The Culture of Hip Hop and Breakin':

Photo credit Sayde Hernandez 

Dance is something that people use to express their own emotions and experiences. The most important thing is to express their ideals or their opinions. In many places of the world people use dance as a traditions or culture that they need to keep saving for the new versions of the dance types to evolve from. But mostly of the time dancers decide to dance because it is the only time where they can find themselves and be who they really are. For being a dancer you have to love what you're doing and how you are going to implement those skills in your life. 

Photo credit Sayde Hernandez.

Many of the dancers get involved in programs to get the experiences of their lives and make sure that they want to do it. In the dance world it is complicated to understand all types of dances. It is complicated when you do not understood the value, importance, and the roots of the dance. First thing you should ask yourself before to judge the dance style is, "How does this type of dance represent the culture of the country?" After you answer the question you are going to be able to understand why the people who dance that style are feeling that way when you see them dancing. Dance is important for people because there they can express their emotions, ideals, and opinions without hurting anyone. Behind each movement we can see a story in which people may relate to their own life and the emotions that they have. For many years we have seen some dances as a little informal for teenagers. But the thing that we do not know is that sometimes they dance those types of dances because it is the only way they can find their own expression.

Photo Credit Elias Garcia

Breakdance is also known as breaking, b-girling or b-boying. It is a street dance and part of the Hip Hop movement originated among African-Americans and Latin Americans youths in the South Bronx of New York during the early 1970’s. Breakdance has a variety of influences, there is no one style in Breakin'. Dancers picked different elements from other dances and sports, including but not limited gymnastics, Capoeira, Tap, Salsa, Jazz. A basic routine might require toprock, a transition into downrock, also know as footwork, a display of power moves, and finally a climatic freeze. 

Photo Credit Elias Garcia

Top-rocks refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position, relying upon a mixture of coordination, flexibility, style and most importantly rhythm. Usually it is the first and foremost opening display of style and it serves as a warm up for transitions into more acrobatic maneuvers. In contrast, downrock is all the footwork performed on the floor as in the 6-step.  

Downrock originally is performed with hands and feet on the floor.  Power moves refer to moves that require momentum and physical power to execute. In power moves, the breaker relies more on core and upper body strength to dance, using his or her hands and torso to do moves. Power moves include windmills, swipes, headpins, halos, flares, airfares and variations of those moves. These moves are extremely demanding and the breaker uses them as a display of upper body strength and stamina.

Photo Credit Ian Flaws

In 1970's breaking was only one traditional style that make them the originals. By the passing of years Breaking came to be one of the most popular dances in the whole Bronx and in all of New York. One of the first crew of Breaking was Rock Steady Crew. Rock Steady Crew emphasizes styles to show dancers individual flavor. Even though power moves have a great impact and are very energetic, it is hard to put individual flavor into moves. Rock Steady Crew encouraged footwork to emphasize style and should be the direction of breaking into the 80s and 90's.

Photo Credit Elias Garcia

The first generations of b-boys were Nigger Twins, Clark Kent, and Zulu kings. Around 1977 breaking lost credibility with black kids and was dying out. Breaking came back with a new generation of b-boys. In this case was Puerto Rican b-boys who put new life to breaking and took it into another level. They invented new moves and also they implement many higher levels of acrobatics and gymnastics. B-boys such as Crazy Legs from the Rock Steady Crew who was influenced by Jimmy Lee, and Joe Joe who were members of the original Rock Steady Crew and who invented the backspins and windmills. Also there were other B-boys such as Lil Lep from the new York City Breakers. Kung Fu films and martial arts had a major influence on B-boying culture. The popularity of Kung Fu film during the mid and late 70's around the world but specially in New York has had a great impact in the B-boying style.

Photo Credit Ian Flaws 

One of the first freestyles dance was the "Good Foot" from James Brown's. The first freestyle incorporated moves that involved drops and spins, and resembled the beginning of breaking. The best way to describe the "Good Foot" is to imagine a majorette marching in a parade taking steps raised high at the knee but keeping the leg raised after knee in the air for a beat before dropping it down again.

Photo Credit Ian Flaws 

Breaking has had becoming really important in the industry, because as Breaking became famous many of companies became sponsors of different crews and at the same time became a really important in the entertainment industry because we saw many movies that used it and showed a little part off the story behind it. But specially in one movie which is called "Beat Street" in which we can see a scene that is the famous battle between the Rock Steady Crew vs New York City Breakers that helped make the movie be successful. In this movie it is impossible to see B-boying and not be impressed by the similarities to the forms of Angolan and Brazilian Capoeira, Cuban Rumba, or Chinese Kung Fu all of which by now have been incorporated into the dance. But Crazy Legs, one of the most famous Breakers, says that the dance evolved in a very specific time and place. Crazy Legs says that in that time they didn't know what was a Capoeira, because they grow up in the ghetto, also they didn't have dance schools. Dance schools were only about Tap, Jazz and Ballet. But he only saw one dance school where they were teaching Ballet. In those times the only influence of B-boying that they had was James Brown.

Photo Credit Ian Flaws 

Another important part of Hip Hop is graffiti art. Graffiti became really famous when every new school year more kids were doing graffiti. Graffiti was a way to gain status claiming one's own property and to have identity. When you become a graffiti artist you start on your own street, then you went to the buses, you take over your neighborhood, then to your home train line, then to your division and lastly to the whole city. The first movement to break out was the graffiti underground in train tunnels. Until this point the graffiti movement had anticipated the arcs of the other movements. Graffiti was done by all ethnicities. At the same time was based on skills, not skin color or religion, or anything else that you aren't able to translate to the pieces you made. Graffiti is especially multicultural, representing the ethnic diversity of New York City, the city that spawned it. Urban graffiti comes from New York City in the late 1970s and was born in the subway trains. Tagging inside of the trains with permanent makers and spray cans became popular as well and especially doing murals on the outside of the trains. Graffiti represented the visual, MCs and DJ produced the music and Breakin was the dance. 

Photo Credit Ian Flaws 

Graffiti writers were often Breakin and DJing as well. At the parties you would see artists doing their own thing, while the DJ was spinning record and scratching them. The MC would rev up the crowd while the Bboys battled each other on the dance floor. Graffiti writers would try to make their tags/signature more stylish than anyone else's. Later on writers started adding more colors, special effects and even making their names bigger and bigger. Graffiti evolved into a complex art form with its own techniques and vocabulary. A common misconception is that graffiti is all gang-related, but most of the graffiti is not gang related. Gang graffiti is used to mark territory and not much time or effort is spend in creating their "art."

   Dance is a great way for some people to express their ideas and opinions. At the same time they can show who they are and how they want to act. Music is connected to dance because when the people listen to the beat they actually can start dancing and expressing all the emotions that they want to express. In many places of the world dance helps people to get over the situation that they are dealing with in those moments. At the same time many dancers chose the style that represented them in many ways. The style helps them to feel more confident through self expression, and other characteristics  of their chosen style. In the art of dance people express their own experiences through movement, that is why many of the dancers feel confident when they are doing their own thing. Dance is an important element in the life of many humans in society, because through dance they can show society who they really are. Now that you understand better the culture of the Hip Hop and Breaking you should able to understand why those dancers decided to dance it and how they feel when they are Breakin.

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