Break dance, also known as breaking and B-boying, is an explosive form of dance popularised by African Americans and Latinos that features stylized footwork and athletic manoeuvres including back spins and head spins. Break dancing began in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining routines from other disciplines such as martial arts and gymnastics. Also read about Contemporary dance here.
Break dance is mostly spontaneous, with freezes, powermoves, downrock, and toprock being examples of “traditional” motions or routines. The emphasis is on movement, imagination, humour, and a sense of peril. It’s designed to evoke the gritty environment of city streets, where it’s said to have originated. It’s also linked to a certain type of clothing, such as baggy pants or sweatsuits, 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 unique rhythms and sounds that deejays create by combining sounds from records to create a continuous dancing beat. DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), a Jamaican jockey in New York, invented the technique by combining the percussion breaks from two identical tracks. Kool Herc produced “cutting breaks” by continually playing the breaks and transitioning from one song to the next. “B-boys go down!” Kool Herc would shout during his live performances at New York dance clubs, signalling dancers to perform the acrobatic moves that are the signature of break dancing. Break dancing is mostly spontaneous, with freezes, powermoves, downrock, and toprock being examples of “traditional” motions or routines. The focus is on energy.
HISTORY OF BREAK DANCE
When mainstream singers like Michael Jackson adopted breaking in the 1980s, it attracted a wider audience. Jackson’s moonwalk, which consisted of sliding backward and raising the soles of his feet to give the impression of gliding or floating, became an adolescent phenomenon. As the genre grew in popularity, record labels sought out musicians who could mimic the breakers’ street flair while presenting a more wholesome image that would appeal to a wider audience. Breaking has evolved from a purely street phenomena to a cultural one.
Break dancing had a huge influence on modern dance forms, and its offshoots were seen in a lot of music videos, especially rap videos, as well as in live performances by celebrities like Britney Spears. The mainstreaming of the genre was never more evident than in 2004, when breakdancers were asked to perform in front of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. When the International Olympic Committee accepted break dancing as a sport for the 2024 Olympics in Paris in 2020, it reinforced its place in popular culture.
BREAK DANCE ELEMENTS
Breakdancing is made up of four main elements: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes.
TOPROCK
Any series of steps taken from a standing position is referred to as toprock. Though dancers frequently shift from other components of breakdancing to toprock and back, it is usually the first and foremost initial display of style. Toprock features a range of steps that can be customised to the dancer’s personality (i.e. aggressive, calm, excited). In the definition of toprock, a lot of leeway is allowed: as long as the dancer maintains cleanliness, form, and attitude, anything can be toprock. Popping, locking, tap dance, Lindy hop, and house dance are just a few of the numerous dance forms that Toprock can incorporate. Power movements and transitions from toprock to downrock
2. DOWNROCK
Downrock (also known as “footwork” or “floorwork”) refers to any movement on the floor in which the dancer’s hands are as important as their feet in supporting the dancer. The basic 6-step and its derivatives, such as the 3-step, are included in Downrock. Downrock is done exclusively on the feet and hands in its most basic form, although more intricate forms may need the use of the knees while looping limbs through each other.
3. POWERMOVES
Acrobatic techniques that require momentum, speed, endurance, strength, flexibility, and control to accomplish are known as power moves. The breaker’s upper body provides most of his support, while the rest of his body generates circular motion. The windmill, swipe, rear spin, and head spin are among examples. Gymnastics and martial arts have influenced some of the power manoeuvres. The Thomas Flair, which is reduced and written flare in breakdancing, is an example of a gymnastics-inspired power move.
4.FREEZES
Freezes, like as the pike, are beautiful positions that require the breaker to suspend himself or herself off the ground using upper body strength. They are frequently used to signify the end of a set and are used to accentuate strong rhythms in music. Freezes can be linked together to form chains or “stacks,” with breakers moving from one freeze to the next to hit the beats of the music, demonstrating musicality and physical power.