- Also called:
- breaking and B-boying
- Related Topics:
- Olympic Games
- dance
- hip-hop
- Summer Olympic Games
break dancing
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What is break dancing?
Break dancing is an energetic and largely improvisational dance form popularized by African Americans and Latinos, originating in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It incorporates stylized footwork and athletic moves, such as head spins, drawing from martial arts and gymnastics.
The dance emphasizes energy, creativity, humor, and an element of danger, reflecting the city streets. It is associated with a particular style of dress, including baggy pants, sneakers, and baseball caps. The term "break" refers to the rhythms and sounds produced by deejays mixing records to create a continuous beat. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee approved breaking as a sport at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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When and where did break dancing start?
Break dancing is an energetic dance that includes stylized footwork and athletic moves. African Americans and Latinos fashioned and popularized it in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It incorporates moves from martial arts and gymnastics and is largely improvisational, with an emphasis on energy, creativity, and humor.
The term break refers to rhythms and sounds produced by deejays mixing sounds from records to produce a continuous beat. DJ Kool Herc created "cutting breaks" by playing breaks repeatedly. During live performances, he would signal dancers to perform gymnastic moves, which are a hallmark of break dancing. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee approved break dancing as a sport at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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What are some basic moves in break dancing?
Break dancing is an energetic and improvisational dance that originated in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It's largely improvisational, without "standard" moves, but consists of variations incorporating moves from martial arts and gymnastics.
Basic moves include freezes, powermoves, downrock, and toprock. The dance emphasizes energy, movement, creativity, humor, and an element of danger, meant to reflect the city streets.
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How is music important in break dancing?
Music is integral to break dancing, also called breaking. The term "break" references rhythms and sounds made by deejays who mixed sounds from records to create a continuous beat for dancing.
This technique was pioneered by DJ Kool Herc, who created "cutting breaks" by looping percussion breaks from two identical records. During live performances, he would signal dancers to perform gymnastic moves, shouting, "B-boys go down!".
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What are break dancing battles, and how do they work?
Break dancing battles, also known as breaking, are a competitive style of hip-hop dance where soloists perform acrobatic moves. These battles have long been a part of break dancing.
Break dancing is largely improvisational, consisting of variations of standard moves or steps, such as freezes, powermoves, downrock, and toprock. Dancers emphasize energy, creativity, and an element of danger, conveying the feel of city streets. The media coined the term "break dancing," which sometimes mixes New York breaker routines with West Coast moves like "popping" and "locking".
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How has break dancing influenced other types of dance and culture?
Originating in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, break dancing is an energetic and improvisational dance form that includes stylized footwork and athletic moves.
Break dancing gained mainstream recognition in the 1980s, influencing modern dance styles, music videos, and live concerts. Michael Jackson's adoption of breaking, including the moonwalk, significantly contributed to its wider acceptance and integration into popular culture. The dance's influence is evident in hip-hop, with dancers combining break dancing moves with their own variations to produce unique forms of movement. Break dancing's impact on culture was further cemented when it was approved as a sport for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
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break dancing, energetic form of dance, fashioned and popularized by African Americans and Latinos, that includes stylized footwork and athletic moves such as back spins or head spins. Break dancing originated in New York City during the late 1960s and early ’70s, incorporating moves from a variety of sources, including martial arts and gymnastics.
Break dancing is largely improvisational, made up of variations of “standard” moves or steps, including freezes, powermoves, downrock, and toprock. The emphasis is on energy, movement, creativity, humour, and an element of danger. It is meant to convey the rough world of the city streets from which it is said to have sprung. It is also associated with a particular style of dress that includes baggy pants or sweat suits, baseball caps worn sideways or backward, and sneakers (required because of the dangerous nature of many of the moves).
The term break refers to the particular rhythms and sounds produced by deejays by mixing sounds from records to produce a continuous dancing beat. The technique was pioneered by DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), a Jamaican deejay in New York who mixed the percussion breaks from two identical records. By playing the breaks repeatedly and switching from one record to the other, Kool Herc created what he called “cutting breaks.” During his live performances at New York dance clubs, Kool Herc would shout, “B-boys go down!”—the signal for dancers to perform the gymnastic moves that are the hallmark of break dancing.
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In the 1980s breaking reached a greater audience when it was adopted by mainstream artists such as Michael Jackson. Jackson’s moonwalk—a step that involved sliding backward and lifting the soles of the feet so that he appeared to be gliding or floating—became a sensation among teens. Record producers, seeing the growing popularity of the genre, signed artists who could imitate the street style of the breakers while presenting a more wholesome image that would appeal to mainstream audiences. Breaking had gone from a street phenomenon to one that was embraced by the wider culture. It is around this time that the term break dancing was invented by the media, which often conflated the repertoire of New York breakers with such concurrent West Coast moves as “popping” and “locking.” Those routines were popularized in the early 1970s by artists on television, including Charlie Robot, who appeared on the popular TV series Soul Train.
Break dancing had an enormous influence on modern dance styles, and offshoots of it were performed in many music and especially rap videos as well as in live concerts by popular artists such as Britney Spears. The mainstreaming of the genre was never more clearly demonstrated than in 2004, when break-dancers were invited to perform in the Vatican before Pope John Paul II. Break dancing cemented its place in popular culture when, in 2020, the International Olympic Committee approved breaking as a sport at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.