TUTTING

Tutting is a type of modern dance wherein body and arm movements are based on mathematical and/or geometric angles and shapes. This street dance style is also said to be interpretative in nature and some movements, especially those of the arms, are taken from hieroglyphics, or ancient Egyptian wall writings. The movements involved in tutting are done to mimic various angles and shapes and these are done along with the specific music beat or rhythm, making the whole dance routine somewhat robotic. On a viewer’s point of view, it will seem like the one doing the tutting move is showcasing different shapes and angles. Some moves of tutting are called “King Tut”, which probably evolved from the dance’s reference to Egyptian art and the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen.

It was in the early part of 1980s when tutting became popular on the streets of the US, especially among youngsters. Tutting moves can be considered “big moves” wherein the whole body is involved in forming various angles and shapes. But tutting can also be done in “small” ways, particularly in doing what people call “finger tuts”. And over the years, tutting moves have evolved into a more freestyling kind of dance, with variations and new techniques added along the way, depending on one’s personal style. But before one can do some freestyle tuts, it is said that one has to learn the basic moves and shapes. The most basic move of them all is the 90-degree angle. As with the ancient Egyptian wall writings, the arms and legs are positioned at 90-degree angles against the body. Another basic move is called the wrist roll, which involves basically rolling the wrist in a circular manner or side to side. And since tutting is supposed to be a dance rather than a generic posing technique, it is encouraged that the whole body is incorporated in the whole routine and not just do hand movements.

Today, much of tutting is still alive especially with electronic dance music. Those who do the tutting dance call thems.selves tutter

Samba (Ballroom dance)

The international Ballroom version of samba is a lively, rhythmical dance with elements from Brazilian samba. It has recently been exposed to the American public in television programmes such as Strictly come dancing and Dancing with the stars. It differs considerably from the original samba styles of Brazil, in particular it differs from Ballroom Samba in Brazil itself. It is often not always danced to music with a samba rhythm and often danced to music with less complex 2/4 and 4/4 time. In particular in the popular television programmes Strictly come dancing and Dancing with the stars it almost never danced to samba music or a samba rhythm. Moreover its performance does not necessarily include the characteristic steps from Samba no Pé. In many other ways it though been influenced by the Brazilian version of samba, in particular maxixe, and subsequently developed independenty from samba in Brazil.

Origins

The ballroom samba has its origins in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century. Many steps can be traced back to the Maxixe danced in the 1910s. A book published in France in 1928 described how to perform the samba.

Technique

As a ballroom dance, the samba is a partner dance. Ballroom samba, even more than other ballroom dances, is very disconnected from the origins and evolution of the music and dance that gives it its name.

Most steps are danced with a slight downward bouncing or dropping action. This action is created through the bending and straightening of the knees, with bending occurring on the beats of 1 and 2, and the straightening occurring between. However, unlike the bouncing of, e.g., Polka, there is no considerable bobbing. Also, Samba has a specific hip action, different from that in ballroom Latin dances (Rumba and Cha-Cha-Cha).

The ballroom samba is danced to music in 2/4 or 4/4 time. It uses several different rhythmic patterns in its figures, with cross-rhythms being a common feature. Thus, for three-step patterns, common step values (in beats) are:

ZUMBA

Zumba is a dance fitness program created by Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez during the 1990s.

Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa, merengue, mamboand martial arts. Squats and lunges are also included. Zumba Fitness, an organization that sells Zumba videos and products, does not charge licensing fees to gyms or fitness centers.Approximately 14 million people take weekly Zumba classes in over 140,000 locations across more than 185 countries.

Origin

In the 1990s, Beto Perez forgot his tape of aerobics music for a class he was teaching. He went to his car, listened to music – consisting of traditional salsa and merengue music – and improvised a class using this non-traditional aerobics music. After finding initial success in Colombia, he moved to the United States in 2001, where he teamed up with cofounder Alberto Perlman and a childhood friend, COO Alberto Aghion. The trio produced a demo reel, and the concept was discovered and licensed by a company called Fitness Quest to create a direct marketing campaign and a line of home videos.

Classes

An instructor coaches a Zumba class in a fitness center.

Zumba sessions are typically about an hour long and are taught by instructors licensed by an organization called Zumba Academy.The exercises include music with fast and slow rhythms, as well as resistance training.The music comes from the following dance styles: cumbia, salsa, merengue, mambo, flamenco, chachacha, reggaeton, soca, samba, hip hop music, axé music and tango. There are eight different types of classes for different levels of age and exertion. Zumba Gold mainly targets the older population. It is specifically designed to the needs of the elderly and includes the same kind of music as the Zumba fitness party class. Zumba Toning is for the people who do their workouts with toning sticks. Zumba Toning will target the abs, thighs, arms, and other muscles throughout the body. Zumba Toning is adding sculpting of body and cardio. Aqua Zumba is Zumba in a swimming pool. The instructor is on the ledge of the pool instructing while participants mimic his/her moves while they are submerged waist high in water. Zumba in the circuit is the dance combined with circuit training. These classes usually last 30 minutes and features strength exercises on various stations in timed intervals. Zumba Kids is a class designed for children between the ages of 4 and 12. It has the same dance and music styles as a regular Zumba Fitness class, but has routines designed specifically for kids. Zumba Gold-Toning is a toning class for older participants with goals of improving one's muscle strength, posture, mobility, and coordination. Zumba Sentao is a chair workout that focuses on using body weight to strengthen and tone the body. Zumba instructors have the option to become a ZIN (Zumba Instructors Network) member to receive bimonthly training DVDs to assist with the creation of music and choreography for their personal Zumba classes. ZIN members are the only instructors allowed to register for the new Zumba Core training class which helps to incorporate more core training into any type of Zumba class.

Because Zumba offers different options, proponents of Zumba claim that it is safe for all ages.At least some of the classes are specifically aimed at elderly people, to help them build strength, improve motion and posture, and socialize.

Popping Dance

Popping is a street dance and one of the original funk styles that came from California during the 1960s-1970s. It 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.^[1]

Closely related illusionary dance styles and techniques are often integrated with 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.

As one of the earliest funk styles, popping is closely related to hip hop dancing. It is often performed in battles, where participants try to outperform each other in front of a crowd, giving room for improvisation and freestyle moves that are seldom seen in shows and performances, such as interaction with other dancers and spectators. Popping and related styles such as waving and tutting have also been incorporated into the electronica dance scene to some extent, influencing new styles such as liquid and digits and turfing.

Related styles and techniques

AnimationThere are a number of dance styles and techniques that are commonly mixed with popping to enhance the dancer's performance and create a more varied show, many of which are seldom seen outside of popping contexts. They can be seen as separate styles related to popping or as a part of popping when using it as an umbrella term.

A style and a technique where you imitate film characters being animated by stop motion. The technique of moving rigidly and jerky by tensing muscles and using techniques similar to strobing and the robot to make it appear as if the dancer has been animated frame by frame. This style was heavily inspired by the dynamation films created by Ray Harryhausen, such as The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958).^[3]

Animatronics

A style that imitates animatronic robots. Related to the robot style, but adds a hit or bounce at the end of each movement.

Boogaloo

Boogaloo or boog style is a loose and fluid dance style trying to give the impression of a body lacking bones, partly inspired by animated movies and cartoons. It utilizes circular rolls of various body parts, such as the hips, knees and head, as well as isolation and sectioning, like separating the rib cage from the hip. It also makes heavy use of angles and various steps and transitions to get from one spot to the next. It was developed in 1975 by Boogaloo Sam. In the original boogaloo you do not pop, but combined with popping it becomes the electric boogaloo, the signature style of The Electric Boogaloos (the dance crew).^[1]

Main article: Electric boogaloo (dance)

Bopping

A style of popping in which the chest is isolated by being pushed out and brought back while flexing the chest muscles. As this movement is performed to the beat the popper can incorporate different moves in between the chest bop. When practiced the chest bop can be done at a double-time interval adding a unique effect to the move.

Crazy legs

A leg-oriented style focusing on fast moving legs, knee rolls and twisting feet. Developed in 1980-81 by Popin' Pete, originally inspired by the fast and agitated style of breaking by Crazy Legsfrom Rock Steady Crew.

Dime stopping

A technique of moving at a steady pace and then abruptly coming to a halt, as if attempting to stop on a dime. This is often combined with a pop at the beginning and/or end of the movement.

Floating, gliding and sliding

A set of footwork-oriented techniques that attempt to create the illusion that the dancer's body is floating smoothly across the floor, or that the legs are walking while the dancer travels in unexpected directions. Encompasses moves such as the backslide, which was made famous by Michael Jackson who called it the moonwalk.

Main article: Floating (dance)

Miming

Performing techniques of traditional miming to the beat of a song. Most commonly practiced are various movements with the hands as if one could hold onto air and pull their body in any possibly direction. Miming can also be used to allow a popper to tell a story through his or her dance. This style is often used in battles to show the opponent how they can defeat them.

Puppet

A style imitating a puppet or marionette tied to strings. Normally performed alone or with a partner acting as the puppet master pulling the strings.

Main article: Roboting

Robot/botting

A style imitating a robot or mannequin.

Main article: Robot (dance)

Scarecrow

A style imitating the scarecrow character of The Wizard of Oz. Claimed to be pioneered by Boogaloo Sam in 1977. Focuses on outstretched arms and rigid poses contrasted with loose hands and legs.

Strobing

A style of popping that gives the impression that the dancer is moving within a strobe light. To produce this effect, a dancer will take any ordinary movement (such as waving hello to someone) in conjunction with quick, short stop-and-go movements to make a strobing motion. Mastering strobing requires perfect timing and distance between each movement.

Main article: Strobing (dance)

Struttin

Struttin is a dance style originating out of the City of San Francisco, CA in the 1970s.

Ticking 

A way of popping where the dancer pops at smaller intervals, generally twice as fast as normal.

Toyman 

Based on action figures such as G.I. Joe and Major Matt Mason, developed by an old member of the Electric Boogaloos called Toyman Skeet. Goes between straight arms and right angles to simulate limited joint movement.

Tutting/King Tut

Inspired by the art of Ancient Egypt (the name derived from the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun), tutting exploits the body's ability to create geometric positions (such as boxes) and movements, predominantly with the use of right angles. It generally focuses on the arms and hands, and includes sub-styles such as finger tutting.

Waving

Waving is composed of a series of fluid movements that give the appearance that a wave is traveling through the dancer's body. It is often mixed with liquid dancing.

Main article: Waving (dance)

Isolation 

A variety of intricate moves that create the illusion of separating, or isolating, parts of the body from the rest of the body. The most common types of isolation that poppers perform are head isolations, in which they seem to take their head out of place from the rest of their body and move it back in place in creative ways.

OLD SCHOOL JAZZ

Old school jazz dance (also known as UK jazz dance) refers to the improvised dancing style that originated in the UK in the 1970s. The style grew in clubs in the UK, mainly in London and in northern cities, with the sounds of bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, fusion, swing and other Latin-influenced jazz and funk.

It predates hip hop and breakdancing- the American dance culture, which didn't reach the U.K. shores until 1982–1983. Jazz dancing has similarities to breakdancing, but essentially it is not the same.

It important to know it started in heart of second generation African Caribbean/African homes and community venue preceding the takeoff in the heart of cities, nightclubs and discos all over the country. Built on the dance steps and spirit of celebration of their first generation (1950s, 1960s) immigrant parents; who where connoisseur record collectors; top-dancers and fashion icons who pioneered the underground live music and soundsystem scene. Second generation were encouraged in early learning (by first generation parents) to value improvising to their own freestyle music of their day modern and swing jazz; blues; ska; RnB; calypso; soul; rocksteady; rock 'n' roll; reggae; gospel; country 'n' western. The Rest is history {blu uk jazzdance oral history}

DJ Paul Murphy is generally credited with having begun the trend of playing high tempo jazz, bebop and fusion records to dancers in the early 1980s in London nightclubs such as The Horseshoe(or "Jaffa's") on Tottenham Court Road and the Electric Ballroom on Camden High Street, along with young London DJ Gilles Peterson

It is also believed^{[by whom?]} that the true birthplace of this dance movement was in the northern towns and cities in the late 1970s, driven by a healthy Northern Soul scene that at the time was fragmenting into a more modern soul sound. DJs Colin Curtis, Shaun Williams and others were at the forefront of promoting the scene in Northern England, regularly playing to 3–4,000 club goers every weekend.

The northern Jazz Dancers were pretty organised and travelled regularly, frequenting various clubs in the North East and North West of England. It was common place for soul music fans and jazz dancers to make a 200-mile round trip to visit a nightclub.

Some of the crews in the early 1980s included the Birmingham 'Spades' - recognisable from their grey cut-off sweatshirts with the 'barefoot' logos printed front and back. In Manchester there were many Jazz Dance crews, one of the most memorable were the Manchester 'Riffs' - Their trademark look was sunglasses (worn during a dance battle), shaven bald heads and leather jackets, the same outfit as worn by the New York street gang The Riffs in the film 'The Warriors'.

Blackpool (Mecca), Birmingham (Hummingbird, Locarno), Manchester (Ritz,Berlins, Hell, various), Preston, Nottingham, Derby, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Wigan (Cassanelli's) were all notable towns and cities where 'All-Dayers' (All day discothèques) were popular playing both soul music, Jazz-Funk and fast tempo Jazz. Lasting usually from 2 pm to 11 pm they were staple hangouts for the northern youth of mainly (but not exclusively) black heritage and essential on the Jazz Dancing scene.

The development of the dance style was influenced by jazz, tap and lindy hop. Dancing is often performed with two dancers within a circle of other dancers, each taking a turn to outperform each other.

The dance style was highly energetic with the dancers mainly free styling with moves akin to tap dancing with funky grooves, floor moves involving the intricate intertwining of limbs. Fast footwork and almost impossible stamina characterised this U.K. home-grown phenomenon.^{[citation needed]}

Some of the more outlandish moves that have become legendary folklore amongst the dancers involved in the scene were the 'wrist watch on the ankle'. A dancer, pre battle, placed a wristwatch on his ankle and after performing a series of energetic moves completed the discipline with a series of floor moves ending up frozen in a pose checking out the time on the watch.

Another battle involved a dancer dancing out of his shoes performing a series of jazz dance moves, then effortlessly dancing back into his shoes.

One dance even managed to work the illusion of laying an egg - leaving an egg in the middle of 'battle circle' for his opponent to ponder. These stunts were imaginative and a part of the fun.

The Jazz Defektors", were the first to form and perform, IDJ, Jazzcotech, The Floor Technicians, Brothers in Jazz, The Backstreet Kids and other pioneers across the country.

IDJ, or 'I Dance Jazz', were arguably the most successful dance crew of the genre, appearing in music videos  - The Specials, 1984), full length feature films (Absolute Beginners, Released 1986), and eventually performing in front of an estimated 44 million viewers worldwide at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa (1990 at Wembley Stadium).

SALSA

Salsa is a popular form of social dance that originated in New York with influences from Latin America, particularly Cuba and Puerto Rico. The movements of salsa have its origins in Cuban Son, Cha cha cha, Mambo and other dance forms, and the dance, along with the music, originated in the mid-1970s in New York. It is commonly danced to salsa music, although the steps can be danced to any type of music with an 8-count rhythm.

Description

In many styles of salsa dancing, as a dancer changes weight by stepping, the upper body remains level and nearly unaffected by the weight changes. Weight shifts cause the hips to move. Arm and shoulder movements are also incorporated. The Cuban Casino style of salsa dancing involves significant movement above the waist, with up-and-down shoulder movements and shifting of the ribcage.

The arms are used by the "lead" dancer to communicate or signal the "follower," either in "open" or "closed" position. The open position requires the two dancers to hold one or both hands, especially for moves that involve turns, putting arms behind the back, or moving around each other, to name a few examples. In the closed position, the leader puts the right hand on the follower's back, while the follower puts the left hand on the leader's shoulder.

In the original Latin America form, the forward/backward motion of salsa is done in diagonal or sideways with the 3-step weight change intact.

In some styles of salsa, such as LA and New York style, the dancers remain in a slot or line (switching places), while in some Latin American styles, such as Cuban style, the dancers circle around each other, sometimes in 3 points. This circular style is inspired by Cuban Son, specifically to the beat of Son Montuno in the 1920s. However, as it is a popular music, it is open to improvisation and thus it is continuously evolving. New modern salsa styles are associated and named to the original geographic areas that developed them. There are often devotees of each of these styles outside of their home territory. Characteristics that may identify a style include: timing, basic steps, foot patterns, body rolls and movements, turns and figures, attitude, dance influences and the way that partners hold each other. The point in a musical bar music where a slightly larger step is taken (the break step) and the direction the step moves can often be used to identify a style.

Incorporating other dance styling techniques into salsa dancing has become very common, for both men and women: shimmies, leg work, arm work, body movement, spins, body isolations, shoulder shimmies, rolls, even hand styling, acrobatics and lifts.

Latin American styles originate from Cuba and surrounding Caribbean islands.