How to Pop & Lock & Boogaloo

Pop and lock dancing is a form of hip hop break dancing that involves contracting and relaxing the muscles of the body to the rhythm of the song. This style of dancing originated in California in the late 1970s and has risen in popularity due to the exposure it receives from hip hop music videos and dance shows on television. The boogaloo is another form of popular hip hop dancing that is used in routines by dancers and dance groups alike. The point of the boogaloo is to make it look as if the dancer has no bones, but is a constant flowing current of energy. Boogaloo is often combined with pop and lock to make different dance routines.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Pop and Lock

1. Get into a starting stance. You should stand with your feet a little more than shoulder width apart from each other.

2. Drop your hands to your side, bend your right leg at the knee and point the knee in toward your left leg. Bend your body a little and then slightly lean to your left.

3. Straighten out your right leg and perform the same move in the previous step with your left leg. Lean your body to the right.

4. Tense and squeeze your shoulder muscles up and then relax them. Bend your elbows sharply and in a robotic fashion, making sure to clench and then release your arm muscles.

5. Combine movements of the upper body and lower body to create your own routine.

Boogaloo

6. Extend your arm out to the side and flex your wrist either up or down. This is the start of the boogaloo wave.

7. Bend your elbow the opposite direction you flexed your wrist. For example if you flexed your wrist up, bend your elbow down. Do this immediately after flexing the wrist.

8. Lift your shoulder up and toward your neck and head. This makes it appear as if a wave of energy is flowing from your wrist, through your arm and up into your shoulder.

9. Shift your head and tilt it to the opposite side from the arm that started the boogaloo wave.

10. Drop your opposite shoulder down, extend your arm out at the elbow and flex your opposite wrist.

11. Pop and lock with your legs and lower body while you are doing the boogaloo. The jerky and sharp movements of the pop and lock compliment and contrast the smooth, fluid movements of the boogaloo.

Resources

• Pop and Lock Instructional Video
• Boogaloo Instructional Videos