Hip+Hop+Dance

** Hip Hop Dancing ** Hip hop dancing is a way of life. It is a combination of carefree movements that individuals create with their body, mind and soul. This style of dancing originally started off with break dancing in the Bronx, heavily influenced by martial artist moves. As time passed, other dance styles branched off of break dancing and started the hip hop dancing movement.

** Table of Contents ** -History -Main Styles -Culture

** History ** Hip hop dancing is a type of dance style that first started on the streets of New York by the African Americans and afterwards, by Latino communities in the 1970s. This style of dance is usually accompanied by hip hop music. Hip hop music can be quick-paced reggae or ballad R&B-- all dependent on the individuals preference. This music is created, recorded and shared by DJs. DJ stands for "disk jockey", and is a person who plays pre-recorded music for an audience. DJs have turntables and records that they manipulate through their performance. When it comes to DJing, there are a few different ways to do it. It can vary from radio DJs, club DJs to portable DJs. An MC is a "masters of ceremonies", who hosts an event, whether it's on stage or at a club. In addition, MCs often perform through rapping, singing and beat boxing over the music that is produced by the DJ.



** Main Styles ** Breaking- This style of dancing is popular among those who enjoy thrilling stunts, as well as foot work and body coordination. It was first created among the African Americans and then Latinos. This style of dance has four main elements: top rock, down rock, power moves and freezes. Top rocks are repetitive leg and feet movement in specific patterns while standing up. This move is used to start off the whole routine for every break dancer. Down rocks are done after top rocks to be able to shift their body from being above the ground to the ground. After the break dancer has successfully shifted their body to the ground, they then perform power moves and include freezes here and there throughout the routine. The people who practice this style of dance are called bboys, bgirls, or breakers.

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Locking- This style of dancing was originally called "Campbellocking." Locking is quick movement that is followed by freezes or locks of the body. It was originally a combination of fad dances by Don Campbell, who added a little of his own moves during his performances. The arms and hands usually are the faster movements while the legs and hip are more relaxed.

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<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Popping- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This style of dancing consists of movements that are combinations of contraction and relaxation of the muscles; this creates a sudden movement. It's also known as ticking, poping or hitting. Through this dance, improvisation is commonly used to bring out individuals' skills and ability to awe the crowd. Michael Jackson added the gliding movements into this style of dance and totally swept the nation with it. Popping now has the motions of ticking, popping and hitting, along with gliding and floating-like movements.

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">** Culture ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Ciphers/ Battles- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Break dance battles are specifically called ciphers. Other dance battles are simply called battles, but sometimes it has a specific name depending on the battle. The sole purpose of battles are to learn from each other, see the level of each crews skill and sometimes for respect. All dancers have a passion to succeed in their dancing and to get better.

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<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dance Crews- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dancers come together to form crews that choreograph pieces, teach each other and look for gigs to perform at. These crews are either formed through the same sex, dance style or race, etc. Dance crews are often looked at as a second family to some because there is a common sense of belongingness.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">(IaMmE Crew, currently in America's Best Dance Crew)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Entertainment- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dancing in general is one of the many popular ways of entertainment in this world. Not only is it a hobby of millions of people, but it is a major entertainment as well. Hip hop dancing is now included in dance competitions, T.V. reality shows, or just simply a showcase at a school talent show. Examples are //Battle of the Year//, //America's Best Dance// Crew and //America's Got Talent//.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">(Jabbawockeez Red Pill performance on ABDC T.V show, 2008 winners)

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">** Analysis **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Graffiti are pictures or letters that are marked in various ways, such as spray paint, markers or paint, on properties. Some of those properties include subways, side of buildings, signs and billboards. Graffiti was called tagging back in the days and many people liked it because it looked cool. It was quite competitive and stood for different things. For example: graffiti could represent a gang, or it could be related to underground hip hop and the breakdancing culture. For the most part, graffiti was not taken too well by the law and was quite troubling. Even today, graffiti is still around because it landed itself in the cool section of the hip hop community. Graffiti was an expression of rebellion and the want for breaking away from the "status quo." Through the tagging, it showed that America was going through a change; American teens wanted to become independent and seperate themselves from the "normal" society.

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<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The beginning of the hip hop era (late 70s and early 80s) started off with the fashion that was influenced greatly by the disco, rock and funk stars of that time. For the break dancers, they had a tendency to wear street clothing, sportswear and name brands, such as Pro-Keds and Adidas which came to be more and more popular due to the showcasing of the dancers. A little further into the movement (late 80s) then began the Chuck Taylor sneaker obsessions, emphasis on jewelry, such as diamonds and gold and baseball caps that were often tilted to the side instead of being worn straight on. Then in later years of hip hop (early 90s), the idea of cleanliness and wealth overcame the rappers and stars of the time period. If they were not wearing shiny silk shirts, suits and alligator shoes, they could then be seen most likely wearing the traditional baggy clothes, as well as do-rags and Timberland boots. Finally, the fashion in the late 90s then changed from not only baggy clothing or super rich and fancy but rather both! During this time, the fashion hasn't changed too much in any way, it mostly brought back some of the fashions that were popular in the 80s and has a little bit of everything since the beginning. Some of the hip hop fashion today consists of low sagging pants, big t-shirts and a lot of jewelry. In today's society, sagging pants and big t-shirts aren't appreciated as much as it was back then. But even so, the early fashions in the beginning of the hip hop movement have been carried on from the beginning to now.

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Turntables played a huge role to the hip hop culture in many ways. It first started off with Panasonic launching the SP-10 of Technics line in 1969, also known as "the first direct-drive digital turntable." These first turntables were marketed in the United States and then soon after, the SL-1100 came out. The Sl-1100 were significant because this was the turntable that DJ Kool Herc used to DJ his parties at the Bronx way back when. From there on, inventors began to search and find new ways to build better and more efficient turntables. Technics are one of the most commonly used amongst turntablists and DJs. The advancements and upgrades that these turntables have recieved caused them to be higer up in the table chain. Because of the popularity of turntables, it became popular and ended up creating a new musical epidemic. Back in the 70s and 80s, music was listened through records and cassettes. Now, there are mp3 players, ipods and even portable boom boxes that individuals carry around daily. And to think that it all began with a simple turntable, this whole process is quite remarkable. Any invention is bound to be adapted and further advanced by others around the world and turntables proves that.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">** Works Cited ** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Baker, Soren. //The History of Rap & Hip-hop//. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2006. Print. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Chiedozie, Anjus. "The History of Hip Hop Fashion | eHow.com." //eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | eHow.com//. Web. 18 May 2011. [].

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Grouch, Alexander. "Technics Turntable History | eHow.com." //eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | eHow.com//. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/about_5084410_technics-turntable-history.html>.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Hip Hop Fashion." //HIP HOP Jewelry | Bling Bling Men's Rings | Real Iced Out Bracelets | Hip Hop Pendants | Iced Out Hip Hop Earrings//. 17 May 2011. <http://www.kingice.com/hip-hop-fashion.aspx>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Hip Hop Abs Workout - Hip Hop Abs: Get Flat & Sculpted Abs Dancing - Hip Hop Abs Reviews - beachbody.com ."//Beachbody Fitness, Nutrition, Diet and// <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">// Weight Loss Products and Videos //. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/hip_hop_abs.do>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Pierce, ShawnTe. "History of Hip Hop Fashion | eHow.com."//eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | eHow.com//. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_5144150_history-hip-hop-fashion.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">2], True 222 [Phase. "Davey D-Hip Hop Journalist, Historian, DJ, media & Community Activist." //Davey D's Hip Hop Corner-Where Hip Hop & Politics Meet//. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.daveyd.com/hiphophistory09.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Walker, Ida. //Hip-hop Around the World.// Broomall, Pa.: Mason Crest Publishers, 2008. Print.