Hip Hop dancing is a style of dancing or movement that is defined by bounces and rocks that is executed to Hip Hop music. Its historical roots come from African American culture and have emerged in Black communities rising n the 1970s in New York. The Bronx in the 1970’s was a rough and dangerous place to grow up in. The youth there there were surrounded by drugs, crime, poverty and gang violence. Minority groups such as African Americans and Latino youth were neglected by mainstream institutions. As a way to escape from the reality of everyday life, their invented their own art forms, hence hip hop. "Hip" means present and "Hop" means action. Hip Hop is a movement that represents the freedom to learn, grow, and evolve.
Hip Hop dancing is a recognizable dance style with a few key characteristics, these include high energy, complex footwork, versatility, and attitude.
1) High Energy: Hip Hop music provides a heavy beat that calls for quick-paced movements that require high endurance and stamina to be executed.
2) Complex Footwork: Hip Hop dancing puts emphasis on footwork,
3) Versatility: Hip hop dance can be performed at a venue with friends or alone in a studio. It contains a diverse range of movements that can be fitting for any age or level of experience.
4) Attitude: Hip hop dance reflects the attitude of the music that is being danced to, which is often full of confidence, boldness, and irreverence.
But there are also many different types of hip hop dancing such as:
1) Breaking: Breaking or otherwise known to the media as "breakdancing," is a style of hip hop dancing that was formed through hip hop block parties. It showcased the atheletic ability and skills of dancers through dance battles. These dancers were originally called "b-boys" and "b-girls," as they would freestyle and dance to the beats a dj creates. It requires a lot of athletic ability to be able to move your body in ways such as lifting yourself up with your hands or spinning on your head.
2) Hip Hop Dance Parties: Breaking is a very physically demanding dance style, and not everyone is able to keep up with it. Therefore, people will dance in more light-hearted and less intense ways. You may know some viral dance moves of this style such as the "harlem-shake" or the "running man."
Overall, you don't necessarily need to be an experienced hip hop dancer or dancer in general to appreciate the culture of hip hop dancing. Whether if you like to be in the background and watch hip hop dancing from the comfort of your room or like to be involved in the hip hop dance scene yourself, there are many ways of respecting and valueing the culture of hip hop dancing other than actually performing it. If you would be interested in trying out some hip hop moves yourself, feel free to move over to the contact page and reach out to us to recieve resources on how to apply for a hip hop dance class near you!
Info sourced by: A Dance Place and Steezy.
Image sourced by: Pinterest.