What is hip-hop dancing?

When hip-hop dancing first emerged in the 1970s on the streets, some people who saw it called it ‘breakdancing’.  After a bit, the term stuck, and all street dancing became known as breakdancing.  However, breaking is only one style of hip-hop dancing.  Breaking originated in the 70s and includes dancing standing up and on the ground.   It incorporates ‘dancing’ on one hand, your head, neck, or back and can involve hopping, spinning or curling your body along to move it.

Popping is when dancers emphasize beats in the music with ‘pops’ in their muscles.  Wave-like motions are also a part of popping and are intermixed with the pops for contrast and fluidity.  Dancing like a robot can also be a part of popping – the key is to use the movements to emphasize the beats of the music.  Locking looks very similar to popping, but dancers who lock hold their positions longer than poppers do.  They ‘lock’ in position before moving to the next one.

Krumping is the most recent sub genre of hip-hop, and it’s all about the arms and torso, which should be aggressive in their movement.  It’s seldom choreographed, and it’s most often seen in hip-hop ‘battles’.  Now that So You Think You Can Dance is on the air, more people have become aware of the intricacies of hip-hop dance – and realize that hip-hop dancers have many skills, just like the more traditional dancers.