DANCES IN DIFFERENT

FORMS

LESSON 1.
HIP-HOP
• THE WORD HIP IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN FIRST
USED IN THE AFRICAN – AMERICAN
VERNACULAR ENGLISH (AAVE) OF THE AFRICAN-
AMERICAN CULTURE SINCE 1904. THIS TERM
MEANS “INFORMED” OR “CURRENT”.
• HIPHOP DANCE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE STARTED FROM A
STREET DANCE AND EVOLVED INTO ITS FORM TODAY
THROUGH IMPROVISATION. OTHER STUDIES SHOW THAT A
RAPPER NAMED ROBERT KEITH “COWBOY” WIGGINS
COINED THE TERM IN 1978.
• ARTISTS PERFORMED THE DANCE WITH DISCO GOERS WITH
THE NEW KIND OF DJ MUSIC AND CALLED THE DANCERS
“HIP-HOPPERS”.
• HIPHOP DANCE THEN BECAME POPULAR NOT ONLY IN NEW
YORK CITY BUT ALSO IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
 SUBGENRE/ DANCE
STYLES
THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE
STYLES IN HIP-HOP DANCE:
POPPING
• THIS WAS CREATED IN FRESNO, CALIFORNIA BY SAM
SOLOMON. THIS STYLE MEANS TO ACT AS A “LIVING ROBOT”,
WHICH CONSISTS OF QUICK CONTRACTING AND RELAXING
MUSCLES, WHICH ARE CALLED POPS OR HITS. TO DO THIS,
YOU HAVE TO MOVE SEPERATELY EVERY PART OF YOUR BODY
OR TO POP YOUR WRIST, SHOULDER, AND CHEST, AMONG
OTHERS.
ISOLATION
• THIS REFERS TO MOVING YOUR BODY PARTS
INDIVIDUALLY, ISOLATE YOUR ARM, HEAD, AND
CHEST TO CREATE A ROBOTIC TYPE OF MOVE.
LOCKING
• THIS WAS CRAFTED BY DON CAMPBELL IN LOS ANGELES,
CALIFORNIA. IT CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF MOVEMENTS THAT
INVOLVES QUICK ACTION. IT IS SIMILAR TO LOCKING ONE
PART OF YOUR BODY INTO ANOTHER POSITION, AND THEN
FREEZING IT IN THE LAST POSITION. HIPS AND LEGS SHOULD
REMAIN IN RELAXED POSITION WHILE UPPER EXTREMITIES
SHOULD BE MOVING.
BREAKING
• THIS ALSO KNOWN AS BREAK DANCING. DANCERS AREA
CALLED B-BOYING AND G-GIRLING OR BREAKERS. THIS
STYLE IS AN IMPROVISATION BECAUSE IT EVOLVED FROM
UPROCK ANOTHER STYLE OF DANCE. IT HAS MOVEMENT TO
BE PERFORMED AT DIFFERENT LEVELS SUCH AS TOPROCK
WHEN YOU ARE STANDING WHILE PERFORMING
DOWNROCK WHEN DANCERS ARE CLOSE TO THE FLOOR,
POWER MOVES WHEN YOU ARE DOING ACROBATICS AND
FREEZING WHILE POSTING.
WHACKING OR WAACKING
• THE PERFOMER USES HIS OR HER UPPER BODY AND ARMS. A
“WAACK” IS THE STRONG SWINGING OR SWEEPING OF THE ARMS IN
DRAMATIC RAPID SUCCESSION, CREATING MOVEMENTS LIKE A
“HUMAN HUMMINGBIRD”.
• THE TERM WAACKING WAS COINED BY SOUL TRAIN DANCER TYRONE
PROCTOR OF THE OUTRAGEOUS WAACK DANCERS IN 1974.
• THE “GARBO”, MEANWHILE, WAS THE NAME GIVEN TO WAACKING
BECAUSE OF ITS STYLE OF POSING LIKE THE MODELS OF THE 1940S.
VOGUE OR VOGUING
• THIS BECAME POPULAR IN THE LATE 1980S IN THE EAST COAST IN
THE UNITED STATES. IT IS PERFORMED TO HOUSE MUSIC, WHICH
WAS POPULAR AT THAT TIME.THE MOVEMENT IMITATED THE
PERFECT LINES AND POSES OF MODELS AS DEPICTED IN FASHION
MAGAZINES SUCH AS VOGUE, WHERE THE DANCE GOT ITS NAME. NO
TOUCHING IS ALLOWED DURING VOGUE COMPETITIONS, ALTHOUGH
THERE WERE OCCASIONS WHEN DANCERS GOT ENTANGLED WITH
EACH OTHER.
STREET DANCE
• STREET DANCE STARTED AS A FREESTYLE FORM OF MOVEMENT
PERFORMED ON A STREET OR ANY OPEN SPACE AND ACCOMPANIED
BY AN UPBEAT MUSIC. ARTISTS PERFORM ON THE STREETS OR
BASKETBALL COURTS. ON RARE OCCASIONS, ARTISTS MAKE USE OF
DANCE STUDIOS.
• THE TERM STREET DANCE USED TO DESCRIBED SELF-STYLED DANCES,
WHICH INCLUDE IMPROVISATIONS AND SOCIAL DANCES AS
PERFORMED BY OLD FOLKS. IT TENDS TO ENCOURAGE THE PUBLIC
TO INTERACT AND DANCE WITH THE PERFORMERS.