Styles of Dance

I've been thinking about how breakdancing (and other elements of hip hop) - when it first really started to take off in popular media - has been isolated, detached, extracted from the culture in which it originated. The previous post shows a contrast from 1984 to 2012 and how the artform itself has been refined and advanced in a discussion of its own.

Much like the study of cultures, it is possible to look only at the rituals and conduct analysis. Similarly, breakdancing has been separated and launched into its own platform as an art. Spurred by capitalistic motives and corporate desires for profit, breakdancing much like the other elements of hip hop (MCing/rapping, graffiti/street art, DJing) has been commodified and severed from its roots in which they originated. From this severence they have effectively become forms of art in which any body, any culture, can take and turn into their own. This is, on one hand, the beauty of what hip hop has done for the world, but on the other it has deprived the povershed neighborhoods in the boroughs of New York of its riches. Their ideas and cultures have been taken, commodified, capitalized, and stamped with a copyright by corporations while leaving the artists and the places of origin with very little. This is not an unfamiliar tactic. Disney is a classic example.

Despite the banality of vampires, cultures continue to remain creative. And breakdancing is no longer just breakdancing. It has not remained static - although it is easy to maintain that impression. New styles of dance have emerged from within the hip hop culture.

In any documentary or account of hip hop and breakdancing, it would be customary to discuss the origins of the b-boy and b-girl in New York (Bronx). Many of these crews are documented in various early 80s movies and documentaries; you can see an example below with the battle between NYC breakerz and Rock Steady in the movie Beat Street (1984). It would also be necessary to discuss the popping movement that came out of California along with its various styles.

But since then, a variety of other styles have emerged as well. Much has gone un-noticed outside of a momentary surge in media, random whatever television shows and movies, trying to showcase the dynamic styles marinating the streets today. Krumping became noticed with...I forget some dance crew tv show and other dance shows.

So given this background, I thought I'ld post a few videos of the various styles I've come across from random research on the internet. I'm sure I've missed a few styles and this is only an account from my own curiosity and investigation a few years ago. I can't attest to any accuracy of timeline or when it first came out but simply showcase the diversity. I will say that these styles have been out for a while now.

*NOTE: Before the styles below came out, there were several gang related dances with the Crips (C-Walk) and the Bloods (B-Walk), which I won't show here. But from what I understand with these styles, they are writing or tagging (a gang name) with their feet. So with the B-Walk you will see more spins. These styles, I believe, have actually been banned from California clubs due to their gang affiliation and what they represent. A good example of both styles is in the music video by X-Zibit, 'Get Your Walk On'. Also, there are influences from the Harlem Shake (before it became a ridiculous internet meme), which was first exposed to the mainstream with G-Dep's 'Let's Get It' music video 


So without further ado:


KRUMP (showcased in the 2005 documentary 'Rize')





And of course Krumping took with several years later as it became showcased on television - and Tight Eyez really became one of the representative figures to have some national exposure.Dude was even on Ellen.



JERK



This style got some exposure through a music video by Audio Push - Teach Me How to Jerk



DOUGIE



This style really took off with Cali Swag District's - Teach Me How to Dougie
And of course, you see a lot of public figures - celebrities, athletes, do the dougie.



HYPHY





TURF





MEMPHIS JOOKIN 



Lil Buck went on to do a piece with Yo-Yo Ma:





MEMPHIS BUCKIN





NEW ORLEANS BOUNCE





CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP



Now I'm sure there are more that have emerged since I did this research. I suppose this is really a taste of how culture can take off into new shapes and innovative forms. Not only does dance become a form of expressing personal identity, geographical and group identity in terms of group boundaries and an expansion to break and disrupt social boundaries by dancing in public. It is always, at a basic level, an expression of creativity and resilient fluidity of culture.  

It would be good to see the geographical origins in which dance styles and cultures come from benefit, empowered, and enriched from their creations. It really blows my mind how some of the boroughs of New York, and especially the South Bronx, can remain in such povershed conditions when they created, perhaps, the most capitalized culture and forms of art on a global scale. Shouldn't these areas in which these forms came from benefit from their creativity? I mean, the Bronx should be one of the richest neighborhoods in the world now.

In a way, these forms of dance blur the boundaries of what is "breakdancing". But in my view, I would include them. I don't see "breakdancing" as a static singular form of dance but one that can change and continuously evolve. Quite simply, different styles and ways of expression are coming out; they're grooving to a different break.