History of b-boing dance

Many elements of b-boying can be seen in other antecedent cultures prior to the 1970s. B-boy pioneers Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert, both of Rock Steady Crew, cite James Brown and Kung-Fu films as influences to b-boying. Many of b-boying's more acrobatic moves, such as the flare, show clear connections to gymnastics. An Arab street dancer performing acrobatic headspins was recorded by Thomas Edison in 1898. However, it was not until the 1970s that b-boying developed as a defined dance style.

Beginning with DJ Kool Herc, Bronx-based DJs would take the rhythmic breakdown sections (also known as the "breaks") of dance records and prolong them by looping them successively. The breakbeat provided a rhythmic base that allowed dancers to display their improvisational skills during the duration of the break. This led to the first battles—turn-based dance competitions between two individuals or dance crews judged with respect to creativity, skill, and musicality. These battles occurred in cyphers—circles of people gathered around the breakers. 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 Puerto Rican-Americans.

History of hip-hop dance

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 up rock, breaking, and the funk styles. 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 elaborationson James Brown's "Good Foot" dance 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 top rock was uprock which was created in Brooklyn, New York. Uprock looks similar to toprock, but it is more aggressive and looks like a fight. It is also performed with partners, but in toprock—and in breaking in general—each person takes turns dancing. In 1973, DJ Kool Herc invented the break beat.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. B-boy and b-girl stands for "break-boy" and "break-girl"; b-boys and b-girls dance to the break of a record. Further influenced by martial arts and gymnastics, breaking went from being a purely upright dance style—toprock only—to becoming more floor-oriented.

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 such as roboting, bopping, hitting, locking, bustin', popping, electric boogaloo, strutting, sac-ing, and dime-stopping. Out of all of these dances, boogaloo is one of the oldest. It started out as a 1960s fad dance and was the subject of several songs released during that time such as "Do the Boogaloo" and "My Baby Likes to Boogaloo". From being a fad, it developed into a dance style called electric boogaloo and a music genre called Latin boogaloo. The most popular and widely practiced of the funk styles are locking and popping. The television show Soul Train played a large role in giving these styles commercial exposure. Both The Lockers and The Electric Boogaloos—dance crews responsible for the spread of locking and popping—performed on this show.

It is historically inaccurate to say that the funk styles were always 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. 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. They were created on the west coast independent from breaking and were originally danced to funk music rather than hip-hop music.

As breaking, locking, and popping gained popularity in the 1980s, hip-hop social dancing (party dancing) was starting to develop. Novelty and fad dances such as the Roger Rabbit, the Cabbage Patch, and the Worm appeared in the 1980s followed by the Humpty dance and the Running Man in the 1990s. The music of the day was the driving force in the development of these dances. For example, the 1980s rap group Gucci Crew II had a song called "The Cabbage Patch" that the dance of the same name was based on. 2000s era social dances include the Cha Cha Slide, the Cat Daddy, 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 continues to change as new songs are released and new dances are created to accompany them.

My web

Welcome to my blog

Before you begin the journey I have prepared for you, I want to tell you a bit about myself and my greatest love ever, dancing.Since I can remember, all that has ever been in my head is the intense desire to dance. Already as a little boy, I couldn't sit still. At weddings I would lose control on the dance floor until I had to be dragged away as it had ended...On birthdays and school gatherings as soon as I arrived, I got hooked to the DJ like infusion and would drive the poor guy crazy- "Do you know this song? Please play it!" I wouldn't relax until I danced to all my favorite songs. Slowly, my father realized that it wasn't just my desire to dance, or my love for music, it was my way of releasing energy, or in her words, a way to relax from my "hyper-activity". He decided that he must find a way to deal with this "thorn in his side". So this is how I found myself at five years of age, in a big studio, with many more hyper-active boys just like me.

I would like to thank some people who have been of great influence to me and to my development as a dancer and teacher. To my father, who let me enter this wonderful world, and supported me always. Thanks to all my friends who gave a shoulder on which to lean, and helped in the creation of this site.

A warm thanks to my lovely wife 'Peyali Chatterjee Ghosh', who pushed the idea for this website forward and made sure that every word on paper be printed all the way to you.

I love you allI hope I will succeed in interesting you and having you enjoy this website. Come see, hear, and feel the Dance experience.But I warn you- Absolute Danger of Addiction

Till we meet again,