Five Elements Of Hip Hop

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Hip hop originated in the early 1970s on 1520 Sedgwick Avenue South Bronx, New York City, New York. During this time, hip hop was used as an alternative to fighting as a way of display a person’s anger. Rather than beating someone up, dancers would use their dance skills to battle each other and find a winner. Hip hop has evolved throughout the years and has become a well known dance style along with ballet and jazz. Hip hop is usually performed to hip hop music, in which a series of movements and steps are created to the beat and rhythm of the music. Dancing is a way one can express their emotions and feelings, which many people feel they can express themselves through hip hop. The top five elements of hip hop dance include popping, locking, …show more content…

Treva Bedinghaus states that “breaking, or breakdancing, is composed of movements performed at different levels: toprock (performed while standing), downrock (performed close to the floor), power moves (acrobatics) and freeze moves (poses).” Toprock consists of upright dancing, downrock is displayed through footwork, Freezes are poses used to end routines, and power moves consist of acrobatic movements. In a blog called “Elements of Hip Hop,” the author states that “the term breaking comes from the break in the music that deejays would loop and elongate so people could get down on the beat.” Breaking is normally danced to hip hop music, but can also be danced to other genres that emphasize musical breaks. Groups that began due to breaking are Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Kings, Sal Soul, Crazy Commandos, Dynamic Rockers, New York City Breakers, Air Force Crew, Full Circle, The Bronx Boys, and Steven …show more content…

Treva Bedinghaus describe boogaloo as a “style [that] is closely related to popping, with dancers involved in rolling the hips, knees, legs, and head.” This dance movement is very loose and smooth, which gives the dancer the illusion of having no bones. Boogaloo consists of movements that use the entire body, in order to give it that gooey and flowy look. Rolling parts of the body is used as a transition into a new movement, such as the head, hips, and knees. Many dancers use boogaloo movements as a transition from one popping movement to the other. Common boogaloo terms include twist-o-flex, walk-out, fakey, neck-o-flex, cobra, snakin’, slides, glides, old man, and

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