Hip-hop dance derives its roots from a blend of East Coast and West Coast dance styles of the 1970s and 1980s. These dance styles were different, but similar in rhythmic style. From East Coast b/boyin and Brooklyn uprocking to West Coast locking and popping grew the dance style we now know as hip-hop. This blend of East and West Coast dance expresses roots from African, martial arts, street and folk dancing, which shine through in today's hip-hop, according to Davey D's Hip Hop Corner.
As Exercise
Hip-hop dance is an excellent complete body workout. It is cardiovascular for fat-burning, isolates the core in four different directions for a high-intensity abs workout and engages every muscle from your neck down to your feet. There are many different levels and styles of hip-hop dance for fitness. Basic classes offer a simple routine that teaches you the primary movements in an easy to follow format. A more advanced hip-hop class will provide you with challenging body isolations, tempo variations and more complicated choreography. Almost all hip-hop classes begin with a warm-up that isolates your muscles from the neck down to your feet, which helps to teach you how to do some of the core hip-hop moves, says Fitness Magazine.
Styles
Hip-hop has many styles from the past with new styles always emerging. From the hip-hop dances of the past, such as poppin', lockin' and breaking came fad hip-hop dances of the late 1980s and early 1990s. These dances, such as the running man and the cabbage patch became widely popular and grew the hip-hop culture into mainstream media. The dance industry grew these hip-hop dance styles into more commercial styles, such as L.A. style, new style or jazz-funk style. The newest styles of hip-hop, such as krumping, tecktonik and lyrical hip-hop present different elements of dance into the technique giving hip-hop dance a smoother look.
General Technique
As a blend of multi-cultural dances hip-hop takes advantage of different rhythmic variations. A hip-hop move commonly places emphasis on the upbeat instead of the downbeat. All styles of hip-hop use body isolations, from the neck down to the feet, to emphasize movement in alignment with the music. Hip-hop is more individual than many other dance forms, leaving the dancer with the choice of how the move will look.
Considerations
Hip-hop dance involves jumping and quick body isolations. Performing these movements incorrectly can result in injury. Common hip-hop dance injuries include ankle and knee joint injuries and lower-back injuries. Avoid injury when dancing any style of hip-hop by keeping at a level that is comfortable for you and always properly warming-up and cooling-down.
How To Start
Whether you want to hip-hop dance for fitness, fun or competitively, there are many ways to add hip-hop to your lifestyle. Introduce yourself to this dance style by auditing a hip-hop class at your local dance or fitness studio. If you want to dance hip-hop in competitions, talk to a local dance studio for local contest and competition information.
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