Lesson 1 Shall We Dance?
Dancing on the Street
Dance is a powerful form of human expression.
By weaving a series of movements together, dancers can convey emotions, stories, and ideas that words alone are incapable of expressing.
Among the various dance forms, none demonstrates this more effectively than street dance.
Street dance is a general term for a wide range of dances that evolved outside of traditional dance studios.
The history of street dance goes back to urban cultures on the East and West coasts of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
Street dance has deep roots in African, Caribbean, and Latin American dance traditions.
At first, young people of the marginalized communities danced in parks, in schoolyards, or on sidewalks.
Dancing was one way for them to express themselves when they felt invisible in their societies.
Later, it became a powerful means of conveying emotions and personal stories.
Over the years, with the influence of movies and television shows, street dance has been growing in popularity worldwide.
It brings together people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Unlike dance forms that are learned in a studio, street dance is often unplanned and social in nature.
This means that street dancers have more freedom to be creative about their movements than the dancers of any other style.
Additionally, street dance involves interactions with audience members and between the dancers themselves.
Street dancers come together to form a “crew,” and they practice together and learn from one another in the crew.
While there are many different styles of street dance, some of the most popular include breakdancing, locking, popping, and krumping.
Let’s check them out.
Breakdancing
Breakdancing first appeared in the African and Latino neighborhoods of New York in the 1970s.
Breakdancing relies on speed, strength, and flexibility for performance.
The moves of breakdancing feature complex footwork.
Dancers make rapid and precise steps to keep up with the rhythm of the music.
One significant move is a headspin.
Headspins occur when dancers support their body on their head and spin their head on the ground.
This difficult move requires a great deal of strength and precise body control to maintain balance throughout the rapid spins.
In breakdancing, dancers usually perform to music such as funk, soul, and hip-hop.
Locking
Locking originated in Los Angeles in the 1970s and is characterized by a lot of freezing moments.
When dancers perform the locking dance, they suddenly stop moving, hold a precise pose, and remain locked in position until the music restarts.
Dancers often use this freezing technique to emphasize significant moments in the music.
In addition, locking involves fast arm and hand movements.
At times, dancers point at audience members, make exaggerated facial expressions, and even give high fives.
Locking is typically danced to funk music.
Popping
Popping is a dance style that originated in California in the late 1960s.
It is characterized by the sudden tensing and releasing of muscles to the rhythm of beats in music.
Robotic movements are very popular in popping.
Dancers, for example, make the left arm move separately from the rest of the body.
They often start and stop their movements suddenly, just like a robot.
Another popular popping move is waving.
Dancers start the wave from the left arm and flow it smoothly to the right arm.
This move creates the impression that there is a wave flowing through their upper body.
Popping is commonly danced to funk, disco music, or various forms of electronic dance music.
Krumping
Krumping originated in Los Angeles in the early 2000s.
This aggressive dance style is physically demanding because it involves powerful movements.
Making a fierce face and using exaggerated gestures are the key elements of krumping.
Popular krumping moves include jabs and stomps.
Jabs are inspired by the boxing technique of jabbing.
Dancers, just like a boxer hitting the opponent, shoot their arms out powerfully and then quickly pull them back.
Krumping dancers also love to do stomping.
They lift their feet in the air and quickly hit them back down to the ground.
Due to its powerful characteristics, krumping is danced to energetic and intense music with strong beats.
Now that you’re familiar with different styles of street dance, you will have a better idea of what to expect and what to pay attention to when you watch street dance performances.
Perhaps you’re even considering giving it a try yourself.
Well, what is holding you back? Go ahead and start dancing!
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