Street dance

A street dance is a dance style that evolved outside dance studios in any available
open space such as streets, dance parties, block parties, parks, school yards, raves,
and nightclubs. A street dance is a vernacular dance in an urban context. Vernacular
dances are often improvisational and social in nature, encouraging interaction and
contact with spectators and other dancers. These dances are a part of the vernacular
culture of the geographical area that they come from. Examples of street dance include
b-boying (or breakdancing), which originated in New York City.

History of street dance

The history of street dance is said to be divided into two eras.These are Old school and
New school. Almost all of roots of street dance is African American culture namely, hip
hop culture. Keep your mind that hip hop dance is one part of hip hop culture. Hip hop
dance is categorized into New school.

In Old school, there are B-boying, Locking, Popping etc. B-boying is frequently
called Break dance or Breaking but these names are not actually correct. B-boying was
born in the South Bronx of New York in the early 1970's. In the beginning, B-boying is
called Good Foot (It is the name of James Brown's hit tune.). Good Foot was different
from B-boying in that Good foot didn't include acrobatic move. The middle of
1970's Good Foot became to called "boie-oie-oings". It is the base of today's B-boying,
but it does not include acrobatic move too. The last 1970's, Puerto Rican young dancers
revolutionized B-boying. They started acrobatic move in B-boying like Windmill.

Locking and Popping are less popular than B-boying but many people love them.
Locking was born in Los Angeles in 1960's. It was perfected by "The Lockers". The
roots of Locking is said Robot dance. In 1969, an African American young man became
famous with his dance. His name was Don Campbell, and his dance was Campbell
Lock. Campbell Lock was new in all point, it's move was unique and comical. In 1970,
Don Campbell formed The Lockers. Their style was amusing and unique so many
people were attracted by them.

Popping was born in Los Angeles in 1960's. It was created by ELECTRIC

BOOGALOO. The roots of Popping is said Robot dance. As you may recognize,
Locking and Popping is like brothers. But Popping's move is stranger than Locking's
one. I'll give you the video of Popping. check it out.

Movement in street dance

Breaking

Breaking, also called breakdancing or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street

dance. While diverse in the amount of variation available in the dance, breakdancing
mainly consists of four kinds of movement: toprock, downrock, power
moves and freezes. Breakdancing is typically set to songs containing drum breaks,
especially in hip-hop, funk, soul music and breakbeat music, although modern trends
allow for much wider varieties of music along certain ranges of tempo and beat patterns.

Breaking was created by the African American youth in the early 1970s.[1] The earliest
breakdancers were the 1st Generation Bboys known as Trixie (Lauree Myers), Dancing
Doug (Douglas Colon), A1 Bboy Sasa, The Legendary Smith Twins and Clark Kent. The
groups included the "Zulu Kings".[2] By the late seventies, the dance had begun to
spread to other communities and was gaining wider popularity;[3] at the same time, the
dance had peaked in popularity among African Americans and Puerto Ricans.[3]

A practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy, b-girl, or breaker. Although the term
"breakdance" is frequently used to refer to the dance in popular culture and in the
mainstream entertainment industry, "b-boying" and "breaking" are the original terms and
are preferred by the majority of the pioneers and most notable practitioners.
Locking

Locking means freezing from a fast movement and “locking” in a certain position,
holding that position for a short while and then continuing in the same speed as
before. The movements were originally danced to funk music and create large
and are generally large exaggerated, and often very rhythmic and tightly synced
with the music.

Krumping
Krump is a street dance popularized in the United States, characterized by free,
expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement. The youths who started
Krump saw the dance as a way for them to escape gang life and "to express raw
emotions in a powerful but non-violent way."

Popping
Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo movement
in Oakland, California, the Robot styles in Richmond, California, the Strutting
movements in San Francisco, California and the dances of the Oak Park community
of Sacramento, California which were popular through the mid-1960s to the
1970s. Popping would be eventually adapted from earlier Boogaloo movements
in Fresno, California in the late 1970s by way of California high-school gatherings of
track & meet events - the West Coast Relays. The dance is rooted through the rhythms
of live funk music, and is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing
muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body, referred to as a pop or a hit. This is done
continuously to the rhythm of a song in combination with various movements and poses.
It was popularized by a Fresno & Long Beach-based dance group called the Electric
Boogaloos in which Boogaloo Sam, who is a key innovator of mixing popping
techniques to boogaloo. Popping Pete & Skeeter Rabbit were also a part of the group.
Closely related illusory dance styles and techniques are often integrated into popping to
create a more varied performance. These dance styles include the robot, waving and
tutting. However, popping is distinct from breaking and locking, with which it is often
confused. A popping dancer is commonly referred to as a popper.

Waving

Waving is an illusionary dance style composed of a series of movement that give the
appearance that a wave is traversing through a dancer’s body. Waving is thought to
have grown out of popping and funk dance scene and is often seen combined with
popping and its related styles.

Robotics dance style

Robotics Dance Style is exactly as it's name suggests - dancing like a robot. Some get
this style of dance confused with that of Popping but they are very different.
The moves themselves are called Dimestops - which means moving a part of your
body and bringing it to an abrupt stop - just like a robot.

House dance
House dance is a social dance and Street dance primarily danced to house music, that
has roots in the clubs of Chicago and of New York. The main elements of House dance
include "Footwork", "Jacking", and "Lofting". House dance is often improvised and
emphasizes fast and complex foot-oriented steps combined with fluid movements in the
torso, as well as floor work.

Street jazz
The style called Street Jazz is a combination of several dance techniques. Qaša – the
teacher, choreographer and dancer – creates it as a unique combination of jazz dance
technique and various elements of the street styles such as Hip Hop and R'n'B as a
unique fusion style.
Attire for street dance
Festival street dance:

Hiphop street dance:

Street dance routines

1. Find a mentor
One of the biggest traditions within the culture of street dance is for a dancer to be
taken under the tutelage of an older dancer in their chosen style, who teaches them the
dance, its history and what it means to practice it.
2. Learn from a crew
It's also a tradition in street dance for crews to take on and teach young dancers.
Usually youngsters are introduced to a crew by a mutual acquaintance, or a crew might
put on classes or open sessions in which they find younger dancers with potential, and
then invite them to train more with the actual crew.
3. Join a class in your local dance studio
Most dance studios will now offer classes in the different street dance styles.
4. Visit an actual hip-hop or street-dance school
Many crews and dancers, such as The Floorers crew from Japan, Prodigy crew from
Austria, and B-Boy Moy from America, have established actual hip-hop dance schools.
5. Online tutorials
Sites and apps like YouTube and Instagram are now full of online tutorials given by
high-level, knowledgeable street dancers, teaching the fundamentals of their style.
6. Go to open practice sessions
Many beginners in a street-dance style find a regular, open, training sessions and learn
by watching other dancers, and asking them during the session to show them how to do
certain steps and moves.
7. Attend some workshops
Workshops are not a regular way to learn a style, but they are a great way to learn from
some of your favorite dancers, who might come to your city or town to teach.
8. Look for a university society
If you're a student who wants to learn a street-dance style, your university might have a
street-dance society, which is a group of students who enjoy street dance and get
together to form an official street-dance society within the university.

Benefits of street dance

1. Enhance Your Mood

This dance form is no longer just the territory of youth who bop their way from being
disengaged to being driven - it's also an outlet for a growing number of adults who
need their own story, to express themselves and to feel part of something. Once Street
Dance came in from the cold and made itself at home in our studios, it began to
glamourize the gritty and the primal - something that is surely worth tapping into when
we're feeling raw and need a lift.

2. Cardio That's Enjoyable

Street Dance is a fun way to cardiovascular fitness glory, as opposed to running on a

treadmill or riding a bike up a hill. If merely imagining those activities makes you cringe,
maybe it's because you hate the thought of being mentally present during torturous
forms of exercise, able to feel every movement in your knees and hear the clock hands
tick-tocking as you lose minutes of your life in the sweat pit that is the gym.

3. Street Dance Is Versatile

Whether you want to steal some thunder and go it alone, or make it rain as part of
a crew, mastering a routine is a rewarding experience. With Street Dance, you can learn
formations that enable you to dance to trending rap, funk, hip hop or pop music - you
know, the stuff you hear everyday, whether it's mainstream or indie.

4. Unleash Your Attitude

There are a lot of styles within the genre of Street Dance, from popping and locking to
breakdancing and house dance, so there's naturally a lot of room for self-expression,
and attitude. You can safely let it all out here, and there's also a real chance of elevating
your hobby, to make a profession out of your expressiveness.

5. A True Head To Toe Dance

While learning the basics of Street Dance, you'll work on strengthening your hands, feet
and joints - as opposed to more traditional dances which don't always demand complete
control over the shapes made by the extremities of your body. From creating turfing
hand illusions, which rely on wrist movements, to air-walking, which asks for strict
control of the heels - there are many moves that require attention to the smaller details
of form and co-ordination.