![Hiphoplight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Hiphoplight.jpg)
The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 1960s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as
uprock
Uprock, or Rocking, as it was referred to, also known as Rock, Rock Dance, Brooklyn Rock, Burning or Freestyle is a competitive urban street dance, performed to the beats and rhythms of soul, rock and funk music, but was mostly danced to a specif ...
,
breaking,
locking,
roboting,
boogaloo
Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos ...
, and
popping
Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance) cultural movement in Oakland, California. As Boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as Robottin in Richmond, California, Strutting movements in San Francisco and San ...
.
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
created uprock and breaking in New York City.
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in California created locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping—collectively referred to as the ''funk styles''. All of these dance styles are different stylistically. They share common ground in their street origins and in their improvisational nature of hip hop.
More than 50 years old, hip-hop dance became widely known after the first professional street-based dance crews formed in the 1970s in the United States. The most influential groups were
Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...
,
The Lockers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, and
The Electric Boogaloos
The Electric Boogaloos are a street dance crew responsible for the spread of popping and electric boogaloo. The name "Boogaloo" came from a song called "Do a Boogaloo" by James Brown, which was also adapted as a Boogaloo street dance done from Oak ...
who are responsible for the spread of breaking, locking, and popping respectively. The
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
-based dance style uprock influenced breaking early in its development. Boogaloo gained more exposure because it is the namesake of the Electric Boogaloos crew. Uprock, roboting, and boogaloo are respected dance styles but none of them are as mainstream or popular as breaking, locking, and popping.
Parallel with the evolution of
hip-hop music, hip-hop social dancing emerged from breaking and the funk styles into different forms. Dances from the 1980s such as the Running Man, the Worm, and the Cabbage Patch entered the mainstream and became
fad dance
A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse (psychology), impulse for a short period.
Fads are objects or behavior ...
s. After the millennium, newer social dances such as the Cha Cha Slide and the Dougie also caught on and became very popular.
Hip-hop dance is not a
studio
A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
-derived style. Street dancers developed it in urban neighborhoods without a formal process. All of the early substyles and social dances were brought about through a combination of events including inspiration from
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
, DJ
Kool Herc
Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with contributing to the development of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back to ...
's invention of the
break beat, the formation of dance crews, and
Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...
' creation of the television show ''
Soul Train
''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...
''.
Beginning of breaking
According to hip-hop activist
Afrika Bambaataa
Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...
and
b-boy
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...
Richard "
Crazy Legs" Colón,
[ the purest hip-hop dance style, breaking (commonly called "breakdancing"), began in the early 1970s as elaborations on how ]James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
danced to his song "Get on the Good Foot
"Get on the Good Foot" is a funk song performed by James Brown. It was released in 1972 as a two-part single that charted #1 R&B and #18 Pop. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of Br ...
". People mimicked these moves in their living rooms, in hallways, and at parties. It was at these parties that breaking flourished and developed with the help of a young Clive Campbell. Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc
Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with contributing to the development of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back to ...
, was a Jamaican-born DJ who frequently spun records at neighborhood teenage parties in the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. Jeff Chang, in his book '' Can't Stop Won't Stop'' (2005), describes DJ Kool Herc's eureka
Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
moment in this way:
:Herc carefully studied the dancers. "I was smoking cigarettes and I was waiting for the records to finish. And I noticed people was waiting for certain parts of the record," he says. It was an insight as profound as Ruddy Redwood's dub discovery. The moment when the dancers really got wild was in a song's short instrumental break, when the band would drop out and the rhythm section would get elemental. Forget melody, chorus, songs—it was all about the groove, building it, keeping it going. Like a string theorist, Herc zeroed in on the fundamental vibrating loop at the heart of the record, the break.[Chang 2005, p. 79.]
In response to this revelation, Herc developed the Merry-Go-Round technique to extend the breaks—the percussion interludes or instrumental solos within a longer work of music. When he played a break on one turntable, he repeated the same break on the second turntable as soon as the first was finished. He then looped these records one after the other in order to extend the break as long as he wanted: "And once they heard that, that was it, wasn't no turning back," Herc told Chang. "They always wanted to hear breaks after breaks after breaks after breaks." It was during these times that the dancers, later known as break-boys or b-boys, would perform what is known as breaking.[
]
Breaking started out strictly as toprock, footwork-oriented dance moves performed while standing up.[Chang 2005, p. 115.] Toprock usually serves as the opening to a breaker's performance before transitioning into other dance moves performed on the floor. A separate dance style that influenced toprock is uprock, also called rocking or Brooklyn uprock, because it comes from Brooklyn, New York. The uprock dance style has its roots in gang
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
s.[Chang 2005, p. 116.] Although it looks similar to toprock, uprock is danced with a partner and is more aggressive, involving fancy footwork, shuffles, hitting motions, and movements that mimic fighting.[ When there was an issue over ]turf
Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls.
In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...
, the two warlords of the feuding gangs would uprock, and whoever won this preliminary dance battle decided where the real fight would be.[ Because uprock's purpose was to moderate gang violence, it never crossed over into mainstream breaking as seen today, except for some specific moves adopted by breakers who use it as a variation for their toprock.]
Aside from James Brown and uprock, hip-hop historian Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon writes that toprock was also influenced by "tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
, Lindy hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...
, salsa
Salsa most often refers to:
* Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments
* Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music
* Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music
Salsa or SALSA may also refer to:
A ...
, Afro-Cuban, and various African and Native American dances." From toprock, breaking progressed to being more floor-oriented, involving freezes
Freezing is a phase transition where a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. In accordance with the internationally established definition, freezing means the solidification phase change of a liquid o ...
, downrock In dance, floorwork refers to movements performed on the floor. Floorwork is used extensively in modern dance, particularly Graham technique and Hawkins technique, as well as in vernacular breakdancing. Some dance training practices, notably Floor- ...
, head spins, and windmills
A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
. These additions occurred due to influences from 1970s martial arts films, influences from gymnastics, and the formation of dance crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...
s[Chang 2005, p. 136.]—teams of street dancers who get together to develop new moves, create dance routines, and battle other crews. One b-boy move taken from gymnastics is called the ''flare'', which was made famous by gymnast Kurt Thomas and is called the "Thomas flair
The ''flare'' is an acrobatic move in which the performer alternates balancing the torso between either arm while swinging the legs beneath in continuous circles. It is a fundamental b-boying/bgirl power move, and in gymnastics it may be performed ...
" in gymnastics.
B-boys Jamie "Jimmy D" White and Santiago "Jo Jo" Torres founded Rock Steady Crew
Rock Steady Crew is an American breaking and hip hop group which has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations. The group's 1983 international hit song " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" (from the group's first studio album ...
(RSC) in 1977 in the Bronx. Along with Dynamic Rockers and Afrika Bambaataa
Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...
's Mighty Zulu Kings, they are one of the oldest continually active breaking crews. For others to get into the crew, they had to battle one of the Rock Steady b-boys—that was their audition, so to speak. The crew flourished once it came under the leadership of b-boy Richard " Crazy Legs" Colón. Crazy Legs opened a Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
chapter of the crew and made his friends and fellow b-boys Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert co-vice presidents.[ RSC was instrumental in the spread of breaking's popularity beyond New York City. They appeared in '']Wild Style
''Wild Style'' is a 1983 American hip hop film directed and produced by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, The Rock Stea ...
'' and ''Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
''—1980s films about hip-hop culture—as well as in the movie ''Flashdance
''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer who aspires to become a professional ballerina (Alex), alongside Michael Nouri playing her boyfriend an ...
''. They also performed at the Ritz, at the Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
, and on the Jerry Lewis Telethon
The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in ...
.[ In 1981, the ]Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
hosted a breaking battle between Dynamic Rockers and Rock Steady Crew.[Kugelberg 2007, p. 59.] ''The Daily News'' and ''National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' covered this event. In 1982, their manager Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue organized the ''New York City Rap Tour'', which featured Rock Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa
Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...
, Cold Crush Brothers, the Double Dutch Girls, and Fab 5 Freddy
Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...
.[Chang 2005, pp. 182–183.] This tour traveled to England and France, which spread hip-hop culture to those countries.[ In 1983, they performed for ]Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
at the Royal Variety Performance.[ The following year, they recorded a song titled "](Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew
"(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew" is the debut single by American hip hop group the Rock Steady Crew from their debut studio album ''Ready for Battle''. It was released in 1983 through Charisma Records, Charisma/Virgin Records as the album's lead s ...
", which was commercially released. RSC now has satellite crews based in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy.[
]
Capoeira debate
Capoeira
Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th century ...
is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, described by Pabon as "a form of self defense disguised as a dance." Its influence on breaking is disputed and debated; one side believes that breaking came from capoeira, while the other side denies this. Capoeira is hundreds of years older than breaking, and uprock is similar in purpose to capoeira in that both translate aggressive combat movements into stylized dance. Both breaking and capoeira are performed to music and, since both art forms are acrobatic, some moves look similar to each other. However, capoeira is more rule-oriented. One rule in capoeira is that a capoeirista's back can never touch the ground.[Taylor 2007, p. 170.] In contrast, a breaker's back is almost always on the ground, and the only rule in breaking is that you do not touch your opponent during a battle.
Jelon Vieira
Jelon Vieira is a Brazilian choreographer and teacher who, in 2000, achieved recognition by New York City's Brazilian Cultural Center as a pioneer in presenting to American audiences the Afro-Brazilian art and dance form, Capoeira.
In 1975, Jel ...
and Loremil Machado
Loremil Machado (born 1953 or 1954; died March 11, 1994) was a teacher and performer of Afro-Brazilian dance. He and fellow dancer, Jelon Vieira, are considered to be responsible for the introduction of capoeira to the United States.
Career
Mach ...
brought capoeira to the United States in 1975.[Assunção 2005, p. 190.] Throughout this decade Vieira taught capoeira workshops in New York City and started a capoeira performance company called Dance Brazil that toured across the United States.[ In Gerard Taylor's ''Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace'' (2005), master capoeira teacher Mestre Acordeon is quoted as saying: "Demonstrations by Mestre Jelon ieiraand Loremil Machado are considered by many to be responsible for the incorporation of capoeira movements into breakdancing."][ Former '']Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' reporter Sally Banes
Sally Rachel Banes (October 9, 1950 – June 14, 2020) was a notable dance historian, writer, and critic.
Life, education, and performance career
Born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., Banes studied dance, and ...
and her colleague, photographer Martha Cooper
Martha Cooper is an American photojournalist. She worked as a staff photographer for the ''New York Post'' during the 1970s. She is best known for documenting the New York City graffiti scene of the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1984, Cooper and Henry Ch ...
, witnessed breaking in 1980 while covering Henry Chalfant
Henry Chalfant (born January 2, 1940) is an American photographer and videographer most notable for his work on graffiti, breakdance, and hip hop culture.
One of Chalfant's prints is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Ne ...
's photography exhibit of subway graffiti. She wrote of the dance: "Its spatial level called to mind capoeira, the spectacular Brazilian dance cum martial art form that incorporates kartwheels, kicks, and feints low to the ground, but the two were dissimilar enough in shape and timing that capoeira seemed at most only a distant relative, and certainly one the breakdancers weren't acquainted with—at least on a conscious level." In his book ''Hip Hop Had a Dream'' (2008), Damien Morgan states: "Breakdancing can have its origins in capoeira, because it does not focus on injuring the opponent; it rather emphasizes skill towards your opponent, to express yourself away from violence... in most cases, it is blatantly obvious to see some of Breakdancing's foundations in Capoeira."
Several breaking practitioners and pioneers tend to side with the camp that does not believe breaking came from capoeira. B-boy Crazy Legs states: "We didn't know what the f-ck no capoeira was, man. We were in the ghetto!"[ According to Pabon, "Unlike the popularity of the martial arts films, capoeira was not seen in the Bronx jams until the 1990s. Top rockin' seems to have developed gradually and unintentionally, leaving space for growth and new additions, until it evolved into a codified form."][ B-boy crew Spartanic Rockers adds: "Despite of icmany rumours and opinions Breaking didn't originate from Capoeira but during the last few years many moves, steps and freezes of this Brazilian (fight-) dance have inspired more and more B-Girls and B-Boys who integrated them into their dance."] B-boy Ken Swift was breaking long before he saw capoeira: "In '78 I started reakingand I didn't see it apoeiratil '92 ... I was around, too—I was in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, I went around and I didn't see it. What we saw was Kung Fu—we saw Kung Fu from the 42nd Street theaters. So those were our inspirations... when we did the Kung Fu sh-t we switched it up and we put this B-boy flavor into it..."
Funk styles
While breaking was developing in New York City, New York, other styles of dance were developing in California. Unlike breaking, the funk styles—which originated in California—were not originally hip-hop dance styles: they were danced to funk music
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
rather than hip-hop music, and they were not associated with the other cultural pillars of hip-hop (DJing
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast con ...
, graffiti writing, and MCing).[Chang 2006, pp. 18–19. "Although dance forms associate with hip-hop did develop in New York City, half of them (that is, popping and locking) were created on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement. Much of the media coverage in the 1980s grouped these dance forms together with New York's native dance forms (b-boying/b-girling and uprocking) labeling them all "breakdancing". As a result, the West Coast "funk" culture and movement were overlooked..."] The funk styles are actually slightly older than breaking due to fact that boogaloo and locking were developed in the late 1960s.[Nelson 2009, pp. 32–33.][Guzman-Sanchez 2012, pp. 6–7.]
Locking and roboting
Like breaking, the different moves within the funk styles occurred due to the formation of crews. Don "Campbellock" Campbell created locking, and in 1973 founded The Lockers (originally called The Cambellock Dancers) in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Locking is characterized by consistently freezing or "locking" in place while dancing. Campbell developed locking accidentally while pausing in between dance moves when trying to remember how to do the Funky Chicken.[Chang 2006, p. 22.] He developed routines based on his new style using these pauses or "locks." Chang lists some of the other dance moves performed in locking, including "...points, skeeters, scooby doos, stop 'n go, which-away, and the fancies."[
The Lockers made several appearances on ''Soul Train'']—the song-and-dance television program featuring funk music, soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
, disco, R&B, and social dancing. They also appeared on ''The Carol Burnett Show'',[Chang 2006, p. 23.] ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...
'', ''The Dick Van Dyke Show
''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...
'', and ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''.[ Three original members of The Lockers were ]Toni Basil
Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her song "Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit th ...
, who doubled as the group's manager; Charles "Charles Robot" Washington, a pioneer of roboting; and Fred "Mr. Penguin" Berry, who played the character of Rerun on the television show ''What's Happening!!
''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, until April 28, 1979, premiering as a summer series. Due to other shows being cancelled across the network, and good ratings and reviews from ...
''.[Guzman-Sanchez 2012, p. 44.] Berry left the group in 1976 to be on the show and was replaced by street dancer Tony "Go-Go" Lewis.[ After The Lockers disbanded, Tony Go-Go went on to open a locking school in Japan in 1985.][
Roboting comes from ]Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council. .[ Before joining The Lockers, Charles Robot had his own dance crew called The Robot Brothers. He was inspired in 1969 by a mime artist named Robert Shields, who would pantomime in front of the ]Hollywood Wax Museum
The Hollywood Wax Museum is a wax museum featuring replicas of celebrities located on Hollywood Boulevard in the tourist district in Hollywood, California, with other locations in Myrtle Beach, Branson, and Pigeon Forge. Among the wax replicas on ...
where he worked. On October 27, 1973, The Jackson 5
The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...
performed "Dancing Machine
"Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B outfit the Jackson 5, and was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together'' and was released as a remix ...
" on ''Soul Train'', which popularized roboting, but this was not the first time the dance had been performed on the show. Charles Robot had performed roboting on ''Soul Train'' two years earlier with his dance partner Angela Johnson.
Boogaloo and popping
Boogaloo is a freestyle, improvisational street dance movement of soulful steps and robotic movements which make up the foundations of Popping dance and Turfing; Boogaloo can incorporate illusions, restriction of muscles, stops, robot and/or wiggling. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s - Boogaloo groups in Oakland, CA
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
such as One Plus One, the Black Resurgents and the Black Messengers would help popularize the dance. Boogaloo street dance from Oakland would influence Northern California cities and movements would spread to Fresno via the West Coast Relays. In Fresno, The Electric Boogaloos are another funk styles crew founded in Fresno
Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
in 1977[ by Sam "Boogaloo Sam" Solomon, Nate "Slide" Johnson, and Joe "Robot Joe" Thomas.] Their name was originally The Electric Boogaloo Lockers, but they dropped "Lockers" the following year[ at the urging of their manager Jeff Kutash after the group moved from Fresno to Long Beach. Boogaloo Sam is credited with innovating popping from earlier boogaloo movements done in ]Oakland, CA
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
.[Chang 2006, p. 23. "Sam olomons creation, popping, also became known as the unauthorized umbrella title to various forms within the dance. past and present. Some of these forms include Boogaloo, strut, dime stop, wave, tick, twisto-flex, and slides."] However, there is disagreement as to whether he created the dances himself or borrowed moves from other street dancers.[Pagett 2008, p. 19.] What is not contested is how influential he and his crew were in exposing popping and boogaloo to mainstream audiences.[
Boogaloo is both a style of dance and a style of music.][Rubin 2007, p. 120.] It started out as a fad dance, and several songs were released in the 1960s celebrating it including "Boogaloo Down Broadway", "My Baby Likes to Boogaloo", "Hey You! Boo-Ga-Loo", "Do the Boogaloo," "Boogaloo #3," and "Sock Boogaloo."[ In response to this song-and-dance craze, Puerto Rican artists in New York City created a style of music called ]Bugalú
Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a music genre, genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans ...
(or Latin boogaloo) that combined mambo
Mambo most often refers to:
*Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form
*Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music
Mambo may also refer to:
Music
*Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particular ...
, soul, and R&B. Singer Joe Cuba
Joe Cuba (April 22, 1931 – February 15, 2009), was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".
Early years
Joe Cuba (birth name: Gilberto Miguel Calderón) was born in Harlem, New York ...
was a pioneer of this style.[
Although boogaloo was already a fad dance and a music genre in the 1960s, it did not become a dance style until Boogaloo Sam learned it, expanded it, and started performing it in public venues.] He was influenced to expand boogaloo by cartoons; the 1960s social dances the Twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
, the Popcorn, and the Jerk; and the movements of everyday people. As a dance style, it is characterized by rolling hip, knee, and head movements as if the body has no bones.[ ''Electric'' boogaloo is the signature dance style of The Electric Boogaloos. It is a combination of boogaloo and popping.][
]Popping
Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance) cultural movement in Oakland, California. As Boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as Robottin in Richmond, California, Strutting movements in San Francisco and San ...
is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body, referred to as a ''pop'' or a ''hit''. Popping is also an inadvertent umbrella term that includes several other illusory dance styles such as ticking, liquid, tutting, waving, gliding, twisto-flex, and sliding.[ Most of these cannot be traced to a specific person or group and may have influences earlier than hip-hop. Earl "Snake Hips" Tucker was a professional dancer in the 1920s who appeared in the film ''Symphony in Black'' and performed at the ]Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue (1923–1936), then briefly in the midtown Theater District (1936–1940).Elizabeth Winter"Cotton Club of Harlem (1923- )" Blac ...
in Harlem. Since hip-hop did not exist in the 1920s his style was considered jazz, but his "slithering, writhing" movement foreshadowed waving and sliding.
The most recognizable popping move is the moonwalk
Moonwalk may refer to:
Space travel
* Moonwalk, an excursion on the Moon, see Moon landing
** For a specific event, see List of spacewalks and moonwalks 1965–1999
** For a specific person, see List of people who have walked on the Moon
*Extrave ...
. In 1983, Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk—called the ''backslide'' in popping context[— on ]ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's Motown 25
''Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever'' is a 1983 television special, produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's 25th year (Motown was founded in January 1959). The program was taped before a live audience at th ...
television special. This performance popularized the moonwalk all over the world. However, it was not the first time the backslide had been performed on television or on film. Cab Calloway
Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...
performed the backslide in 1932, and Bill Bailey
Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...
performed it in the movies ''Cabin in the Sky'' (1943) and ''Rhythm and Blues Revue'' (1955). Furthermore, in 1982 during a performance in London on ''Top of the Pops'', street dancer Jeffrey Daniel
Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955 ) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter and choreographer, most notable for being a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a former ''Idol'' series judge ...
performed the backslide during the song " A Night to Remember".
In the 1970s, while Los Angeles was known for locking and Fresno was known for popping, several other cities in Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
had their own local funk styles. Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
was known for a style called sac-ing, San Jose for dime stopping, and Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
for snake hitting.[ The San Francisco crew Granny and Robotroid incorporated stepping moves and ]JROTC
The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC -- commonly pronounced "JAY-rotsee") is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military ...
rifle drill movements in their dancing to make a unique funk style called Fillmore strutting. This dance was named after the Fillmore district
The Fillmore District is a historical neighborhood in San Francisco located to the southwest of Nob Hill, west of Market Street and north of the Mission District.Oaks, Robert F. San Francisco's Fillmore District. lectronic resource n.p.: Charles ...
in San Francisco where Granny and Robotroid were from. Granny and Robotroid performed on the ''Gong Show
''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to 1 ...
'' in 1976. Although strutting had exposure on national television, it (and the rest of the localized funk styles) faded and never became mainstream.
Terminology
When the movies ''Breakin'
''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...
'' and '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'' were released, all the styles of dance performed in those films were put under the "breakdance" label. In addition, ''Breakin'' was released outside the United States as ''Breakdance: The Movie''. The media followed suit by calling all represented styles "breakdancing", which caused a naming confusion among the general public.[Scholss 2009, p. 60.] This was problematic for two reasons.
The first reason is that "breakdancing" became an inadvertent umbrella term among the general public for both breaking ''and'' the funk styles. The funk styles were created in California independent from breaking, which was created in New York. They are called funk styles because they were originally danced to funk music
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
. This name gives them a separate identity from breaking, which is traditionally danced to break beats.
The second reason this was problematic is that "breakdancing" was originally called b-boying
Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in t ...
or breaking by the street dancers who created it. A ''break'' is a musical interlude during a song—the section on a musical recording where the singing stops and the percussive rhythms are the most aggressive. When 1970s hip-hop DJs played break beats, dancers reacted to those breaks with their most impressive dance moves.[ DJ Kool Herc coined the terms "b-boys" and "b-girls", which stands for "break-boys" and "break-girls."][ To describe the movement, the suffix "ing" was added after the word identifying the dancer (b-boy''ing'') or the music beat (break''ing''). According to Timothy "]Popin Pete
Timothy Earl Solomon (born August 5, 1961), known as Popin' Pete , is an American dancer, choreographer who popularized the "popping" dance style and member of the Electric Boogaloos. Pete’s career has spanned over forty years since the emergenc ...
" Solomon, one of the original members of the Electric Boogaloos, and Raquel Rivera, author of the book ''New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone'' (2003), "breakdancing" is a media-coined term and incorrect.
Dance crews
A dance crew is a team of street dancers who come together to develop new moves and battle other crews. As hip-hop culture spread throughout New York City, the more often breaking crews got together to battle against each other. It was during this time that the different dance moves within breaking developed organically. All styles of hip-hop are rooted in battling, and being a part of a crew was the only way to learn when these styles began because they were not taught in studios: they all started out as social dances. Forming and participating in a crew is how street dancers practiced, improved, made friends, and built relationships. In breaking in particular, battling is how b-boys/b-girls improved their skill.[Schloss 2009, p. 111.]
Aside from Rock Steady Crew, several breaking crews were active in the 1970s such as Mighty Zulu Kings, Dynamic Rockers, New York City Breakers
The New York City Breakers are an original B-boy group in early 1980s that was established in the Bronx borough of New York City. The group originally consisted of members from Wildstyle and "Floor Master Crew"
History
The New York City Breake ...
, SalSoul, Air Force Crew, Crazy Commanders Crew, Starchild La Rock, and Rockwell Association. In the same way b-boy crews were active on the east coast of the United States spreading breaking throughout New York, funk crews were also active on the west coast spreading the funk styles throughout California. Aside from The Lockers and The Electric Boogaloos, other funk styles crews such as Medea Sirkas/Demons of the Mind, Black Messengers, The Robot Brothers, The Go-Go Brothers, Granny and Robotroid, and Chain Reaction were active during the 1970s performing on stage.
Chain Reaction was a four-man dance crew from Reseda, California
Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes ...
, whose members included Thomas "T-Bopper" Guzman-Sanchez, Paul "Cool Pockets" Guzman-Sanchez, Robert "Bosco" Winters, and Mike "Deuce" Donley. Just like The Electric Boogaloos had their own signature dance style called electric boogaloo, Chain Reaction also had their own signature dance style called ''crossover'' locking. They performed on the talk show ''Thicke of the Night
''Thicke of the Night'' is an American late-night talk show starring Alan Thicke and broadcast in first-run syndication during the 1983–1984 TV season.
Among the regulars on ''Thicke of the Night'' were Richard Belzer, Arsenio Hall, Rick Ducom ...
'' and in the movie ''Xanadu
Xanadu may refer to:
* Shangdu, the ancient summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire in China
* a metaphor for opulence or an idyllic place, based upon Coleridge's description of Shangdu in his poem ''Kubla Khan''
Other places
* Xanadu (Titan), ...
''. ''Xanadu'' premiered in 1980, four years earlier than the hip-hop dance classics ''Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
'' and ''Breakin'
''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a ...
''. ''Xanadu'' was the first time boogaloo, popping, and crossover locking were performed on film. In 1984, T-Bopper created a new dance crew called United Street Force. By invitation, this crew performed at the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
for President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
.
Crews still form based on friendships and neighborhoods. For example, dance crew Diversity
Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to:
Business
*Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce
*Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers
* ...
—formed in 2007—consists of brothers and friends from Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
and London. Crews also form for other reasons such as theme (Jabbawockeez
The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008. Established in 2003 in San Diego, California when dancers Kevin "KB" Brewer and Joe Larot pu ...
), gender (ReQuest Dance Crew
ReQuest Dance Crew (also known as ReQuest) are an all-female hip-hop dance crew from Auckland, New Zealand. ReQuest was formed in 2007, with originally five members. They are based out of The Palace Dance Studio in Penrose and are one of six cre ...
), ethnicity (Kaba Modern
Kaba Modern is a dance group originating in Irvine, California. Kaba Modern is a spin-off of the University of California, Irvine Filipino cultural club, Kababayan, which means "countrymen" in Tagalog. Created by Arnel Calvario in 1992, Kaba Mo ...
), dance style (Massive Monkeys
Massive Monkees is a 28 member b-boy crew from Seattle, Washington that won the 2004 World B-Boy Championships in London and appeared on season four of MTV's ''America's Best Dance Crew''. In 2012 they won the international b-boy competition R-1 ...
), and age ( Hip Op-eration). In 2013, Hip Op-eration performed an exhibition routine at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Las Vegas. At the time, their youngest member was 66.
In the 1970s, b-boy crews were neighborhood-based and would engage in battles held at local block parties called "jams". Today crews can battle in organized competitions with other crews from around the world. New Zealand crew ReQuest won the Australian-based competition World Supremacy Battlegrounds in 2009 and the American-based competition Hip Hop International in 2009 and 2010. On October 12, 2010, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism presented the Certificate of Merit to dance crew Big Toe for winning a variety of international dance competitions. Dance crews are more prevalent in hip-hop, but hip-hop dance companies do exist. Examples include Zoo Nation (UK), Culture Shock (USA), Lux Aeterna (USA), Boy Blue Entertainment (UK), Unity UK (UK), Bounce Streetdance Company
Bounce Streetdance Company is a dance company from Sweden that started 1997. Members include Alvaro Aguilera, Joe Jobe, Ambra Succi, Fredrik Rydman aka Benke, Filmon Michael, David Dalmo and Jennie Widegren. Many of the members has choreogra ...
(Sweden), and Funkbrella Dance Company (USA).
Social dancing
Hip-hop social dancing (party dancing) began when hip-hop musical artists started to release songs with an accompanying dance. In 1990, rapper MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper, dancer, record producer and entrepreneur. He is known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit" ...
created the Hammer dance and popularized it in his music video "U Can't Touch This
"U Can't Touch This" is a song co-written, produced, and performed by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released as the third single from his third album, ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' (1990), and has been considered his signature song. Along ...
". The Hammer dance was a social dance that became wildly popular and then faded as the album it was associated with, ''Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em
''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' is the third studio album by American rapper MC Hammer, released on February 12, 1990 by Capitol Records and EMI Records. The album was produced, recorded and mixed by Felton Pilate and James Earley.
The album r ...
'', lost popularity. Most social dances are short-lived fad dances, some are line dances, and others spawn new dance styles that stay relevant even after the life of the songs they came from come to an end. The development of hip-hop social dancing extends further back than the 1990s with the Charleston, a jazz dance; Chubby Checker's Twist, which was considered rock & roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
; several 1970s fad dances made popular by James Brown; and the influence of the television show ''Soul Train''.
The Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
was created in the 1920s by African-Americans in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
as a rebellion against prohibition. It gained popularity once it was embraced by Caucasians, but it was still considered an immoral dance due to its association with alcohol. This dance relied on partnering and eventually led to the creation of Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many danc ...
. Lindy Hop and the Charleston fall under the swing dance
Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular "swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that hav ...
genre; however, there is a dance move used in breaking that is taken from the Charleston called the ''Charlie'' rock.[ Singer-songwriter ]Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...
released the song "The Twist" with an accompanying dance of the same name in 1960. He performed the dance on the television show ''American Bandstand
''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...
'', and the song reached number one in 1960 and 1962. The Twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
was the most popular dance craze of the 1960s because it broke away from the trend of partner dancing enabling people to perform on their own.
James Brown was a major contributor to social dance. He popularized several fad dances in the 1970s such as the Mashed Potato
Mashed potato or mashed potatoes (American and Canadian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a ...
, the Boogaloo, and the Good Foot. His accompanying songs to these dances include "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes
__NOTOC__
"(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" is a rhythm and blues instrumental. It was recorded by James Brown with his band in 1959 and released as a two-part single in 1960. For contractual reasons the recording was credited to "Nat Kendrick and the ...
", "Do the Boogaloo", and "Get on the Good Foot
"Get on the Good Foot" is a funk song performed by James Brown. It was released in 1972 as a two-part single that charted #1 R&B and #18 Pop. It also appeared on an album of the same name released that year. Partly due to the unwillingness of Br ...
". The song "Do the Boogaloo" influenced Boogaloo Sam when he created the boogaloo dance style,[ and the Good Foot triggered the creation of breaking.][ In addition, James Brown also popularized the Funky Chicken, which was a major influence to Don Campbell when he created locking.][ In an interview with ]NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, Lockers' member Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quiñones stated "We're all children of James Brown... And you know, if James Brown was our father then you'd have to say Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius (September 27, 1936 – February 1, 2012) was an American television show host and producer widely known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance and music show ''Soul Train'', which he hosted from 1971 until 1993 ...
was our great uncle."
In 1970, Don Cornelius created ''Soul Train''. Before officially becoming a crew, members of The Lockers made several appearances on this show.[ They introduced different dance moves such as the Robot, Which-Aways, and the Stop-and-Go during the "Dance of the Week" segment of the broadcast.][ ]Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
was very popular during the 1970s, so some dance styles at that time such as waacking
Waacking (also ''whacking'', ''posing'' or ''punking'') is a form of street dance created in the LGBT clubs of Los Angeles during the 1970s disco era. The style is typically done to 70s disco music and is mainly distinguishable by its rotational ...
and hustle stemmed from disco music rather than funk. Hip-hop became more mainstream in the 1980s, and this surge in interest combined with the popularity of ''Soul Train'' kick-started the rise of hip-hop social dancing.
One of the more popular social dances created during the 1980s was the Cabbage Patch. The rap group Gucci Crew II
The Gucci Crew II was a Miami bass group popular between 1986 and 1994. The group was made up of MC V and TFS (aka 240 Shorty), along with Disco Rick, who was their DJ early on.
Debut single: "Gucci Bass"
Their first song, "Gucci Bass", was insp ...
created the dance and introduced it in their 1987 song of the same name, "The Cabbage Patch". Another popular social dance was the Roger Rabbit. This dance imitates the floppy movements of the lead cartoon character as seen in the 1988 film ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...
''. The rap duo Kid 'n Play
Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City that was most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The duo was composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eas ...
created the Kid 'n Play kick-step and performed it in their 1990 movie ''House Party
A house party is a type of party where people gather at the residence of the party's host.
Organization
A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, ...
''. It is a variation on the Charleston with elements of the Roger Rabbit and the Running Man. The Running Man is one of the most recognizable hip-hop social dances. According to ''Essence
Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
'' magazine, Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreograph ...
created the Running Man and taught the dance to Janet Jackson when she was working as her choreographer during Jackson's ''Control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
'' era. Jackson further popularized the dance when she performed it in her 1989 music video "Rhythm Nation
"Rhythm Nation" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, released as the second single from her fourth studio album, ''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson, in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and T ...
", and rapper MC Hammer kept the fervor going when he started to do the Running Man in his performances.[ The pop duo ]LMFAO
LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...
brought the Running Man back into the mainstream with their song "Party Rock Anthem
"Party Rock Anthem" is a song by American music duo LMFAO, featuring British singer Lauren Bennett and American music producer GoonRock. It was released as the first single from their second album '' Sorry for Party Rocking'' in 2011.
The sin ...
", which was named the 2011 song of the summer by Billboard.com
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...
. The accompanying dance in the song called The Shuffle combines three social dances: the Running Man, the (half) Charleston, and the T-step.[
DJ Troy "Webstar" Ryan and Bianca "Young B" Dupree released the song "]Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, d ...
" in 2006. The dance was so popular, at one point YouTube had over 2,000 video clips of kids performing it. The song sold 335,000 ringtones, but it was not strong enough to sustain momentum for the full length album " Webstar Presents: Caught in the Web", which was not successful.[ For this reason, the Chicken Noodle Soup song and dance faded. The ]Dougie
The Dougie ( ) is a hip hop dance generally performed by moving one's body in a shimmy style and passing a hand through or near the hair on one's own head.
The dance originated in Dallas, Texas, where it took its name from similar moves perfo ...
comes from Dallas, Texas. The dance was named after the 1980s rapper Doug E. Fresh
Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...
and popularized in the 2010 song "Teach Me How to Dougie
"Teach Me How to Dougie" is a song recorded by American hip hop group Cali Swag District. It was produced by Runway Star for Cali Swag District's debut studio album, '' The Kickback'' (2011). The song was written by Chanti Glee, Charon Childs, and ...
" by the rap group Cali Swag District
Cali Swag District was an American hip hop group from Inglewood, California, founded by former Death Row Records artist Big Wy and Dairold Potts. They are best known for their 2010 commercial debut single "Teach Me How to Dougie", which peaked ...
.[ According to the '']Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', the Dougie has been particularly popular as a celebratory dance among professional athletes.[ In 2010, ]CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
news anchor Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He is the host of ''The Situat ...
performed the Dougie at the Soul Train Music Awards
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...
.
Line dances
The Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are examples of urban line dances that were created from hip-hop songs of the same name. These line dances have the same premise as the more widely know Electric Slide. There are variations to the Electric Slide, but the dance is always performed to the song "Electric Boogie" by Marcia Griffiths
Marcia Llyneth Griffiths (born 23 November 1949) is a Jamaican singer. One reviewer described her by noting "she is known primarily for her strong, smooth-as-mousse love songs and captivating live performances".
Biography
Born in West Kingst ...
. In keeping with this tradition, the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are always performed to their respective songs.
DJ Willie "Casper" Perry created the song "Cha Cha Slide
"Cha Cha Slide" is a song by American artist DJ Casper. The song was released as a single in August 2000, and spent five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at the position of number 83. It continued to be a chart hit around the wo ...
" in 1996 for a personal trainer in his hometown Chicago. It did not get commercial airplay until 2000 when Chicago radio station WGCI-FM
WGCI-FM (107.5 MHz) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly known as Clear Channel Communication ...
started playing the song as part of its rotation. Soon after, other radio stations across the United States also started playing the song, and this increase in popularity led to a record deal with Universal Music Group. After securing a deal, the label began producing and distributing instructional videos of the dance to nightclubs, which helped spread its popularity.[ On February 20, 2011, dancers in ]Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...
set a Guinness world record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
when 2,387 people performed the dance at the Anaheim Convention Center.
The song "Cupid Shuffle
"Cupid Shuffle" is a song by Cupid from his 2007 studio album '' Time for a Change''. It has spawned a popular line dance and has drawn comparisons to DJ Casper's "Cha Cha Slide".
In the United States, the song peaked at number 66 on the ''Billb ...
" was released in February 2007 by singer Bryson "Cupid" Bernard from Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...
. In August 2007, 17,000 people set a world record when they performed the Cupid Shuffle (dance) to his song in Atlanta.[ The Soulja Boy dance became popular through MySpace when rapper DeAndre "]Soulja Boy
DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence, after his self published debut single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" peake ...
" Way posted his song "Crank That
"Crank That" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy Tell'em. It served as the lead single from his debut studio album, '' souljaboytellem.com'' (2007) and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recognized by its looping steelp ...
" to his MySpace page and uploaded an accompanying instructional video showing viewers how to perform the dance. After amassing more than 16 million page views, he was signed to Interscope Records.[
]
Footnotes
References
Citations
Bibliography
*Assunção, Matthias (2005). ''Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art''. New York City: Routledge. .
*Chang, Jeff (2005). ''Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation''. New York City: St. Martin's Press. .
*Chang, Jeff (2006). ''Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop''. New York City: BasicCivitas. .
*Guzman-Sanchez, Thomas (2012). ''Underground Dance Masters: Final History of a Forgotten Era''. Santa Barbara: Praeger. .
*Hess, Mickey, ed (2007). ''Icons of hip hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture''. Volume I. Westport: Greenwood Press. .
*Kugelberg, Johan (2007). ''Born in the Bronx''. New York City: Rizzoli International Publications Inc. .
*Morgan, Damien (2008). ''Hip Hop Had a Dream''. Volume I: The Artful Movement. Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse UK Ltd. .
*Nelson, Tom (2009). ''1000 Novelty & Fad Dances''. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. .
*Pagett, Matt (2008). ''The Best Dance Moves in the World... Ever''. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. .
*Rubin, Rachel; Melnick, Jeffrey (2006). ''Immigration and American Popular Culture: An Introduction''. New York City: New York University Press. .
*Schloss, Joseph (2009). ''Foundation: B-Boys, B-Girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York''. New York City: Oxford University Press. .
*Taylor, Gerard (2007). ''Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace''. Volume II. Berkeley: Blue Snake Books. .
External links
"A Dance Teacher's Guide to Hip Hop"
article from ''Dance Teacher'' magazine
{{Good article
Dance culture
Dance in the United States
Hip-hop
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