Hip Hop Dancing - The Facts
Hip Hop and Pop Culture Dance Classes on Mondays in West Roxbury
Click here for our current hip hop dance class
schedule: Classes for Everyone! History of Hip Hop Dance
Old school hip hop dance refers to the hip hop dance styles
that evolved in the 1970s and 1980s, and were primarily danced
to funk and old school hip hop music. Breakdance appeared during
this time and is said to be the first and original hip hop dance
style, as it's considered a cornerstone of hip hop culture itself.
In the 1980s, many funk dance styles that originally evolved
separately from hip hop dance, such as popping and locking, started
to be incorporated with the hip hop culture as well, and could
be seen combined with breakdance.
Today, many of the old school styles of hip hop dance are as
alive as ever, and can be seen at dance clubs, competitions and
in the media, commonly used in popular music videos.
Hip Hop Dance classes, as well as the occasional Pop Culture and Reggaeton dance class at OUT to Dance focus on dynamic choreography,
and our instructor, Kristina Marley, incorporates many classic
and innovative movements you can really enjoy using in a night
club dance setting. Our Hip Hop and Reggaeton Dance Classes are
open to men and women 16 and over, of any size, shape, or level
of dance experience.
Hip Hop, Pop Culture and Reggaeton
Dance Instructor Kristina Marley on being a female hip hop dancer
and choreographer: "I honestly feel that women
are just powerful and talented beings anyway, especially when
they are passionate about something, and this has been misrepresented
and misunderstood in hip hop especially. But the nature of hip hop dance is exploding in a very exciting way and women are
now coming together to fight that stereotype. In my dance class you
can, like in the quality videos by the quality hip hop artist,
catch a glimpse of this amazing level of creativity and power
in the dancing; and I am confident that everyone is getting hungry
for that. Most of the videos that I find now about hip hop dance
teams are either all girl or co-ed, and I have yet to see too
many all male teams, so what was once a very male-dominated style
of dance is really opening a lot of doors for females. And a lot
of females are walking through that door with guns blazing which
is, I guess, besides the obvious talent and power, what really
inspires me and draws me in to the current hip hop dance evolution."
It is historically inaccurate to say that the funk styles were always considered hip hop. The funk styles were adopted into hip hop in large part due to the media. Once hip hop activist and DJ, Afrika Bambaataa, used the word "hip-hop" in a magazine interview in 1982, "hip hop dance" became an umbrella term encompassing all of these styles. Due to the amount of attention locking and popping were receiving, the media brought these styles under the "breakdance" label causing confusion about their origin. These hip hop styles were created on the west coast independent from breaking and were originally danced to funk music rather than hip hop music.
As breaking, locking, and popping gained popularity in the 1980s, hip hop social dancing (party dancing) was starting to develop. These precursors to hip hop dancing are an example of the many dances that have appeared since hip hop developed into a distinct dance style. Like hip hop music, hip hop social dancing continues to change as new songs are released and new dances are created to accompany them. (Wikipedia.)
Our OUT to Dance studio locations in West Roxbury and Roslindale are within twenty minutes of downtown Boston, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Brighton, Allston, Roxbury, Brookline, Newton, Chestnut Hill, Dedham, Norwood, Needham, Westwood, Milton and Quincy; and within 25 to 35 minutes of Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Wellesley, Natick, Waltham, Braintree, Brockton, Stoughton, Canton, Foxboro, Weymouth and surrounding towns. We are also less than an hour from Providence, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Central Mass. |
"Every day I ask, “Is it Monday yet?”
so I can go to Kristina’s Hip Hop Class. The class is fun
and she is a GREAT teacher. This is my 3rd class that I have taken
with Kristina and she brings something new and challenging each
session." Cairra G., Hyde Park, MA
"My husband is jealous that he can't get off
work in time to make it to hip hop class too! When I first saw
Kristina show us the choreography I didn't think I could do it,
but I have surprised myself each week. This is a great class!"
-Katie, Dorchester, MA
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