Friday, August 20, 2010

Hip Hop Dance (Locking)

Locking (originally Campbellocking) is a style of funk dance, which is today also associated with hip hop. The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which basically means freezing from a fast movement and "locking" in a certain position, holding that position for a short while and then continuing in the same speed as before. It relies on fast and distinct arm and hand movements combined with more relaxed hips and legs. The movements are generally large and exaggerated, and often very rhythmic and tightly synced with the music. Locking is quite performance oriented, often interacting with the audience by smiling or giving them a high five, and some moves are quite comical in nature. A dancer who performs locking is called a locker. Lockers commonly use a distinctive dress style, such as colorful clothing with stripes and suspenders
    Locking was originally danced to traditional funk music, such as James Brown. Funk music is still commonly favored by locking dancers, and used by many competitions such as the locking division of Juste Debout. Locking movements create a strong contrast towards the many fast moves that are otherwise performed quite continuously, combined with mime style performance and acting towards the audience and other dancers. Locking includes quite a lot of acrobatics and physically demanding moves, such as landing on one's knees and the split. These moves often require knee protection of some sort.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Breakdance


 B-boying, also known as breaking and commonly referred to as breakdancing, is a popular style of street dance that was created and developed as part of hip-hop culture among African Americans, and later on Latino youths in New York City. The dance consists of four primary elements: toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes/suicides. It is danced to both hip hop and other genres of music that are often remixed to prolong the musical breaks. The musical selection for b-boying is not restricted to hip-hop music, as long as the tempo and beat pattern conditions are met. A practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy, b-girl, or breaker. These dancers often participate in battles, formal or informal dance competitions between two individuals or two crews. Although the term "breakdance" is frequently used, "b-boying" and "breaking" are preferred by the majority of the art form's pioneers and most notable practitioners
Dance techniques.For more details on this topic, see List of breakdance moves.
There are four primary elements that form breaking. These include toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes/suicides.A b-boy practicing downrock at a studio in Moscow.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010