Hip hop
Hip Hop Dance has a dynamic history. From Breakdancing to the moonwalk, from Michael Jackson to Krump dancing, from Bboy dancing to plain old head nodding. Everyone had their own way of expressing love for hip hop dancing.
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The history of hip hop dance started with Breakdancing around the late 1970s to early 80s. Breaking started in the south Bronx New York, where Kool DJ Herc noticed that the dancers loved the drum breaks in his funk records. He bought two copies of the same record and mixed them in a way that extended the break for the dancers - breakdancing.
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It was also a form of Hip Hop dance that was used by street gangs to settle differences without using violence. This was positive for black and puerto rican youths at the time. Crews like the Zulu Kings and Dynamite Rockers would battle for street supremacy, with 'uprockin' fighting moves countered by 'downrockin' – where the dancers takes their weight on their hand and weave fast footwork around it.
One of the first Hip Hop Crews Rock Steady developed a new style of breakdancing that included acrobatic styles such as headspinning, windmills, backspins, waves.
They were encouraged by legendary DJ Afrika Bambaatta to use breakdancing as a tool to achieve greatness. Afrikaa Bambatta was instrumental in pushing breakdancing forward by motivating youth to pursue their love of the artform.
Hip hop is also seen as a lifestyle with its own language, style of dress, music and mindset that is continuously evolving.
| Breaking went truly mainstream and global in the 1980s. After a dip in popularity there’s been a steady revival in interest, with hip-hop jams at clubs and festivals across the UK and Europe. Hip-hop has featured in major stage shows like Jam on the Groove and Bounce. Pioneering US hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris blends his chosen genre and theatre to stand-out effect. Harris’ Rome & Jewels is an especially strong riff on Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers, its real focus being the masochistic impulses inside black urban male machismo. |
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British artists like performer and director Jonzi D, bodypopping poet Benji Reid and Robert Hylton are at the forefront of hip-hop innovation. The latter dubs his original blend of street, contemporary, jazz and ballet vocabularies as Urban Classicism.
Scottish Crews
Notable Scottish companies include Freshmess, who has gone from strength to strength over the last year and established itself as a successful company merging hip-hop with contemporary dance, performing at major international showcase events British Dance Editions 2006 amongst others.
Another Scottish company making its mark on the scene is Random Aspekts. Since forming in 2001 they have carved out a reputation for themselves as Scotland's premier breakdance crew with a tradition of delivering slick, dynamic and highly entertaining breakdance performances.
Want to see award-winning Scottish dance crew in action
Then check out Freshmess' upcoming tour!
Following on from their successful performance at The West Yorkshire Playhouse, as part of British Dance Editions 2006, Freshmess will be touring a Triple Bill of new work featuring leading Scottish Choreographers Allan Irvine, Frank McConnell and Ethelinda Lashley-Johnston
Freshmess will be touring through out Scotland in May and June 2006. |
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