What is breakdancing?
The title 'breakdancing' can be easily misunderstood. However, the term 'break' refers to the breaks in the music whilst the wprd as a whole refers to the dancing associated with these breaks. It is a style of dancing which branches off of hip-hop and originated in the 1970's, in South Bronx of New York City. It is also known as b-boying, b-girling and breaking. Breakdancing revolves around your style and rythm, while depending on your creativity.
Many speculations of breakdancing around the 1980s suggested that it was a way for gangs of the ghetto to settle territorial disputes.
Breakdancing is known for it's diverse variations in its moves and large amounts of transitions. It consists of five main elements: toprock, uprock, powermoves and footwork. Many of the moves in breakdancing have originated from other dance styles, fighting styles such as capoeira and even gymnastics. In a dance battle, the winner is determined by the person who outperforms the opponent in terms of creativity, variety, difficulty and complexity.
A standard routine begins with toprock, followed by a transition into footwork, a display of power moves, and finally a climactic freeze or transition back to the standing position.
Toprock refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position, relying upon a mixture of coordination, flexibility, style, and most importantly, rhythm. It is usually the first display of style, and it serves as a warm-up for transitions into more acrobatic maneuvers. In contrast, downrock includes all footwork performed on the floor as in the 6-step. Downrock is normally performed with the hands and feet on the floor. In downrock, the breakdancer displays his or her proficiency with foot speed and control by performing footwork combinations. These combinations usually transition into more athletic moves known as power moves.
Power moves refer to moves that require momentum and physical power to execute. In power moves, the breakdancer relies more on upper body strength to dance, using his or her hands to do moves. Power moves include windmill, swipes, headspins, flare, and airflare. Because power moves are physically demanding, breakdancers use them as a display of upper body strength and stamina. Many moves are borrowed from gymnastics, such as the flare, and martial arts, with impressive acrobatics such as the butterfly kick.
The more difficult freezes require the breakdancer to suspend himself or herself off the ground using upper body strength, in poses such as the handstand or pike. Whereas freezing refers to a single pose, locking entails sharp transitions between a series of freezes.
Suicides are another type of move to end to a routine. Breakers will make it appear that they have lost control and fall onto their backs, stomachs, etc. The more painful the Suicide appears, the more impressive it is, but breakdancers execute them in a way to minimize pain. In contrast to Freezes, Suicides draw attention to the motion of falling or losing control, while Freezes draw attention to the final position.
"Battles" refer to any level of competition in which breakdancers in an open space (typically a circle or square) participate in quick-paced, turn-based routines, whether improvised or planned. Participants vary in number, ranging from head-to-head duels to battles of opposing breakdance crews, or teams. Winners are determined by the side exhibiting the most proficient combinations of moves. "Cyphers," on the other hand, are open-forum, mock exhibitions where competition is less emphasized.
Music As the clichéd quote "break to the beat" insists, music is a staple ingredient for breakdancing. The original songs that popularized the dance form borrow significantly from progressive genres of jazz, soul, funk, electro or electro funk, disco, and R&B. (See 1970s and 1980s). The most common feature of breakdance music exists in breaks, or compilations formed from samples taken from different songs which are then looped and chained together by the DJ. The tempo generally ranges between 110 and 135 beats-per-minute with shuffled sixteenth and quarter beats in the percussive pattern. History credits Kool DJ Herc for the invention of this concept, later termed breakbeat.
The musical selection is not restricted to hip-hop as long as the tempo and beat pattern conditions are met. It can be readily adapted to different music genres (often with the aid of remixing). World competitions have seen the unexpected progressions and applications of heavily European electronica, and even opera.
Since its inception, breakdancing has provided a youth culture constructive alternative to violent urban street gangs. Today, breakdancing culture is a remarkable discipline somewhere in-between those of dancers and athletes. Since acceptance and involvement centers on dance skills, breakdancing culture is usually free of the common race, gender and age boundaries of a subculture and has been accepted worldwide.
References:
(Much of this text has been copied from Breakdanceninja.com, seeing as their information is very accurate and detailed!)
http://www.breakdancingninja.com/bboy_history.html
Many speculations of breakdancing around the 1980s suggested that it was a way for gangs of the ghetto to settle territorial disputes.
Breakdancing is known for it's diverse variations in its moves and large amounts of transitions. It consists of five main elements: toprock, uprock, powermoves and footwork. Many of the moves in breakdancing have originated from other dance styles, fighting styles such as capoeira and even gymnastics. In a dance battle, the winner is determined by the person who outperforms the opponent in terms of creativity, variety, difficulty and complexity.
A standard routine begins with toprock, followed by a transition into footwork, a display of power moves, and finally a climactic freeze or transition back to the standing position.
Toprock refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position, relying upon a mixture of coordination, flexibility, style, and most importantly, rhythm. It is usually the first display of style, and it serves as a warm-up for transitions into more acrobatic maneuvers. In contrast, downrock includes all footwork performed on the floor as in the 6-step. Downrock is normally performed with the hands and feet on the floor. In downrock, the breakdancer displays his or her proficiency with foot speed and control by performing footwork combinations. These combinations usually transition into more athletic moves known as power moves.
Power moves refer to moves that require momentum and physical power to execute. In power moves, the breakdancer relies more on upper body strength to dance, using his or her hands to do moves. Power moves include windmill, swipes, headspins, flare, and airflare. Because power moves are physically demanding, breakdancers use them as a display of upper body strength and stamina. Many moves are borrowed from gymnastics, such as the flare, and martial arts, with impressive acrobatics such as the butterfly kick.
The more difficult freezes require the breakdancer to suspend himself or herself off the ground using upper body strength, in poses such as the handstand or pike. Whereas freezing refers to a single pose, locking entails sharp transitions between a series of freezes.
Suicides are another type of move to end to a routine. Breakers will make it appear that they have lost control and fall onto their backs, stomachs, etc. The more painful the Suicide appears, the more impressive it is, but breakdancers execute them in a way to minimize pain. In contrast to Freezes, Suicides draw attention to the motion of falling or losing control, while Freezes draw attention to the final position.
"Battles" refer to any level of competition in which breakdancers in an open space (typically a circle or square) participate in quick-paced, turn-based routines, whether improvised or planned. Participants vary in number, ranging from head-to-head duels to battles of opposing breakdance crews, or teams. Winners are determined by the side exhibiting the most proficient combinations of moves. "Cyphers," on the other hand, are open-forum, mock exhibitions where competition is less emphasized.
Music As the clichéd quote "break to the beat" insists, music is a staple ingredient for breakdancing. The original songs that popularized the dance form borrow significantly from progressive genres of jazz, soul, funk, electro or electro funk, disco, and R&B. (See 1970s and 1980s). The most common feature of breakdance music exists in breaks, or compilations formed from samples taken from different songs which are then looped and chained together by the DJ. The tempo generally ranges between 110 and 135 beats-per-minute with shuffled sixteenth and quarter beats in the percussive pattern. History credits Kool DJ Herc for the invention of this concept, later termed breakbeat.
The musical selection is not restricted to hip-hop as long as the tempo and beat pattern conditions are met. It can be readily adapted to different music genres (often with the aid of remixing). World competitions have seen the unexpected progressions and applications of heavily European electronica, and even opera.
Since its inception, breakdancing has provided a youth culture constructive alternative to violent urban street gangs. Today, breakdancing culture is a remarkable discipline somewhere in-between those of dancers and athletes. Since acceptance and involvement centers on dance skills, breakdancing culture is usually free of the common race, gender and age boundaries of a subculture and has been accepted worldwide.
References:
(Much of this text has been copied from Breakdanceninja.com, seeing as their information is very accurate and detailed!)
http://www.breakdancingninja.com/bboy_history.html