| Hip-hop dance | |
|---|---|
 A b-boy performing in a cipher in Turkey. |
|
| Main Styles | |
|
Uprock – Roboting – Boogaloo – Tutting – Gliding – Waving – Liquid – Strobing – Animation |
|
| Derivative Styles | |
| Street | Turfing – Jerkin' – Krumping – Memphis Jookin' |
| Studio | New Style – Jazz-Funk – Lyrical hip-hop |
| Cultural Origins | |
| African Americans – Latino Americans – Turntables – James Brown – South Bronx – Fresno – Los Angeles – United States – Hip-hop culture – Funk – Hip-hop music – Social dancing | |
Hip-hop dance refers to dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop mainstream exposure. The dance industry responded with a studio based version of hip-hop—sometimes called new style—and jazz-funk. Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to create choreography from the hip-hop dances that were being performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is practiced in both dance studios and outdoor spaces. The commercialization of hip-hop dance continued into the 1990s and 2000s with the production of several other television shows and movies such as The Grind, Dance 360, Planet B-Boy, Rize, StreetDance 3D, America's Best Dance Crew, the Step Up film franchise, and The LXD, a web series. Though the dance is established in entertainment, it still maintains a strong presence in urban neighborhoods which has led to the creation of street dance derivatives turfing, krumping, and jerkin'.
Hip-hop dance has a particularly strong influence in France, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. France is the home of Juste Debout, an international hip-hop dance competition, and Battle of the Year, the largest team-based breaking competition in the world. South Korea is home to the international breaking competition R16 which is sponsored by the government and broadcast every year live on Korean television. Like France, the UK also hosts two international competitions: The UK B-Boy Championships and the World Street Dance Championships.
What distinguishes hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle (improvisational) in nature and hip-hop dance crews often engage in freestyle dance competitions, colloquially referred to as battles. Crews, freestyling, and battles are identifiers of this style. Hip-hop dance can be a form of entertainment or a hobby. It can also be a lifestyle: a way to be active in physical fitness or competitive dance and a way to make a living by dancing professionally.
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Hip-hop dance is a broad category that includes a variety of urban styles. The older dance styles that were created in the 1970s include uprock, breaking, and the funk styles.[1] Breaking was created in The Bronx, New York, incorporating dances that were popular in the 1960s and early 1970s in African-American and Latino communities. In its earliest form, it began as elaborations on James Brown's "Good Foot" dance[1][2] which came out in 1972. Breaking at this period was not primarily floor oriented as seen today; it started out as toprock which dancers perform while standing up. An influence on toprock was uprock[3] which was created in Brooklyn, New York.[4][5] It looks similar to toprock, but it is more aggressive and looks like a fight. Uprock is done with partners, but in toprock, and in breaking in general, each person takes turns dancing.[6] In 1973 DJ Kool Herc invented the break beat.[7][8] A break beat is a rhythmic, musical interlude of a song that has been looped over and over again to extend that instrumental solo. Kool Herc did this to provide a means for dancers who attended his parties to demonstrate their skills.[8] B-boy and b-girl stands for "break-boy" and "break-girl"; b-boys and b-girls dance to the break of a record.[8] Further influenced by martial arts[9] and gymnastics, breaking went from being a purely upright dance style—toprock only—to becoming more floor oriented. Though at its inception the earliest b-boys were "close to 90 percent African-American", dance crews such as "SalSoul" and "Rockwell Association" were populated almost entirely by Latino Americans.[10] Historian Joseph Glenn Schloss described it as such:
“ In other words, there were three basic stages to the development of the dance: the early rock dance of the '60s, which was Latino and citywide; Brooklyn rocking or uprocking which was Latino and Brooklyn-based; and b-boying, which is Black and Latino and Bronx-based. Within this basic framework, it is not difficult to see how three constituencies-Brooklyn Latinos, Bronx Latinos, and African Americans-could have three totally different perspectives on the history.[11] ”
At the same time breaking was developing in New York, other styles were being created in California. The funk styles refers to several street dance styles created in California in the 1970s that were danced to funk music.[12] These styles include roboting, bopping, hitting, locking, bustin', popping, electric boogaloo, strutting, sac-ing, dime-stopping, etc.[13] The most popular and widely practiced of the funk styles are locking and popping which were created by African-Americans Don Campbell and Sam Solomon respectively. Locking is older than popping and it was created in the late 1960s whereas popping was created in the 1970s.[14] The television show, Soul Train, helped to spread locking and popping's popularity. Both The Lockers and the Electric Boogaloos—dance crews responsible for the spread of these urban styles—performed on this show.[12]
It would be historically inaccurate to say that the funk styles have always been considered hip-hop. The funk styles were adopted into hip-hop in large part due to the media. Once hip-hop activist and DJ, Afrika Bambaataa, used the word "hip-hop" in a magazine interview in 1982, "hip-hop dance" became an umbrella term encompassing all of these styles.[15] Due to the amount of attention locking and popping were receiving, the media brought these styles under the "breakdance" label causing confusion about their origin.[16][17] They were created on the west coast independent from breaking and came out of the funk cultural movement rather than from the hip-hop cultural movement.
As breaking, locking, and popping were emerging in the 1970s, hip-hop social dancing was growing as well. Novelty and fad dances such as the Roger Rabbit, the Cabbage Patch, and the Worm appeared in the 1980s followed by the Running Man and the Humpty dance in the 1990s.[18] More recent social dances include the Cha Cha Slide, the Soulja Boy, and the Dougie. The previously mentioned dances are a sample of the many that have appeared since hip-hop developed into a distinct dance style. Like hip-hop music, hip-hop social dancing has continued to change as new songs are released and new dances are created to accompany them.
Breaking was created in the South Bronx, New York during the early 1970s.[2] It is the first hip-hop dance style. At the time of its creation, it was the only hip-hop dance style because Afrika Bambaataa classified it as one of the five pillars of hip-hop culture along with MCing (rapping), DJing, graffiti writing, and knowledge.[19][20][21][22] Though African Americans created breaking,[23][24] Puerto Ricans maintained its growth and development when it was considered a fad in the late 1970s.[25] In a 2001 interview Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón, the president of Rock Steady Crew, commented on how Puerto Ricans contributed to breaking: "I think the difference is when the brothas first started doing [it] and it was at its infancy they weren't doing acrobatic moves. That didn't come into play until more Puerto Ricans got involved in the mid 70s. We then took the dance, evolved it and kept it alive. In '79 I was getting dissed. I would go into a dance and I would get dissed by a lot of brothas who would ask 'Why y'all still doing that dance? That's played out'. By 79, there were very few African American brothas that was doing this... We always maintained the flava. It was like a changing of the guard and all we did was add more flava to something that already existed."[24][26][27] Breaking includes four foundational dances: toprock, footwork oriented steps performed while standing up; downrock, footwork performed with both hands and feet on the floor; freezes, stylish poses done on your hands; and power moves, complex and impressive acrobatic moves.[note 1] Transitions from toprock to downrock are called "drops."[28]
Traditionally, breakers dance within a cipher or an Apache Line. A cipher is a circular shaped dance space formed by spectators that breakers use to perform in.[13] Ciphers work well for one-on-one b-boy (break-boy) battles; however, Apache Lines are more appropriate when the battle is between two crews—teams of street dancers. In contrast to the circular shape of a cipher, competing crews can face each other in this line formation, challenge each other, and execute their burns[29][30] (a move intended to humiliate the opponent, i.e. crotch grabbing). In 1981, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City hosted a breaking battle between the Dynamic Rockers and the Rock Steady Crew.[31] The Daily News and National Geographic covered this event.[32]
Locking, originally called Campbellocking, was created in Los Angeles, California by Don "Campbellock" Campbell and popularized in the United States by his crew The Lockers.[14] In addition to Campbell, the original members of The Lockers were Fred "Mr. Penguin" Berry, Leo "Fluky Luke" Williamson, Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quinones, Bill "Slim the Robot" Williams, Greg "Campbellock Jr" Pope, and Toni Basil, who also served as the group's manager.[33][34] At the 2009 World Hip Hop Dance Championships, Basil became the first female recipient of the Living Legend Award in honor of her role in giving locking commercial exposure.[35]
Locking looks similar to popping, and the two are frequently confused by the casual observer. In locking, dancers hold their positions longer. The lock is the primary move used in locking. It is "similar to a freeze or a sudden pause."[36] A locker's dancing is characterized by frequently locking in place and after a brief freeze moving again.[14] It is incorrect to call locking "pop-locking".[14][37] Locking and popping are two distinct funk styles with their own histories, their own set of dance moves, and their own competition categories. Locking is more playful and character-driven, whereas popping is more illusory. In popping, dancers push the boundaries of what they can do with their bodies.[14] Locking has specific dance moves that distinguish it from popping and other funk styles. These moves include "the lock, points, skeeter [rabbits], scooby doos, stop 'n go, which-away, and the fancies."[36] A dancer cannot perform both locking and popping simultaneously.[14]
Popping was created by Sam Solomon in Fresno, California and performed by his crew the Electric Boogaloos.[14] It is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in a dancer's body, referred to as a pop or a hit. Each hit should be synchronized to the rhythm and beats of the music. Popping is also used as an umbrella term to refer to a wide range of other closely related illusionary dance styles[38] such as strobing, liquid,[12] animation, and waving.[38] Dancers often integrate these styles with standard popping to create a more varied performance.[note 2] In all of these subgenres, it appears to the spectator that the body is popping, hence the name. The difference between each subgenre is how exaggerated the popping is. In liquid, the body movements look like water. The popping is so smooth that the movements do not look like popping at all; they look fluid.[12] The opposite of this is strobing (also called ticking) in which the movements are staccato and jerky.[40]
Popping as an umbrella term also includes gliding, floating, and sliding[12][38][note 3] which are lower body dances done with the legs and feet. In gliding, a dancer appears as if they are drifting across the floor on ice. Opposite from gliding is tutting which is an upper body dance that uses the arms, hands, and wrists to form right angles and create geometric box-like shapes. Tutting can be done primarily with the fingers rather than the arms. This method is called finger tutting. In both variations, the movements are intricate, linear, and form 90° or 45° angles. In practice, tutting looks like the characters on the art of ancient Egypt, hence the name—a reference to King Tut.
While popping as an umbrella term is widely used by hip-hop dancers and in competitive hip-hop dancing, Timothy "Popin' Pete" Solomon of the Electric Boogaloos disagrees with the use of the word "popping" in this way. Many of these related styles (animation, liquid, tutting, etc.) can not be traced to one person or group. Solomon states "There are people who wave and there are people who tut. They’re not popping. I say this to give the people who created other styles their just dues and their props."[14]
A dance crew is a group of street dancers who come together to develop new moves and create dance routines. As hip-hop culture spread through New York City, the more breaking crews got together to battle against each other. It was during this time that the different dance moves within breaking would develop organically.[65][note 5] All styles of hip-hop are rooted in battling,[66] 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.[67]:74 Forming and participating in a crew is how street dancers practiced, improved, made friends, and built relationships.[68] In breaking in particular, battling is how dancers improved their skill.[4] In the 1970s b-boy crews were neighborhood-based and would engage in battles held at local block parties called "jams".[69] Today crews can battle in organized competitions with other crews from around the world.
Crews still form based on friendships and neighborhoods. For example, dance crew Diversity—formed in 2007[70]—is made up of brothers and friends from Essex and London.[71] Crews also form for other reasons such as theme (Jabbawockeez), gender (ReQuest Dance Crew), ethnicity (Kaba Modern), and dance style (Massive Monkeys). Since crews are not exclusive, street dancers can be involved in more than one crew.[note 6] In addition, dance crews are not formed only within the hip-hop realm anymore. The FootworKINGz is a dance crew that performs footwork, a style of house dance, and Fanny Pak performs contemporary. Dance crews are more prevalent in hip-hop, but hip-hop dance companies do exist. Examples include Zoo Nation (UK),[note 7] Culture Shock (USA), Lux Aeterna (USA),[note 8] Boy Blue Entertainment (UK), Bounce Streetdance Company (Sweden), Funkbrella Dance Company (USA), and Blaze Streetdance Company (Netherlands).
Decades after breaking, locking, and popping became established, three new dance styles appeared. Turfing, an acronym for Taking Up Room on the Floor, was created in 2002 by street dancer Jeriel Bey in Oakland, California.[39] Turfing is a fusion of miming and gliding that places heavy emphasis on storytelling (through movement) and illusion. Other than San Francisco bay area pride, turfing avoided becoming a fad due to local turf dance competitions and local youth programs that promote turfing as a form of physical activity.[75]
On the heels of its exposure, another dance style came out of Los Angeles called jerkin'. Jerkin' was popularized in 2009 by the New Boyz rap song "You're a Jerk"[76][77] which went viral via their YouTube and MySpace pages[76]:3 before they had a manager or were signed to a record label. After hearing about the song, Los Angeles radio station Power 106 hired the New Boyz to perform at local high schools.[76]:2 These shows led to the song entering the radio's playlist.[76]:2 Later that year, rap duo Audio Push released the song and video "Teach Me How to Jerk" which showcased the different dance moves within jerkin' including the reject—the Running Man done in reverse.[77][78] Dancers who perform jerking typically wear bright colors, skinny jeans, Mohawks, and Vans sneakers.[76]:1,5[79] This trend echos locking dancers in the 1970s who traditionally wore suspenders and black and white striped socks.[14] Of the dance, journalist Jeff Weiss from LA Weekly stated "For a youth culture weaned on the cult of individualism, jerkin’ is its apotheosis."[76] Similar to breaking, locking, and popping, jerkin's popularity spread through dance crews. For example, the Rej3ctz (crew) created the reject dance move.[76]:2, 4
Although these styles have generated regional support and media attention, both turfing and jerkin' have not reached the same zenith as krumping. Ceasare "Tight Eyez" Willis and Jo'Artis "Big Mijo" Ratti created krumping[80] in the early 2000s in South Central, Los Angeles.[81] It was only practiced in the Los Angeles metro area until it gained mainstream exposure by being featured in several music videos[82] and showcased in the krumping documentary Rize. Rize was screened at several film festivals before being commercially released[note 9] in the summer of 2005.[83] Clowning,[note 10] the less aggressive predecessor to krumping, was created in 1992 by Thomas "Tommy the Clown" Johnson.[82] Johnson and his dancers would paint their faces and perform clowning for children at birthday parties or for the general public at other functions as a form of entertainment.[82] In contrast, krumping focuses on highly energetic battles and movements which Johnson describes as intense, fast-paced, and sharp.[82] "If movement were words, [krumping] would be a poetry slam."[81] Compared to breaking and the funk styles, turfing, jerkin', and krumping are relatively new. The cultural similarities between these street dance styles, the funk styles, and breaking have brought them together under the same subculture of hip-hop.
"Street dancing was never ever ever to a count. You do not count a 1,a 2,a 3,a 4, a 5, a 6 to hip hop. It should be a feeling by making noise like "ou" "ah" "aw" "tsi", that's how we count, right there."
The dance industry responded to hip-hop dance by creating a commercial version of it. This commercial dance or studio hip-hop, often called new style, is the kind of hip-hop dance seen in rap, R&B, and pop music videos and concerts. From the point of view of someone deeply immersed in hip-hop culture, anything that looks like hip-hop dance that did not come from the streets is not a true hip-hop dance form. In an interview with Dance magazine, choreographer and hip-hop dance teacher Emilio "Buddha Stretch" Austin, Jr explained how he felt about commercial hip-hop:
“ There are a lot of jazz dancers out there doing pseudo hip hop. A lot of teachers don't know the history, they're just teaching the steps. They're learning from videos, but they don't know the culture. If all you see is Britney Spears, you think that's hip hop, but that's never been hip hop. It's completely watered down. And studios could [sic] care less, because hip hop is one of their biggest moneymakers.[67] ”
Stage performance can suppress improvisation which defined hip-hop dance early in its development.[1][67][84] Furthermore, meshing different dance styles together dissolves their structures and identities.[1] In an interview with The Bronx Journal, choreographer and artistic director Safi Thomas expressed a similar qualm as Austin concerning hip-hop instruction within the studio:
“ In a lot of studios what you find is people just doing movement to hip-hop music. So if there's hip-hop music in the background, and they're moving, they're calling it a hip-hop class. The problem with that is let's say that I wanted to teach a ballet class, and I just come in, and I throw on Mozart, and I just start moving; and I'm not doing any of the foundational elements. I am not doing any of the movement vocabulary of ballet. I can not call that a ballet class and that's what happens in relation to hip-hop... within the studio realm there is no standard for the art form, and [the teachers] don't know what the foundational elements of the art are. They know nothing about popping, nothing about locking, nothing about boogaloo, breaking, or the hip-hop dance—the social dances—or any of that. They know none of the history which spans over 30–35 years, and so they cut off any type of edification a dancer can have.[85] ”
From a technical aspect, hip-hop dance (new style) is characterized as hard-hitting involving flexibility and isolations—moving a specific body part independently from others.[86][87]:82 The feet are grounded,[67]:76 the chest is down,[87]:82 and the body is kept loose[88] so that dancers can easily alternate between hitting the beat or moving through the beat. This is in contrast to ballet and ballroom dancing where the chest is upright and the body is stiff. In addition, new style hip-hop is very rhythmic, and emphasis is placed on musicality[88]—how sensitive your movements are to the music—and being able to freestyle (improvise).[86][87]:85 As long as dancers keep the foundational movements, they can add their own (free)style and have a performance that is still hip-hop.[89]
Another style the dance industry created was jazz-funk. Jazz-funk (also called street-jazz) is a hybrid of hip-hop and jazz dance.[12] R&B singer Beyoncé uses this style.[12] Although it borrows from hip-hop dance, it is not considered a style of hip-hop because the foundational movements are jazz. In hip-hop—even in lyrical hip-hop—there are no pirouettes, or arabesques, and dancers do not perform on relevé (on the balls of the feet). However, these methods are used in jazz-funk and in jazz dance in general.[12] Dance studios responded to these developments by hiring classically trained dancers and offering hip-hop (new style) and jazz-funk dance classes. Large scale studios around the world that teach hip-hop and jazz-funk dance classes include Pineapple Studios (London), Millennium (Los Angeles), Broadway Dance Center (New York), Edge Performing Arts Center (Los Angeles), The Vibe – The International Hip Hop Dance Center (Oslo), Boogiezone (Los Angeles),[note 11] Debbie Reynolds (Los Angeles), Sunshine Studios (Manchester), DREAM Dance Studio (Vancouver), Ones to Watch (Japan & Hong Kong), and KJD Dance Studio (Sydney).
Other developments in the dance industry occurred in response to the growing popularity of hip-hop. On the traveling convention circuit, there were tap, ballet, and jazz dance conventions, but there were none specifically for hip-hop. The same void existed in dancewear. There was dancewear for tap, ballet, and jazz dancers but none for hip-hop dancers. Monsters of Hip Hop and Nappytabs dancewear were formed to answer to both needs. Monsters of Hip Hop is the first dance convention dedicated exclusively to hip-hop instruction. It was founded in 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland by Andy Funk, Becky Funk, and Angie Servant.[90] Choreographers Brian Friedman, Fatima Robinson, and Travis Payne have taught at this convention in the past.[91][92] The 2008 tour was sponsored by DanceJam.com, an urban dance social networking website cofounded by MC Hammer.[93] Nappytabs is the first line of hip-hop dancewear.[94] Because the clothing is made for hip-hop dancers, they do not sell leotards, unitards, tights, or leg warmers. Their line consists of tank tops, shorts, t-shirts, sweat pants, and hoodies. Like Nappytabs, Threader responded to the demand for appropriate dancewear for hip-hop. Threader is an online distribution outlet for dance-inspired streetwear created by hip-hop choreographers and crews.[95][96] It was founded in 2009 by Traci Copeland, Marc David, and choreographer Luam Keflezgy. Threader has distributed clothing for brands/dancers such as Poreotics, Wildchild,[note 12] Beat Freaks, Dance2XS, and Laurie Ann Gibson.[95][97]
Lyrical hip-hop is a fluid and more interpretive version of new style hip-hop often danced to downtempo rap music or R&B music. British hip-hop choreographer Kate Prince describes it as "hip-hop with emotion."[98] It focuses more on choreography and performance and less on freestyling and battles. Lyrical hip-hop first gained mainstream exposure, and its name, on season four of the reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance.[99] The actual term is credited to Adam Shankman, a choreographer and judge on the program, who made a comment in reference to a routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo to Leona Lewis' song "Bleeding Love".[99] Due to Shankman's comment and their subsequent work on seasons four through seven, Tabitha and Napoleon are credited with developing this style.[100][101][102][103][104] According to Dance Spirit magazine, what differentiates lyrical hip-hop from standard new style hip-hop is that dancers interpret the beat differently:
"The great thing about this show is that we've really explored a totally new thing which is lyrical hip-hop and [Tabitha and Napoleon] nail it. This show has shown that hip-hop is just a completely legitimate beautiful genre in and of its own and you can tell such beautiful and heart breaking stories."
“ What makes lyrical hip hop unique is that your dance movements have to tell a story to the lyrics of a song. Expect isolations (especially of the chest), slow, fluid movements (like gliding and body waves) and contemporary-inspired turns (but not pirouettes). There’s popping, but not the hard-hitting kind. Dancers are meant to look like they’re unwinding, unraveling and floating.[99] ”
Some hip-hop purists feel the interpretive and softer approach means lyrical hip-hop is not hip-hop at all.[99] Others, such as hip-hop choreographer Shane Sparks, believe that it is hip-hop but not different enough for it to be in its own subgenre.[99] Out of all the subgenres of hip-hop dance, lyrical hip-hop is the newest.
The entertainment industry has been largely responsible for introducing hip-hop dance to mainstream audiences. The first hip-hop films Wild Style, Beat Street, and Breakin' were made in the 1980s. Wild Style was the first movie centered around hip-hop culture; however, Flashdance was the first commercially released film to feature breaking.[note 13] Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo brought the funk styles to the cinema. Breaking, locking, popping, and waacking—a style of house dance—were performed in these films.[106] Several hip-hop dance films were produced after the millennium. The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy, B-Girl, and Planet B-Boy all showcased breaking. Films such as Honey, You Got Served, How She Move, Step Up, Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D, StreetDance 3D, and Saigon Electric showcased all forms of hip-hop dance, especially new style hip-hop. Rize, The Heart of Krump, and Shake City 101 are documentaries about krumping. These movies and documentaries are all examples of films where the plot and theme surround hip-hop dance and how it affects the characters' lives.
Before reaching movie audiences, hip-hop dance was already being broadcast on television. Soul Train, which premiered in 1970,[107] was the earliest television show that showcased the funk styles on a consistent basis. Soul Train was a syndicated, music show that featured social dancing and performances by African American soul, funk, and R&B singers. During its 36 year run,[34] the dancers were the highlight of the show.[107] As a group, they were referred to as the Soul Train Gang. Auditions were held in 1971 when the show was moved from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. Dancers who wanted to get on Soul Train after this time had to rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from dancers who were already employed by the show.[108] A regular feature of the show was the Soul Train Line.[109] During this segment, the dancers formed two lines facing each other which a large space in between them. Each dancer in line would take their turn dancing down the middle. A similar show to Soul Train was Solid Gold, which premiered in 1980.[110] Solid Gold centered around dancing and music hits, and it employed a permanent dance troupe called the Solid Gold Dancers who performed choreographed routines to musical performances. Lucinda Dickey, an actress and dancer who played the lead role in the Breakin' films, appeared on the show during the 1982–1983 season as a Solid Gold dancer.[110]
Several other hip-hop dance shows premiered in the 1990s and 2000s including Dance Fever, Dance 360, The Grind, The Wade Robson Project, Dance on Sunset, and Shake It Up. America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC) is a reality hip-hop dance competition created in 2008 by the founders of Hip Hop International, Howard and Karen Schwartz.[53] On the show different crews compete in dance challenges against each other every week. ABDC has contributed to the exposure of Jabbawockeez, Quest, Kaba Modern, Beat Freaks, We Are Heroes, Fanny Pak, Poreotics, and I.aM.mE. These crews now have official websites, work with musical artists, and perform at live events. The JabbaWockeeZ have a show in Las Vegas, Nevada called MÜS.I.C. at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.[111] MÜS.I.C. is the first hip-hop dance stage show on the Las Vegas Strip.[111] Both Poreotics and Hokuto "Hok" Konishi from Quest were nominated for a 2011 MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography.[112] Poreotics was nominated with singer Bruno Mars for his video "The Lazy Song". Hok was nominated for LMFAO's video "Party Rock Anthem"; the rest of Quest crew appeared in the video as featured dancers.[112]
In contrast to ABDC, individual dancers from all backgrounds compete in the reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD). It has a similar premise to the Idol series of singing competitions with initial auditions leading to the selection of a winner over the course of several episodes. In 2008, poppers Robert "Mr. Fantastic" Muraine and Phillip "Pacman" Chbeeb auditioned during season four. Neither made it to the final "Top 20", but the judges were so impressed with their dancing that both were invited back to participate in a popping battle against each other on the show's live finale. According to Muraine, this was the first popping battle that was nationally televised.[113] After the battle, hip-hop dancer Joshua Allen was declared the winner of season four of the competition.[114] The same year Mona-Jeanette Berntsen, a hip-hop dancer from Norway, won the first season of So You Think You Can Dance Scandinavia.[115]
Hip-hop dance has also been popular worldwide among viewers of the Got Talent series. In 2006 French hip-hop dancer Salah won the first season of Incroyable Talent (Incredible Talent).[116] French b-boy Junior won the second season in 2007.[117] In 2008 hip-hop dancer George Sampson won Britain's Got Talent[118] and hip-hop dance crew Quick won the Norwegian version of the show.[119] After George Sampson, street dance crew Diversity won the next season of Britain's Got Talent in 2009.[120][note 14] The same year, Brazilian crew D-Efeitos won Qual é o Seu Talento? (What's Your Talent?).[121] In 2010 Justice Crew won Australia's Got Talent.[122]
The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD) is a good-versus-evil themed web series about a group of dancers who discover they have super powers through their dance moves.[123][note 15] Each character specializes in one dance style; consequently, a wide range of styles are displayed including krumping, tutting, breaking, locking, boogaloo, and popping.[123][124] The majority of the dancing shown in the series is hip-hop; however, other styles have also been showcased including contemporary and ballet.[125] AdvertisingAge.com gave the series a favorable review stating "...each episode of 'LXD' packs a wealth of narrative sophistication into its eight or nine minutes. Combine this with the theater-worthy production values and a cast that exerts itself to an ungodly extent, and the end result is – pun time! – extraordinary."[126] The LXD premiered July 7, 2010 on Hulu.[127]
Though hip-hop dancing is established on film and television, it has not gained the same level of exposure in theater. This may be due to the fact that the dance is performed more in film and television than it is in a theatrical setting.[128] B-boy and popper Stefan "Mr. Wiggles" Clemente was involved in hip-hop theater at its inception. His dance company, GhettOriginal, produced the first hip-hop stage shows: 1991's off Broadway musical So! What Happens Now? and 1995's Jam on the Groove.[129][130] Both shows were performed by the Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians.[131][132] Aside from the pioneers in New York City was Rennie Harris' Puremovement hip-hop theater company. Harris founded Puremovement in 1992 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[84] In 2008, Into the Hoods became the first hip-hop theater show to perform in London's West End.[73] It eventually went on to become the West End's longest running dance show ever.[133] According to Clemente, the future of hip-hop dance is in theater; he believes it is necessary for the dance to make this transition in order for it to be legitimized as an art form.[15]
Dancers and fitness trainers have used hip-hop dance as an alternative form of exercise. In the 1990s, MTV's The Grind premiered. It was a television program that showcased social hip-hop dancing to rap, R&B, and house music. MTV released two The Grind Workout videos, due to the show's popularity; both programs were hosted by Eric Nies with assistance from choreographer Tina Landon.[134][135] In 2004, Nike launched a campaign promoting dance as sport and enlisted the help of choreographer and creative director Jamie King to develop the Nike Rockstar Workout for use in gyms across the United States.[136] In 2007, he released a companion workout book and DVD titled Rock Your Body.[136] The same year, fitness corporation Beachbody (the makers of the P90X workout) produced Hip Hop Abs[137]—a home fitness program created by dancer and personal trainer Shaun Thompson[137] that uses hip-hop dance, rather than crunches or sit-ups, to tone and sculpt abs. According to Lance Armstrong's health and fitness website, LiveStrong.com, hip-hop dancing is helpful in building abdominal muscle:
“ Many of the hip-hop movements isolate the abs, so this area really gets a good muscle-sculpting workout. There is a great deal of hip rolling, waist and pelvic rolling and popping in hip hop and all of these work the abs. The hip-hop "popping" is a technique that is a quick punch on the emphasis of a beat, many times danced in a combination with arm movements and the abdominal area being "popped" in the same count sequence. Doing these popping movements in repetition is an excellent abdominal workout.[138] ”
Other dancers have used fitness as a platform to promote hip-hop dance as a way to stay in shape. For example, in 2010 dance crew Diversity released a work-out DVD titled Diversity: Dance Fitness Fusion.[139] In addition, Hip Hop International, the organization that runs the USA and the World Hip Hop Dance Championships, was founded as a subsidiary of Sports Fitness International.[140][note 16]
In 2004, Safi Thomas founded the Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory (HHDC) in New York City.[85] Thomas' goal was to provide a comprehensive education to hip-hop dancers that was comparable to what ballet, modern, and jazz dancers experience at their respective institutions.[141] HHDC provides a formal curriculum with dance classes (breaking, freestyle, locking, etc.) and academic classes (dance theory, physiology, kinesiology, etc.) to people who want to pursue hip-hop dance as a career.[85][142] It is the only educational institution in the United States that is exclusively dedicated to hip-hop dance instruction.[142] HHDC does not grant degrees. It is a non-profit organization and repertory company that grants certifications to dancers that complete the three-year program.[85]
Three years later in 2007, the University of East London's Institute for Performing Arts Development (IPAD) started intake for the only bachelor's degree program in the world specializing in hip-hop, urban, and global dance forms.[143] The IPAD's program is also three years, but unlike HHDC, it is not exclusive to hip-hop. Students also study African dance, kathak, Bollywood, capoeira, and contemporary.[144]
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