televised.[72] After the battle Joshua Allen, a hip-hop dancer, was declared the winner of season four of the competition.[73] The same year Mona-Jeanette Berntsen, a hip-hop dancer from Norway, was crowned the winner of the first season of So You Think You Can Dance Scandinavia.[74]
The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (or The LXD) is a good versus evil themed web series about a group of dancers who discover they have super powers through their dance moves.[75][note 15] Each character has a specific dance talent ranging from krumping, tutting, breaking, locking, boogaloo, and popping.[75][76] The mojority of the dancing shown in the series is hip-hop; however, other styles have been showcased as well including tap dance, stepping, contemporary, andballet. Advertising Age gave the series good reviews stating "...each episode of 'LXD' packs a wealth of narrative sophistication into its eight or nine minutes. Combine this with the theater-worthy production values and a cast that exerts itself to an ungodly extent, and the end result is -- pun time! -- extraordinary."[77] The LXD premiered July 7, 2010 on Hulu.
Though hip-hop dancing has managed to establish itself on film and television, it has not gained the same momentum in theater. Two of the earliest hip-hop stage shows were 1991's off Broadway musical So! What Happens Now? and 1995'sJam on the Groove both performed by the Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians.[78][79][80] Aside from the pioneers in New York was Rennie Harris' Puremovement hip-hop theater company founded in 1992 inPhiladelphia.[81] The company is still active and has toured all over the world showcasing its original works such as March of the Antmen, P-Funk, Endangered Species, Facing Mekka, and Rome & Jewels.[82]
