Let’s talk about one of the most popular dance forms out there, Hip Hop. Usually, people think that is just one style of dance. It is so much more.

In the 1970s, deep in the streets of New York City, the Hip Hop scene broke out. Hip Hop from there, grew to be much more than just music; it was a culture, a lifestyle, and its following stretched far past the city. Sadly, after the 1970s, one of the defining components of the culture is not as practiced as other components, and that is Hip Hop dance.

Hip Hop dance started as one dance style, breaking. Nowadays, many call this breakdancing, but that is more or less, a term created by the public to refer to it. This is not the traditional term for it, as that is bboying or breaking. Breaking was the main form of hip hop dancing for a while, but other dance styles, soon came to encompass the hip hop scene. These included the ever so popular, popping and locking. These two dance styles are usually put together, which is actually wrong, since both are distinct dance styles that can’t be done at the same time.

After these main three dance style, others sprouted creating a whole variety of dance. Ticking, tutting, gliding, and krumping are just a few to name in the dance world. Ticking, is essentially a faster version of popping, where you stop in smaller intervals, and is usually twice as fast. Tutting is where you move your hands in angles, creating shapes. Gliding has little to do with upper body movements, and is essentially done with only your legs and feet, looking like you are sliding on ice. Krumping is the younger, more aggressive brother to clowning, using more expressive, free, exaggerated, and energetic movement. The Hip Hop dance culture is so big and diverse, and for the longest time, dance had been going kinda unnoticed to a majority of the public, but this has changed recently.

In the early 2000s, dance had a small flare up with the first winners of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, the Jabbawockeez and Quest Crew. They had brought a lot of attention to the dancing scene, but after that, exposure died down. 

Recently, dance has been getting back into the mainstream culture, and into the public. Like recently, the new ABC show World Of Dance aired over the summer, with many hip hop dancers getting a lot of attention. Like French dancing duo, Les Twins, who won and have gotten a lot attention since. Not only did Les Twins get attention, but also Hip Hop dance crew, Kinjaz, who performed in a Cowboys game recently.

Dance is a great and fun culture, all about music and movement, and that is open to everyone. Nowadays, people know three or four dance moves, and repeat these on every song in existence. If you want more exposure to hip hop dance, visit The Lab DC, or Words Beats and Life for class options. Youtube is a great place to learn as well. So what are you waiting for, go out and move!