Most of us know the term Break dancing, but the pioneers and practitioners call it B-Boying or Breaking. The B stands for Break. Dancing on the break of a song. Jamaican songs.
Although dance forms associated with Hip-Hop did develop in New York City, half of them (i.e. popping and locking) originated and developed on the west coast of the US as part of a different cultural movement (funk).
Its a dynamic, rhythmic style of dance. Like many aspects of Hip-Hop, breakdance borrows heavily from many cultures like Brazilian and Asian martial arts, Russian folk dance… It is usually accompanied with Hip-Hop music playing on a boombox or PA system.
The B is short for breaking.
Rock Steady Crew:
B-Boying is made out of four elements:
- Toprock: Usually used as warm up, foot movement, from a standing position.
- Downrock: Hands and feet on floor
- Power move: Movements that require a lot of power like the windmill or the headspinn.
- Freeze: To hold a position, this enquirers incredible balance.
These four elements often draw movements form disciplines like Kung Fu, tap dance, gymnastics and Capoeira.
Breaking includes rhythm, movement and self expression. It connects and builds communities.
Before the 1990s, B-girls’ presence was limited by their gender minority status, but throughout the time the number of B-girls has increased.
B-Boys and B-Girls used to dance to Funk, Soul, Techno, Disco, Jazz and Rock music, before dancing to Hip-Hop. Then the sound got aggressive, which got people in the mood to battle. This was a way to get recognized. Instead of killing members from other gangs, they could now battle dance against each other. Often there was also money to win. Nowadays there are huge break dance competitions all over the world, but the competes usually wont dance in clubs and parties anymore.
Breaking is about getting people to notice you. That is a personal thing for each individual person, but its also a political statement, all of that stuff is embedded in the dance, just to say not only am I important as an individual but my community is important and the concerns of my community, the perspective and the point of view is important.
Sources:
Unit 11 