9 of the Most Popular Hip Hop Dance Styles

Hip Hop has emerged since its introduction in the early 1970s and now includes far too many styles to list. Hip Hop is an edgy, fresh and powerful urban dance style also known as Street Dance. The beginning of locking, popping and crumping, Hip Hop is mostly performed to rap, urban and not surprisingly, hip hop music. Funky, high-top dance sneakers are normally worn by dancers. What sets Hip Hop apart from several other dance styles is that its unusual street dance was freestyle in nature and did not follow a predefined choreography. A style of dance that is free to own expression, Hip hop dancers were free to interpret the dance in any way they could, and this lead to several innovative and interesting dance styles. Still, as many of the other Hip Hop dance studio near me will agree, these are the nine most prevalent forms of Hip Hop-

1) B-boying (Breakdancing)

Thought to be one of the very original styles of Hip Hop, B-boying is characterized by acrobatic Vigour Movements, upright movements, and footwork. Dancers also punctuate their routines with a movement known as the Freeze.

2) Locking and Popping

While technically two styles, Locking and Popping usually go hand in hand. Locking requires fast actions, sharp pauses, and extravagant gestures. Popping, on the other hand, is a bouncy style that demands extreme use of counter-tempo.

3) Funk

Funk, which is a coalition of Disco and Soul, uses a blend of fluid and sharp moves and is usually extremely choreographed. Locking and Popping are also frequently combined into this dance style.

4) Up rock

Up rock uses a blend of many dance moves to build soulful dances. Typically, this dance style includes:

●Shuffles
●Spins
●Freestyle Movements
●Jerks
●Hand Gestures

5) Liquid Dance

As its title implies, Liquid Dance is a fluid and delicate dance with a centre on the arms and palms. It may include some forms of pantomime and exceptional dancers will use a range of body moves.

6) Boogaloo

Another fluid-like style, Boogaloo as directed by Hip Hop dance studios near me, uses the complete body sliding smoothly like butter, often with the rolling of the hips, head, and knees.

7) Reggae

If we had to pick a Hip Hop style that invokes sensuality, it would be Reggae for its Latin influences mixed with more modern Hip Hop moves set to the modern evolution of Reggae music.

8) Lyrical

Lyrical is a unique style of Hip Hop in that it tells a story and is danced to the words of the music instead of the beat. It is usually fluid and more interpretive than other styles of Hip Hop.

9) Stepping

Stepping is a group dance that includes using body actions to create percussive beats. This is accomplished through:

●Stomping or Steps
●Clapping or Slapping
●Spoken Word