The History of Hip Hop Breakdance
Historically, break-dancing has only been pleasing audiences for 40 years, but has had its share in the popular entertainment culture of dance. From the streets of New York and the ghettos of Los Angeles, break-dancing evolved from gangs to major Hollywood pictures. It has been an integral part of America's past-time and is still being used today.
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History
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Hip-Hop music has been around since the 1970s and created a new culture of upbeat music to dance to. According to Rebeldancers.com, the name Hip-Hop has two different meanings: Hip as in cool and Hop as in the music that was surrounding it. An element of Hip-Hop is break dance, which use to be called "Bboying" prior to the media giving it its modern name.
Bboying Born
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Break-dancing use to be called Bboying because boys were interested in this type of dance and would wait for the break of the record before they got down on the dance floor and started performing break-dancing moves. DJ Cool Herc, the Godfather of Hip-Hop who lived in the Bronx, New York, during the 1970s, would hold dance parties at a small apartment. Bboying started at these parties when boys would get down on the floor and dance in circular movements.
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Bboying Evolves
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Many young men and women got involved with Bboying during the early stages of its existence because they needed something positive to do. They were usually in gangs due to their difficult living situations. They got involved with Bboying so they could have a hobby that was beneficial to them and that could be used to take out their frustrations. Some of the first Bboying moves were called Up Rock, which looked like the dancers were fighting each other. African-Americans set the foundation for Bboying, but Latino dancers created most of the dance moves such as the Windmill and the Head Spin.
Bboying to Disco
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Disco dancers and Broadway dancers began to take notice of Bboying in the 1970s and started learning and adding more moves. Charlie Robot, a television actor who appeared on the "Soul Train" program in America, took advantage of break-dancing and created his own move "The Robot." In addition to his style, locking and pops in his moves were used, and many break dancers still use this dance method today. It wasn't until the 1980s that Bboying became known as Break Dancing.
Famous Movies and Stars Who Used Break Dancing
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Popular Hollywood productions and stars that involved break-dancing are John Travolta's "Saturday Night Fever" and Michael Jackson's move "The Moonwalk." In 1984, the movie "Beat Street," directed by Stan Lathan, told the story of a DJ and his younger brother trying to use break-dancing to get away from their ghetto environment.
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