Hip-Hop Dance Styles Overview

Hip-Hop Dance

• Derived from the word "hep", an African-American vernacular English term since 1904, meaning "current"
• Invented by Kevin Donovan (known as Afrika Bambaataa), who is considered the Grandfather of Hip-Hop
• Developed from the music of the 1970s in New York City among young Hispanic and African-American communities
• Became popular in the 1980s due to media exposure of hip-hop dance groups in America
• Young people created hip-hop as a creative outlet to express their frustrations with society

Hip-Hop Dance Styles

• A combination of various dancing movements and acrobatics
• Freestyle in nature and can be performed in dance studios or outdoors
• Four fundamental characteristics: rapping (MCing), DJing, breakdancing (B-boying), and Graffiti Art (Aerosol Art)
• Characterized by bounce, recoil, tightening of the body, agility, coordination, and fun
• Categories: Old School (breaking, popping, and locking) and New School (house, krumping, and street jazz)

Breaking (Break Dance)

• Explosive and acrobatic movements with breaks or freezes in between
• Holding the movement position for seconds before moving to the next

Popping

• Quick contraction and relaxation of muscles to produce jerking of various joints

Locking

• Involves acrobatics and physically demanding moves like landing on one knee or the split
• Other moves include waving arms, pointing, walking, stationary positions, and grabbing/rotating a cap or hat

Krumping

• A dance style used to release anger
• Characterized by unrestricted, rapid, and highly energetic moves of limbs

Tutting

• Imitates the angular poses seen in ancient Egyptian arts

House Dance

• A combination of skating, stomping, and shuffling moves

Cheer Dance

• A physical activity combining various dance genres and gymnastics skills like tumbling, pyramids, and tosses
• Routines range from one to three minutes
• Performed to motivate sports teams or in cheer dance competitions
• Relatively new in the sports field and emerged in the 1990s as part of cheerleading events

Cheerleading History

• Closely linked to the history of sports in the United States, sporting venues, and crowd participation events
• Origins trace back to the late 19th century, with students in Great Britain cheering for athletes at sporting events
• Cheerleading was primarily an all-male activity for the first 25 years
• Women joined as cheerleaders in the 1920s

Cheer Dance Fundamental Movements

• Beginning Stance: Feet together, hands down by the side
• Cheer Stance: Feet more than shoulder-width apart, hands down by the side
• Bucket: specific arm position
• Blade: specific arm position
• Jazz Hands: specific arm position
• Candlestick: specific arm position
• Clap: clapping movement
• Clasp: clasping movement
• Tabletop: arms bent at the elbow, fists in front of shoulders
• High V: arms extended upwards forming a "V", relaxed shoulders
• Low V: arms extended downwards forming a "V"
• Touchdown: arms extended upwards, parallel to each other, fists facing in
• T Motion: arms extended straight, parallel to the ground
• Diagonal: one arm in a high "V", the other in a low "V"
• L Motion: one extended arm to the side, other extended
• Overhead Clasp: Arms straight up in a clasp position slightly in front of the body's face
• Front Lounge: lead leg bent at the knee over the ankle, back leg straight, feet perpendicular to each other
• Side Lounge: lead leg bent at the knee over the ankle, feet perpendicular to each other
• Feet Apart: stride position with both feet away from each other, hands placed on the waist or clasped in front
• Jogging: moving with a light touch on the ground, where the ball of the foot hits first followed by the toes pointing downward
• Herkie: involves a series of arm and leg movements
• Toe Touch: jump and touch toes
• Hurdle: sharp, quick motion tiptoe jump, bringing one foot in front.
• Forward Roll: squat, place hands on floor, tuck chin, push off legs, rolling forward, legs against chest, arms in front, Get Up
• Back Roll: starting from the beginning stance, squat while facing backwards, laying hands on the floor, tuck chin and lift off (hands and legs), roll backwards, squat on chest and hold arms in front, stand up.
• Cartwheel: lead leg forward, arms extended, move whole body forward and raise back leg, kick back, once the hands hit the ground