How to Dance Hip Hop

Hip hop is a form of dance that is freestyle in nature. The history of hip hop dance is a short one as the dance originated around 25 years ago. The word hip hop is basically used with reference to a culture which evolved along with hip hop music. The hip hop culture and in turn the hip hop dance developed on the streets and in clubs. The dance form is now considered to be a member of the African American vernacular dances.

How to Dance Hip Hop?

Being a freestyle form of dancing, one can easily begin with learning the basics and the simple moves of the hip hop dance style. The dance however, requires high levels of fitness and energy in the long run. Unlike the other forms such as ballet dancing, salsa dancing, belly dancing, which take a methodical approach, hip hop allows the dancer to enjoy the beats and get into the rhythm without following any hard and fast rules. The following paragraphs deal with how to do hip hop dance moves and the various techniques used in this dance.

Learn Hip Hop Dance Moves

To learn hip hop dance moves, one should start afresh and forget whatever he has learned in the past. The most important thing to remember while learning the hip hop dance moves is to feel the beats or rhythm. Conditioning the mind to the rhythm is important since it is difficult to move ahead without understanding it. Video music channels are the best means to learn for beginners. One can start off by imitating the moves shown on these channels. The key to improve is repetition. Practicing the moves repetitively helps in refining them.

The hip hop dance form is classified or categorized into combinations. The combinations are further broken into counts and the counts into moves. Thus, one should think how to do hip hop dance step by step instead of directly trying the difficult or complicated moves. The different moves or styles of hip hop dancing are mentioned below.

Breaking: This form of hip hop dance includes the moves like toprock, downrock, Brooklyn uprock, power moves and freezes. The toprock is performed in a standing position while the freezes need the dancer to make moves with the help of the hands. The Brooklyn uprock is similar to the toprock, however, it is more of a confrontational dance where the dancers compete against each other. The 'windmill', 'swipe' and 'flare' are the most recognized power moves. To perform a swipe, the dancer leans back and rests his hand on the ground in a manner that appears to whip the air. The legs follow the hands in the same motion and a 360 degree twist is completed. The dancer lands on his feet at the end of the move. While performing a 'flare', the whole weight of the body is supported by the arms and the legs swing in continuous circles without touching the ground. The torso is maintained in a stationary position in this move. In the move called windmill, the torso is rolled continuously in a circular path while the legs are twirled in a 'V'-shape.

Popping: The technique of contracting and relaxing the body muscles in order to cause a jerk is termed as a pop. A pop need to be synchronized with the beats or rhythm of the music. There are many subtypes of popping such as liquid, strobing, animation, etc. In 'liquid', the movements of the body are smooth and look like water. The moves called floating, gliding and sliding are done by means of the feet.

Locking: This form of hip hop dancing is characterized by the move called lock. In the lock, the dancer takes a sudden pause just like a freeze and then moves ahead. Lock is the basic move of this dance form.

Krumping: Krumping is generally performed within ciphers and is a freestyle form. Arm swings, wobbles, stomps and chest pops are the primary moves of krumping.

The hip hop dance is a continuously evolving form of dance. The primary requirements to learn the dance is to understand the rhythm and maintaining the fitness levels. One should learn how to dance hip hop taking into account the above mentioned instructions.