The Evolution of Hip Hop dances.
Hip Hop began in New York City during the late 1960’s where young dancers with no technical
background brought dancing to the streets. Hip Hop moves derived from a combination of African
dancing, tap and modern. Hip Hop music has a more diverse and complex rhythm. Dancing to Hip Hop
music enabled freestyle dancers to express themselves. They used whatever movement their bodies
felt within the music. Hip Hop dance became a new art form at that point.
Kool DJ Herc was the very first DJ to use two record players with the same two records on each
device. This new method created a unique sound and rhythm. This new style of music was the
foundation for early Hip Hop dancing. The 1970’s was the birth era of popping, locking and
break dancing. The studios for this newfound sensation were the basketball courts in local
communities.
Entering the 1990’s, more clubs were utilizing Hip Hop DJ’s and dancers.
At these dance club scenes there were many dance‐offs and “battles”.
Dance crews were formed and “duked” it out on the dance floor.
Hip Hop dance was known as being part of the battle culture.
In recent years, Hip Hop dance transformed and branched out into many sub cultures.
Hip Hop dancing became more popular and commercialized by the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.
With dance shows making a huge dent into the television industry,
it created more opportunities for dancers of all styles to come together and show what they’re made of.
This pop culture phenomenon gave birth to so many different styles of dance, making Hip Hop dance more diverse.