There are so many hobbies to choose from, and so many hobbies to invest our time in to release our stress or to expand our skills in it. Like so many other hobbies, dancing is a beautiful performance art that everyone can do. It doesn’t matter if all you can do is bobbing your head to the beat of the music, or do the classic twist, because dancing is all about expressing yourself through music.
Dance can be seen as both a hobby, and a professional job. With the right support and exposure, you can expand your dancing skills further by participating in dance battles and competitions. However, not everyone has the support they need because dancing as a job isn’t seen as a professional or safe “job” to gain money.
In dancing, there are many types of dancing to focus on, depending on what you are interested in. Some of the dancing categories that you can choose from are ballet, jazz, contemporary dance, street dance, ballroom dance, and many more. However, for this particular article, we will take a closer look at the nature of street dancing.
From the word itself, street dance is normally done on the streets in the neighborhood. With the help of sports lighter, it helps street dancers alike to create a “stage-like” ambience during the evening when it’s close to night, while showing off their dance skills to others around them.
Brief History of Street Dance
In 1973, during a rec room party in the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc mixed records, ‘breaking’ and scratching them to lengthen the instrumental passages so the dancers could show off their routines for longer. This was the beginning of what is now known as street dancing. Breaking refers to the lengthy dancing style, while rap evolved from the emcee pattern used to mask the breaks. Battles broke out in the streets and playgrounds as b-boys and b-girls honed their techniques to the beats of funk, soul, rock, and percussion.
The West Coast also contributed original dance styles to the rock and funk genres. The origins of waacking may be traced back to the homosexual discos of 1970s Los Angeles. Even the combat technique known as krumping, which originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s, can be traced back to the 1970s locking and popping scene.
How many types of street dancing styles are there?
There’s a few dance styles under street dancing, and the main dance that most of us are familiar with when it comes to street dance are breakdancing. Here’s a list of other street dance style that you can try and pursue:
Breaking
The phrase “breakdancing” is commonly used to describe breaking, b-boying, and b-girling, however the dancers themselves don’t use the term. The acrobatic head, shoulder, back, and hand rotations in breaking are choreographed to the “breakbeat” music of hip hop, funk, and solo percussionists. The initial parties and clubs in Harlem and the Bronx in the 1970s were where the gravity-defying spins and footwork were born.
Pop and lock
Pop and lock, or sometimes called popping and locking, are two distinct styles despite the fact that they may look similar to each other. In the funk style known as locking, a motion is paused briefly before being resumed at a rapid clip. This style of dancing emphasises rapid contractions of the arms and hands. Lockers engage the audience with splits, drops on their knees, and verbal banter.
It’s not uncommon for their performances to include locking and popping motions together. There is a sudden inward contraction followed by a sudden outward thrust characterizing the jerky, explosive movements characteristic of the popping style. Professional poppers use both their upper and lower bodies in their routines.
Krumping
Krumping is known to be an extremely rapid and aggressive kind of hip hop dance that makes use of locking, popping, improvising or freestyle actions, and an upright body position.
It’s an East Coast/West Coast mashup of street gangs and clowning. Dancers engage in fake combat by bobbing and jerking to the beat, bending their spines, and popping their chests. Krumping started as a nonviolent response to street violence at first, but now everyone from Missy Elliott to Madonna incorporates krumping into their music videos.
Hip Hop
Freestyling is at the heart of hip-hop, incorporating moves that have their roots in the social dances that sprang up around the time when hip-hop culture took off. Inspiration may come from anywhere: other dance styles, ordinary life, nature, or even movie characters. Every single hip-hop dancer has their own unique style. The unique flavour of a dance comes from each dancer’s unique take on the steps and the music.
House
House dance is distinct from the other forms on this list and has its roots in Chicago and New York. It’s the only dance style that uses house music as its soundtrack; the others utilise funk or hip-hop.
Although the dancers’ upper bodies and arms are often at ease, the technique places a premium on quick and intricate footwork. There are influences from many various kinds of dancing, including African dance, Latin dance, Native American dance, and more, such that the steps and combinations seem like a kaleidoscope.
Animation
Animation just recently has been popularised and has been incorporated in a lot of dance routines every now and then. The movements in animation are jerky and off-kilter; there are lots of tics and unexpected freezes into positions that look like they were lifted straight from cartoons. It is mentioned that animation is a dancing technique described as “jerky, freeze-frame style,” in which the performer appears to lack a skeleton and be computer-controlled.
One important thing about dance is that it comes from within, from how you want to express yourself, to feeling the beat and the rhythm of the music. From there, you can choose whatever dance style you want to express yourself in, and if you choose street dance, you can mix all the styles mentioned above and make it unique by expressing and making it your own.
That’s the beauty of street dance, and that’s the beauty of dancing in general. Like other forms of performing arts, there is no right or wrong way in dancing. There is only you, the music and the stage. With that being said, have fun trying out these street dances!