A headspin is an athletic move in which a person balances on their

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

while

rotating Rotation, or spin, is the circular movement of an object around a '' central axis''. A two-dimensional rotating object has only one possible central axis and can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A three-dimensional ...

along the vertical

axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

of their body, usually without any other form of support. The move is commonly employed in the

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

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 ...

and in

breakdancing 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 ...

. Though

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 ...

Kid Freeze is sometimes credited with having invented the headspin, the first known footage of the move is seen in the 1933 film, ''Wild Boys of the Road''. One of the film's protagonists Edward 'Eddie' Smith, played by Frankie Darro, performs a Headspin at the 67 minute mark. There is also an older video featuring a headspin "A Street Arab" Thomas A. Edison, INC April 21, 1898 in which a preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera. The dancer, Olav Thorshaug, performed Norwegian

hallingdans The Halling (''hallingdansen'') is a folk dance (''bygdedans'') traditionally performed in rural Norway, although versions of the halling can also be found in parts of Sweden. The dance is traditionally performed by young men at weddings and pa ...

shows in the United States of America around 1910-1920, incorporating the headspin in his dance. The first part of a frozen headspin is known as a ''hatstand''.

References

External links

* *https://web.archive.org/web/20090719124230/http://vodpod.com/watch/1723104-inventor-of-the-continuous-headspin-kid-freeze-on-vimeo *http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/papr:@field(NUMBER+@band(lcmp002+m2a32868)) Breakdance moves {{dance-stub de:Breakdance#Elemente des B-Boying