Forms of competitive dance that started in the early 1970s among gangs of youths in New York City, such as the Zulu Kings (showing African links) and the Rock Steady Crew. The dance movement known as King Tut uses head and arm movements typical of Egyptian dance. Break dancing was part of the Bronx graffiti art and rapping culture. It aims to develop control and co-ordination to perform acrobatic and athletic feats either solo, with a partner, or in a group to demonstrate superiority over rival gangs. Dancers spin the body on the head, back, and hands, performing aerial dives and fast footwork. The Turtle and the Beetle Crawl are typical patterns. Body popping is a jerky articulation of isolated parts of the body creating a chain of movement that ripples, for example, in the Wave. In contrast there are also smooth gliding movements. References to birds or snakes are found. Robotics is a form where mime and puppet movements are important. A mechanical effect is created by tense muscles in a stiff body; the movements are small and sharp.
Street dance is an umbrella term used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios at more everyday spaces such as streets, school yards and nightclubs.
Today, street dance is commonly used specifically for the many hip hop dances and funk dance styles that began appearing in the United States in the 1970s, and are still alive and evolving within the hip hop culture of today.
Origins
Many street dance styles were formed as an answer to needs among youths of various urban areas, such as the lack of affordable dance studios.
Characteristics
Opposite to many other dance forms, most street dances encourage individuality and originality, and that dancers interpret the existing moves freely and even invent new ones to create a personal style of their own.
Generally, a street dance is based on a unique style or feel that are expressed through the dance, usually tied to a certain genre of music. As new moves evolve based on this feel, the dance is under constant development, and if the feel starts to change it might give birth to a completely new dance form.
Battles
Many street dances involve battles of some sort (known as jamming in other dance cultures), where individuals or groups of people (called crews in hip hop contexts) dance against each other, with the observing crowd or a group of judges deciding the winner. Normally, if the street dance style is not a partner dance, only one dancer performs at a time, except when people from the same crew performs a choreographed routine.
Competitions
Today, serious street dance competitions are getting increasingly popular, and a number of large reoccurring international events are taking place around the world, such as Battle of the Year, Juste Debout,G force Street Dance Weekend UK and International Championships, {http://www.gforceproductions.com] iDance UK Hip Hop Crew Championships,American Lindy Hop Championships and Jump Off.
Styles
Some of the most famous street dance styles of today, such as breakdancing, popping and locking, began appearing around the 1970s, with breakdancing soon becoming a part of the hip hop culture. Popping and locking are considered funk dances rather than hip hop dances, but are today commonly associated with the hip hop scene and breakdancing as well, as they share many street dance elements. It's also common to see some characteristics of street dance being mixed with other more traditional dance forms, creating styles such as street-jazz, a hybrid of modern hip hop styles and jazz dance.
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