History of Hip Hop Dance - Report Example

History of Hip Hop Dance Introduction Hip hop dance is a style of dance that is heavily influenced by trends in hip hop music and culture. As trendsin these subcultures have shifted over the past few decades there has been a corresponding shift in the dance culture that it engenders. Just as hip hop music and culture has splintered into a number of shapes and styles, so has hip hop dance experienced the emergence of a number of divergent strands of dance. This essay examines the historical emergence of these divergent strands of hip hop dance, considers their interrelationship with hip hop music and culture, and considers their relevance in the contemporary social climate. History When asked about the origins of hip hop dance, eminent breakdancer Rennie Harris one said, “One of the things I realized is that the very first time in the Middle Passage that slaves were made to dance in shackles to rhythms of tea kettles is the birth of Black contemporary art” (as cited in Forman 2004, pg. 104). As early as the 1920s proto-hip hop dance moves can be seen in the dancing style of Earl Tucker ‘Snake Hips’. Tucker incorporated methods of waving with his arms, and sliding techniques, both of which are mainstays of contemporary dance forms. The music of James Brown also had considerable influence on hip hop dance. Brown’s drum beats, particularly as evidenced in the work of Clayton Fillyau, influenced much of the syncopation in early hip hip dance, and had a later day profound effect on the development of the hip hop music medium. While clearly African American slave culture, through ragtime, and New Orleans jazz has had an indelible influence on hip hop dance, it is most directly influenced by the late 20th century emergence of hip hop and rap as dominant forms of music. Rennie Harris Growing up in Philadelphia, Rennie Harris was trained in traditional forms of dance including tap. However, it was in the early 1970s that he became exposed to Black dance steps and gradually began incorporating them into his repertoire. He became known for the promotion of ‘stepping’ – a form of dance derived from both Black social dance steps and tap dancing. Through stepping separate groups of dancers competed. During this period the Black Arts Movement began looking seriously at those forms of social folk dances and hired Harris to perform in Philadelphia schools, where his name and dance style gained wide acclaim. In New York similar developments were occurring. Dancers such as Apache and Rubber Band began introducing similar dance steps in New York discos. There style became knowing as Uprocking and Brooklyn Rock. Similar in California, boogaloo dance groups have begun purveying a dance style known as strutting. (Forman 2004) DJ Kool Herc and Breaking As disco was gaining wide acclaim the role of the DJ began to take a prominent role in dance clubs. One of the most prominent during this early 1970s period, and the one most relevant to the development of the hip hop dance style was DJ Kool Herc. Herc was a Jamaican American DJ who gained great notoriety in the Bronx for his break beats. Break beats were instrumental interludes in songs, in which the band stopped playing and the beats were brought to the foreground. It was in these periods that the dancers at the club or party were most active. This occurrence has been described as, The moment when the dancers really got wild was in a songs short instrumental break, when the band would drop out and the rhythm section would get elemental. Forget melody, chorus, songs—it was all about the groove, building it, keeping it going. Like a string theorist, Herc zeroed in on the fundamental vibrating loop at the heart of the record, the break... "And once they heard that, that was it, wasnt no turning back. They always wanted to hear breaks after breaks after breaks after breaks (Chang pg. 79). In response to the explosion of dancing during these instrumental interludes Herc developed a method by which he used two turntables and as one of the instrumental interludes was about to end he would cue the second turn table. Using this method, which came to be referred to as the Merry-Go-Round technique, Herc was able to promulgate the break into perpetuity. This wasn’t the development of breakdancing. DJ Kool Herc began referring to these dancers at the parties as b-boys and term b-boys then a regular component of hip hop dance terminology. It is unknown where the term refers to Bronx-boys, break-boys, or beat boys. It became commonplace for competitions to occur among the competing factions of the New York b-boys, California boogaloo groups, and the Philadelphia steppers. (Chang 2005) Originally breakdancing was restricted to a style knon as toprock. Toprock is defined by when the dancers’ feet remain on the ground. In the early incarnations of breaking it became common place for dancers to develop elaborate toprocking manuevers. As toprocking became more renowned it began giving way to a multitude of different incarnations. One such advancement has been term uprocking. Heavily influenced by New York gangs, uprocking consists of toprocking maneuvers in highly aggressive and fight-styled displays. It has an interesting lineage as the New York gangs would use uprocking techniques when confronted with terf war conflicts. The gang who won the uprocking contest would then determine where the actual fight would take place. When one considers the historical cultural incarnations that equate dancing and fighting, such as the movie/musical West Side Story and the more recent movie You Got Served, this fact is highly notable as it demonstrates that there is actual historical precedent for the equation of these elements. (Chang 2005) After toprocking and uprocking elements that most individuals incorporate with the mainstream conception of breakdancing was introduced. These included headspins, windmills, and swipes. These movements were greatly developed out of crew formations in major United States cities, most notably New York. One of the earliest and most notable of these crews was the Rock Steady Crew, who was organized in Bronx, New York in 1970. Headed by Richard "Crazy Legs" Colón, the crew quickly gained notoriety and established a new version of the crew in Manhattan. Over the years the Rock Steady Crew went on to gain world-wide acclaim, appearing in a series of films, performing for the Jerry Lewis telethon, and even developing a branch in Japan. They are still together today, making them one of the longest dance crews in continuous existence. (Chang 2005) West Coast Development While breaking was developing in New York a parallel movement of hip hop dance began developing in California. In the early 1970s Don Campbell developed a style of dance which involved sudden pauses. This style gained great notoriety on the West Coast and eventually landed Campbell a spot on the television show Soul Train. Campbell referred to his dance group as The Lockers and this style of dance he developed eventually received the moniker locking, While New York dance styles were predominantly influenced by DJ Kool Herc’s and similar DJ’s break beat patterns, West Coast hip hop dance was greatly influenced by the funk styles that had grown out of jazz. Outside of The Lockers, another crucial hip hop dance development was made by Boogaloo Sam, who developed a style known as popping. Influenced greatly by The Lockers he named his group The Boogaloo Lockers. It was during this late 1970s period that hip hop received its name. It was also during this time that other popular styles of dance, particularly the robot – where dancers move their limbs in a robotic fashion – were developed and implemented. (Forman 2004) 1980s-Present In the 1980s, as hip hop music gradually took hold in American and world culture, so did the dance movements that were originally developed in 1970s California and New York spread to suburban and international regions. Other styles of dance have also been developed since these groundbreaking foundational elements were introduced. The 1990s saw the incorporation of krumping into many mainstream music videos. This style were participants actually imitate a clown dance, was originally developed in Compton, California. The style was featured in a documentary titled Rize, by famed fashion director David La Chapelle. (Forman 2004) Conclusion While the majority of the dance styles that hip hop is renowned for were developed by the early 1980s, the hip hop dance movement has evolved greatly since the first incarnations of break dancing at DJ Kool Herc’s parties. Today hip hop has comingled with R&B and even rock and these mutations have similarly resulted in an endless array of dance mutations. The hip hop style has also spread throughout the world gaining wide spread appreciation in Japan and Europe. References Chang, Jeff. Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. New York: St. Martins Press., 2005. Forman, Murray. (2004) Thats the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Routledge. Read More