Breakdance History
Breakdance have different denominations as: breaking, b-boying or b-girling, but it is generally known as breaking. Breakdance is a street dance style, this dance has hip hop dance style among African American and Puerto Rican youths in the South Bronx of New York City throughout the early 1970s. Breakdance consists of top or up rock, footwork, spinning moves, and freeze. B-boying came from Bronx, NY.
Kool Herc created the expression "B-boy" or "B-boying" who was a DJ spinning at block parties in Bronx. It is usually danced to pop, funk or hip hop music, often remixed to extend the breaks. B-Boys signify break boys and they were called so because they dance to the break part of music. Afterwards, by repeating this break part done by DJ, "breakbeats" was born. A person who practices breakdancing is a breakdancer, breaker, b-boy or b-girl.
Rock Steady Crew has been the one who emphasizes styles to show dancer's individual flavor. Even though power moves have a great impact and very energetic, it is hard to put individual flavor into the moves. Also power moves truly don't go with beat since it is spinning. It is closer to gymnastic moves rather than dancing. Because of these motives, Rock Steady Crew proposes that footworks-emphasiezed style should be the direction of breaking of 90s.
Their dancing was called "Good Foot" from James Brown's record of the same name. The Good Foot was the first freestyle dance that incorporated moves involving drops and spins, and resembled the beginning of breaking.
A new style with a new step created by these drops was being developed in Brooklyn and called "Brooklyn Rock" also known as "Uprocking". Once the first early break moves had been established, a specific style began to develop. The famous first generation of b-boys were "Nigger Twins", "Clark Kent", and "Zulu Kings". But during 1977 breakingdance was losing its popularity among black kids.
However, breaking came back with a new generation of b-boys. It was Puerto Rican b-boys who put new life to breaking and took it into next level.
There are also other b-boys such as Lil Lep from New York City Breakers who should get props by developed b-boying. The breaking received influence to the martial artists and media star like Bruce Lee and Kung Fu film.
The dance gained in worldwide popularity throughout the '80s and '90s with break-dance moves being included into movies and musical theatres productions and European and Asian aficionados adding their own energetic spins and whirls to the mix.
After 1985 or 86, the winter period of breaking came. Then reappearance of b-boying happened around 1990. Precisely don’t know how it happened. But some people think it was done by the support of real b-boys who never renounce b-boying even during the winter period of b-boying; breaking gained its popularity again in California. Actually, B-boy events such as B-BOY SUMMIT and ROCK STEADY ANNIVERSARY are organized every year and many b-boys from all over the world get together and keep the culture alive and even try to take it into next level.
Since its beginning, breakdancing has offered a youth culture constructive option to violent urban street gangs.
A brief history of some styles of dance:
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