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The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 19 60s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as
uprock Uprock, or Rocking, as it was referred to, also known as Bronx Rock, Rock Dance, Brooklyn Rock, Burning or Freestyle is a competitive urban street dance, performed to the beats and rhythms of soul, rock and funk music, but was mostly danced ...
, breaking, locking, roboting,
boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a music genre, genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly by stateside Puerto Ricans with ...
, and
popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance), boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francis ...
.
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
created uprock and breaking in New York City.
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
in California created locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping—collectively referred to as the ''funk styles''. All of these dance styles are different stylistically. They share common ground in their street origins and in their improvisational nature of hip hop. More than 50 years old, hip-hop dance became widely known after the first professional street-based dance crews formed in the 1970s in the United States. The most influential groups were
Rock Steady Crew {{Infobox musical artist , name = Rock Steady Crew , image = , landscape = yes , caption = , alias = , origin = The Bronx New York, Manhattan New York, U.S. , genre ...
, The Lockers, and
The Electric Boogaloos The Electric Boogaloos are a street dance crew responsible for the spread of popping and electric boogaloo. The name "Boogaloo" came from a song called " Do a Boogaloo" by James Brown, which was also adapted as a Boogaloo street dance done from O ...
who are responsible for the spread of breaking, locking, and popping respectively. The
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
-based dance style uprock influenced breaking early in its development. Boogaloo gained more exposure because it is the namesake of the Electric Boogaloos crew. Uprock, roboting, and boogaloo are respected dance styles but none of them are as mainstream or popular as breaking, locking, and popping. Parallel with the evolution of
hip-hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...
, hip-hop social dancing emerged from breaking and the funk styles into different forms. Dances from the 1980s such as the Running Man, the Worm, and the Cabbage Patch entered the mainstream and became
fad dance Novelty and fad dances are dances which are typically characterized by a short burst of popularity. Some of them, like the Twist, Y.M.C.A. and the Hokey Pokey, have shown much longer-lasting lives. They are also called dance fads or dance cr ...
s. After the millennium, newer social dances such as the Cha Cha Slide and the Dougie also caught on and became very popular. Hip-hop dance is not a
studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...
-derived style. Street dancers developed it in urban neighborhoods without a formal process. All of the early substyles and social dances were brought about through a combination of events including inspiration from
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
, DJ Kool Herc's invention of the break beat, the formation of dance crews, and Don Cornelius' creation of the television show ''
Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...
''.


Beginning of breaking

According to hip-hop activist
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...
and
b-boy A b-boy is a person devoted to breaking or break dancing. B Boy may also refer to: Music * "B-Boy", a song by Tech N9ne featuring Big Scoob, Bumpy Knuckles, Kutt Calhoun, and Skatterman from the album '' K.O.D.'', 2009 * "B Boy" (song) by Meek ...
Richard " Crazy Legs" Colón, the purest hip-hop dance style, breaking (commonly called "breakdancing"), began in the early 1970s as elaborations on how
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
danced to his song " Get on the Good Foot". People mimicked these moves in their living rooms, in hallways, and at parties. It was at these parties that breaking flourished and developed with the help of a young Clive Campbell. Campbell, better known as
DJ Kool Herc Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican-American DJ who is credited with being the founder of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Campbe ...
, was a Jamaican-born DJ who frequently spun records at neighborhood teenage parties in the
Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
. Jeff Chang, in his book '' Can't Stop Won't Stop'' (2005), describes DJ Kool Herc's eureka moment in this way:
:Herc carefully studied the dancers. "I was smoking cigarettes and I was waiting for the records to finish. And I noticed people was waiting for certain parts of the record," he says. It was an insight as profound as Ruddy Redwood's dub discovery. The moment when the dancers really got wild was in a song's short instrumental break, when the band would drop out and the rhythm section would get elemental. Forget melody, chorus, songs—it was all about the groove, building it, keeping it going. Like a string theorist, Herc zeroed in on the fundamental vibrating loop at the heart of the record, the break.Chang 2005, p. 79.
In response to this revelation, Herc developed the Merry-Go-Round technique to extend the breaks—the percussion interludes or instrumental solos within a longer work of music. When he played a break on one turntable, he repeated the same break on the second turntable as soon as the first was finished. He then looped these records one after the other in order to extend the break as long as he wanted: "And once they heard that, that was it, wasn't no turning back," Herc told Chang. "They always wanted to hear breaks after breaks after breaks after breaks." It was during these times that the dancers, later known as break-boys or b-boys, would perform what is known as breaking. Breaking started out strictly as toprock, footwork-oriented dance moves performed while standing up.Chang 2005, p. 115. Toprock usually serves as the opening to a breaker's performance before transitioning into other dance moves performed on the floor. A separate dance style that influenced toprock is uprock, also called rocking or Brooklyn uprock, because it comes from Brooklyn, New York. The uprock dance style has its roots in
gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Wiktionary:territory#Noun, territory in a ...
s.Chang 2005, p. 116. Although it looks similar to toprock, uprock is danced with a partner and is more aggressive, involving fancy footwork, shuffles, hitting motions, and movements that mimic fighting. When there was an issue over
turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...
, the two warlords of the feuding gangs would uprock, and whoever won this preliminary dance battle decided where the real fight would be. Because uprock's purpose was to moderate gang violence, it never crossed over into mainstream breaking as seen today, except for some specific moves adopted by breakers who use it as a variation for their toprock. Aside from James Brown and uprock, hip-hop historian Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon writes that toprock was also influenced by "
tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...
,
Lindy hop The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of ...
,
salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...
, Afro-Cuban, and various African and Native American dances." From toprock, breaking progressed to being more floor-oriented, involving freezes,
downrock In dance, floorwork refers to movements performed on the floor. Floorwork is used extensively in modern dance, particularly Graham technique, Erick Hawkins, Hawkins technique, and breakdancing. Some dance training practices, notably Zena_Rommett#Fl ...
, head spins, and
windmills A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; ...
. These additions occurred due to influences from 1970s martial arts films, influences from gymnastics, and the formation of dance
crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...
sChang 2005, p. 136.—teams of street dancers who get together to develop new moves, create dance routines, and battle other crews. One b-boy move taken from gymnastics is called the ''flare'', which was made famous by gymnast Kurt Thomas and is called the " Thomas flair" in gymnastics. B-boys Jamie "Jimmy D" White and Santiago "Jo Jo" Torres founded
Rock Steady Crew {{Infobox musical artist , name = Rock Steady Crew , image = , landscape = yes , caption = , alias = , origin = The Bronx New York, Manhattan New York, U.S. , genre ...
(RSC) in 1977 in the Bronx. Along with Dynamic Rockers and
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...
's Mighty Zulu Kings, they are one of the oldest continually active breaking crews. For others to get into the crew, they had to battle one of the Rock Steady b-boys—that was their audition, so to speak. The crew flourished once it came under the leadership of b-boy Richard " Crazy Legs" Colón. Crazy Legs opened a
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
chapter of the crew and made his friends and fellow b-boys Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert co-vice presidents. RSC was instrumental in the spread of breaking's popularity beyond New York City. They appeared in ''
Wild Style ''Wild Style'' is a 1982 American hip hop film written, produced and directed by Charlie Ahearn. Regarded as the first hip hop motion picture, it includes appearances by seminal figures such as Adam Horowitz, Fab Five Freddy, Lee Quiñones, L ...
'' and ''
Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...
''—1980s films about hip-hop culture—as well as in the movie ''
Flashdance ''Flashdance'' is a 1983 American romantic drama dance film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Jennifer Beals as a passionate young dancer, Alex Owens, who aspires to become a professional ballerina, alongside Michael Nouri, who plays her ...
''. They also performed at the
Ritz Ritz or The Ritz may refer to: Facilities and structures Hotels * The Ritz Hotel, London, a hotel in London, England ** Ritz Club casino * Hôtel Ritz Paris, a hotel in Paris, France * Hotel Ritz (Madrid), a hotel in Madrid, Spain * Hotel Ritz ...
, at the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
, and on the Jerry Lewis Telethon. In 1981, the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
hosted a breaking battle between Dynamic Rockers and Rock Steady Crew.Kugelberg 2007, p. 59. ''The Daily News'' and ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
'' covered this event. In 1982, their manager Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue organized the ''New York City Rap Tour'', which featured Rock Steady Crew,
Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is a retired American DJ, rapper, and record producer. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenced the development of ...
, Cold Crush Brothers, the Double Dutch Girls, and Fab 5 Freddy.Chang 2005, pp. 182–183. This tour traveled to England and France, which spread hip-hop culture to those countries. In 1983, they performed for
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
at the Royal Variety Performance. The following year, they recorded a song titled " (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew", which was commercially released. RSC now has satellite crews based in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy.


Capoeira debate

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, capoeira music, music, and spirituality. It likely originated from enslaved Mbundu people, of the Kingdom of Ndongo, in present-day Angola. The ...
is an Afro-Brazilian martial art, described by Pabon as "a form of self defense disguised as a dance." Its influence on breaking is disputed and debated; one side believes that breaking came from capoeira, while the other side denies this. Capoeira is hundreds of years older than breaking, and uprock is similar in purpose to capoeira in that both translate aggressive combat movements into stylized dance. Both breaking and capoeira are performed to music and, since both art forms are acrobatic, some moves look similar to each other. However, capoeira is more rule-oriented. One rule in capoeira is that a capoeirista's back can never touch the ground.Taylor 2007, p. 170. In contrast, a breaker's back is almost always on the ground, and the only rule in breaking is that you do not touch your opponent during a battle. Jelon Vieira and Loremil Machado brought capoeira to the United States in 1975.Assunção 2005, p. 190. Throughout this decade Vieira taught capoeira workshops in New York City and started a capoeira performance company called Dance Brazil that toured across the United States. In Gerard Taylor's ''Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace'' (2005), master capoeira teacher
Mestre Acordeon Ubirajara (Bira) Guimarães Almeida (born 1943), known as Mestre Acordeon, is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, and a '' mestre'' of the Brazilian martial art Capoeira. His international reputation as a teacher, performer, musician, organiz ...
is quoted as saying: "Demonstrations by Mestre Jelon ieiraand Loremil Machado are considered by many to be responsible for the incorporation of capoeira movements into breakdancing." Former ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
'' reporter
Sally Banes Sally Rachel Banes (October 9, 1950 – June 14, 2020) was a notable dance historian, writer, and critic. Life, education, and performance career Born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., Banes studied dance, an ...
and her colleague, photographer
Martha Cooper Martha Cooper is an American photojournalist. She worked as a staff photographer for the ''New York Post'' during the 1970s. She is best known for documenting the New York City graffiti scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Cooper and Henry Cha ...
, witnessed breaking in 1980 while covering
Henry Chalfant Henry Chalfant (born January 2, 1940) is an American photographer and videographer most notable for his work on graffiti, breakdance, and hip hop culture. One of Chalfant's prints is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in N ...
's photography exhibit of subway graffiti. She wrote of the dance: "Its spatial level called to mind capoeira, the spectacular Brazilian dance cum martial art form that incorporates kartwheels, kicks, and feints low to the ground, but the two were dissimilar enough in shape and timing that capoeira seemed at most only a distant relative, and certainly one the breakdancers weren't acquainted with—at least on a conscious level." In his book ''Hip Hop Had a Dream'' (2008), Damien Morgan states: "Breakdancing can have its origins in capoeira, because it does not focus on injuring the opponent; it rather emphasizes skill towards your opponent, to express yourself away from violence... in most cases, it is blatantly obvious to see some of Breakdancing's foundations in Capoeira." Several breaking practitioners and pioneers tend to side with the camp that does not believe breaking came from capoeira. B-boy Crazy Legs states: "We didn't know what the f-ck no capoeira was, man. We were in the ghetto!" According to Pabon, "Unlike the popularity of the martial arts films, capoeira was not seen in the Bronx jams until the 1990s. Top rockin' seems to have developed gradually and unintentionally, leaving space for growth and new additions, until it evolved into a codified form." B-boy crew Spartanic Rockers adds: "Despite of icmany rumours and opinions Breaking didn't originate from Capoeira but during the last few years many moves, steps and freezes of this Brazilian (fight-) dance have inspired more and more B-Girls and B-Boys who integrated them into their dance." B-boy Ken Swift was breaking long before he saw capoeira: "In '78 I started reakingand I didn't see it apoeiratil '92 ... I was around, too—I was in Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, I went around and I didn't see it. What we saw was Kung Fu—we saw Kung Fu from the 42nd Street theaters. So those were our inspirations... when we did the Kung Fu sh-t we switched it up and we put this B-boy flavor into it..."


Funk styles

While breaking was developing in New York City, New York, other styles of dance were developing in California. Unlike breaking, the funk styles—which originated in California—were not originally hip-hop dance styles: they were danced to
funk music Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...
rather than hip-hop music, and they were not associated with the other cultural pillars of hip-hop (
DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
, graffiti writing, and MCing).Chang 2006, pp. 18–19. "Although dance forms associate with hip-hop did develop in New York City, half of them (that is, popping and locking) were created on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement. Much of the media coverage in the 1980s grouped these dance forms together with New York's native dance forms (b-boying/b-girling and uprocking) labeling them all "breakdancing". As a result, the West Coast "funk" culture and movement were overlooked..." The funk styles are actually slightly older than breaking due to fact that boogaloo and locking were developed in the late 1960s.Nelson 2009, pp. 32–33.Guzman-Sanchez 2012, pp. 6–7.


Locking and roboting

Like breaking, the different moves within the funk styles occurred due to the formation of crews. Don "Campbellock" Campbell created locking, and in 1973 founded The Lockers (originally called The Cambellock Dancers) in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. Locking is characterized by consistently freezing or "locking" in place while dancing. Campbell developed locking accidentally while pausing in between dance moves when trying to remember how to do the Funky Chicken.Chang 2006, p. 22. He developed routines based on his new style using these pauses or "locks." Chang lists some of the other dance moves performed in locking, including "...points, skeeters, scooby doos, stop 'n go, which-away, and the fancies." The Lockers made several appearances on ''Soul Train''—the song-and-dance television program featuring funk music,
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...
, disco, R&B, and social dancing. They also appeared on ''The Carol Burnett Show'',Chang 2006, p. 23. ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
'', ''
The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961, to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Productions"Calv ...
'', and ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''. Three original members of The Lockers were
Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song " Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Austral ...
, who doubled as the group's manager; Charles "Charles Robot" Washington, a pioneer of roboting; and Fred "Mr. Penguin" Berry, who played the character of Rerun on the television show ''
What's Happening!! ''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that first aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, premiering as a summer series. It also returned as a weekly series, that later aired for the rest of the three seasons, from November 1 ...
''.Guzman-Sanchez 2012, p. 44. Berry left the group in 1976 to be on the show and was replaced by street dancer Tony "Go-Go" Lewis. After The Lockers disbanded, Tony Go-Go went on to open a locking school in Japan in 1985. Roboting comes from
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.
. Before joining The Lockers, Charles Robot had his own dance crew called The Robot Brothers. He was inspired in 1969 by Robert Shields of
Shields and Yarnell Shields and Yarnell were an American mime team, formed in 1972, consisting of married couple Robert Shields (born March 26, 1951) and Lorene Yarnell (March 21, 1944 – July 29, 2010). Robert Shields Shields was born in Los Angeles and gra ...
, then-a young street artist performing his robotic movements in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum. On October 27, 1973,
The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...
performed " Dancing Machine" on ''Soul Train'', which popularized roboting, but this was not the first time the dance had been performed on the show. Charles Robot had performed roboting on ''Soul Train'' two years earlier with his dance partner Angela Johnson.


Boogaloo and popping

Boogaloo is a freestyle, improvisational street dance movement of soulful steps and robotic movements which make up the foundations of Popping dance and Turfing; Boogaloo can incorporate illusions, restriction of muscles, stops, robot and/or wiggling. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s - Boogaloo groups in
Oakland, CA Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
such as One Plus One, the Black Resurgents and the Black Messengers would help popularize the dance. Boogaloo street dance from Oakland would influence Northern California cities and movements would spread to Fresno via the West Coast Relays. In Fresno, The Electric Boogaloos are another funk styles crew founded in
Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...
in 1977 by Sam "Boogaloo Sam" Solomon, Nate "Slide" Johnson, and Joe "Robot Joe" Thomas. Their name was originally The Electric Boogaloo Lockers, but they dropped "Lockers" the following year at the urging of their manager Jeff Kutash after the group moved from Fresno to Long Beach. Boogaloo Sam is credited with innovating popping from earlier boogaloo movements done in
Oakland, CA Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
.Chang 2006, p. 23. "Sam olomons creation, popping, also became known as the unauthorized umbrella title to various forms within the dance. past and present. Some of these forms include Boogaloo, strut, dime stop, wave, tick, twisto-flex, and slides." However, there is disagreement as to whether he created the dances himself or borrowed moves from other street dancers.Pagett 2008, p. 19. What is not contested is how influential he and his crew were in exposing popping and boogaloo to mainstream audiences. Boogaloo is both a style of dance and a style of music.Rubin 2007, p. 120. It started out as a fad dance, and several songs were released in the 1960s celebrating it including "Boogaloo Down Broadway", "My Baby Likes to Boogaloo", "Hey You! Boo-Ga-Loo", "Do the Boogaloo," "Boogaloo #3," and "Sock Boogaloo." In response to this song-and-dance craze, Puerto Rican artists in New York City created a style of music called
Bugalú Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a music genre, genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly by stateside Puerto Ricans with ...
(or Latin boogaloo) that combined
mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...
, soul, and R&B. Singer Joe Cuba was a pioneer of this style. Although boogaloo was already a fad dance and a music genre in the 1960s, it did not become a dance style until Boogaloo Sam learned it, expanded it, and started performing it in public venues. He was influenced to expand boogaloo by cartoons; the 1960s social dances the Twist, the Popcorn, and the Jerk; and the movements of everyday people. As a dance style, it is characterized by rolling hip, knee, and head movements as if the body has no bones. ''Electric'' boogaloo is the signature dance style of The Electric Boogaloos. It is a combination of boogaloo and popping.
Popping Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier Boogaloo (funk dance), boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francis ...
is based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body, referred to as a ''pop'' or a ''hit''. Popping is also an inadvertent umbrella term that includes several other illusory dance styles such as ticking, liquid, tutting, waving, gliding, twisto-flex, and sliding. Most of these cannot be traced to a specific person or group and may have influences earlier than hip-hop. Earl "Snake Hips" Tucker was a professional dancer in the 1920s who appeared in the film ''Symphony in Black'' and performed at the
Cotton Club The Cotton Club was a 20th-century nightclub in New York City. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue from 1923 to 1936, then briefly in the midtown Theater District until 1940. The club operated during the United States' era of P ...
in Harlem. Since hip-hop did not exist in the 1920s his style was considered jazz, but his "slithering, writhing" movement foreshadowed waving and sliding. The most recognizable popping move is the moonwalk. In 1983, Michael Jackson performed the moonwalk—called the ''backslide'' in popping context— on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
's Motown 25 television special. This performance popularized the moonwalk all over the world. However, it was not the first time the backslide had been performed on television or on film.
Cab Calloway Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he became a popular vocalist of the Swing music, swing era. His niche ...
performed the backslide in 1932, and
Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and for his regula ...
performed it in the movies ''Cabin in the Sky'' (1943) and ''Rhythm and Blues Revue'' (1955). Furthermore, in 1982 during a performance in London on ''Top of the Pops'', street dancer
Jeffrey Daniel Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer, and a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a judge on the first three seasons of '' Nigerian ...
performed the backslide during the song " A Night to Remember". In the 1970s, while Los Angeles was known for locking and Fresno was known for popping, several other cities in
Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...
had their own local funk styles.
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
was known for a style called sac-ing, San Jose for dime stopping, and
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
for snake hitting. The San Francisco crew Granny and Robotroid incorporated stepping moves and
JROTC The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a Federal government of the United States, federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US mil ...
rifle drill movements in their dancing to make a unique funk style called Fillmore strutting. This dance was named after the
Fillmore district The Fillmore District is a historical neighborhood in San Francisco located to the southwest of Nob Hill, west of Market Street and north of the Mission District.Oaks, Robert F. San Francisco's Fillmore District. lectronic resource n.p.: Char ...
in San Francisco where Granny and Robotroid were from. Granny and Robotroid performed on the '' Gong Show'' in 1976. Although strutting had exposure on national television, it (and the rest of the localized funk styles) faded and never became mainstream.


Terminology

When the movies ''
Breakin' ''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film, musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBev ...
'' and '' Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo'' were released, all the styles of dance performed in those films were put under the "breakdance" label. In addition, ''Breakin'' was released outside the United States as ''Breakdance: The Movie''. The media followed suit by calling all represented styles "breakdancing", which caused a naming confusion among the general public.Scholss 2009, p. 60. This was problematic for two reasons. The first reason is that "breakdancing" became an inadvertent umbrella term among the general public for both breaking ''and'' the funk styles. The funk styles were created in California independent from breaking, which was created in New York. They are called funk styles because they were originally danced to
funk music Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...
. This name gives them a separate identity from breaking, which is traditionally danced to break beats. The second reason this was problematic is that "breakdancing" was originally called
b-boying Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...
or breaking by the street dancers who created it. A ''break'' is a musical interlude during a song—the section on a musical recording where the singing stops and the percussive rhythms are the most aggressive. When 1970s hip-hop DJs played break beats, dancers reacted to those breaks with their most impressive dance moves. DJ Kool Herc coined the terms "b-boys" and "b-girls", which stands for "break-boys" and "break-girls." To describe the movement, the suffix "ing" was added after the word identifying the dancer (b-boy''ing'') or the music beat (break''ing''). According to Timothy "
Popin Pete Timothy Earl Solomon (born August 5, 1961), known as Popin' Pete, is an American dancer and choreographer who popularized the "popping" dance style and member of the Electric Boogaloos. Pete’s career has spanned over forty years since the emer ...
" Solomon, one of the original members of the Electric Boogaloos, and Raquel Rivera, author of the book ''New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone'' (2003), "breakdancing" is a media-coined term and incorrect.


Dance crews

A dance crew is a team of street dancers who come together to develop new moves and battle other crews. As hip-hop culture spread throughout New York City, the more often breaking crews got together to battle against each other. It was during this time that the different dance moves within breaking developed organically. All styles of hip-hop are rooted in battling, and being a part of a crew was the only way to learn when these styles began because they were not taught in studios: they all started out as social dances. Forming and participating in a crew is how street dancers practiced, improved, made friends, and built relationships. In breaking in particular, battling is how b-boys/b-girls improved their skill.Schloss 2009, p. 111. Aside from Rock Steady Crew, several breaking crews were active in the 1970s such as Mighty Zulu Kings, Dynamic Rockers, New York City Breakers, SalSoul, Air Force Crew, Crazy Commanders Crew, Starchild La Rock, and Rockwell Association. In the same way b-boy crews were active on the east coast of the United States spreading breaking throughout New York, funk crews were also active on the west coast spreading the funk styles throughout California. Aside from The Lockers and The Electric Boogaloos, other funk styles crews such as Medea Sirkas/Demons of the Mind, Black Messengers, The Robot Brothers, The Go-Go Brothers, Granny and Robotroid, and Chain Reaction were active during the 1970s performing on stage. Chain Reaction was a four-man dance crew from
Reseda, California Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquake ...
, whose members included Thomas "T-Bopper" Guzman-Sanchez, Paul "Cool Pockets" Guzman-Sanchez, Robert "Bosco" Winters, and Mike "Deuce" Donley. Just like The Electric Boogaloos had their own signature dance style called electric boogaloo, Chain Reaction also had their own signature dance style called ''crossover'' locking. They performed on the talk show '' Thicke of the Night'' and in the movie '' Xanadu''. ''Xanadu'' premiered in 1980, four years earlier than the hip-hop dance classics ''
Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American dance drama film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to vari ...
'' and ''
Breakin' ''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film, musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBev ...
''. ''Xanadu'' was the first time boogaloo, popping, and crossover locking were performed on film. In 1984, T-Bopper created a new dance crew called United Street Force. By invitation, this crew performed at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
for President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
. Crews still form based on friendships and neighborhoods. For example, dance crew
Diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
—formed in 2007—consists of brothers and friends from
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
and London. Crews also form for other reasons such as theme (
Jabbawockeez The Jabbawockeez is an American hip-hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of '' America's Best Dance Crew'' in 2008. The group was established in 2003 in San Diego, California, by dancers Kevin "KB" Brewe ...
), gender (
ReQuest Dance Crew ReQuest Dance Crew (also known as ReQuest) are an all-female hip-hop dance crew from Auckland, New Zealand. ReQuest was formed in 2007, with originally five members. They are based out of The Palace Dance Studio in Penrose, New Zealand, Penrose a ...
), ethnicity ( Kaba Modern), dance style ( Massive Monkeys), and age ( Hip Op-eration). In 2013, Hip Op-eration performed an exhibition routine at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in Las Vegas. At the time, their youngest member was 66. In the 1970s, b-boy crews were neighborhood-based and would engage in battles held at local block parties called "jams". Today crews can battle in organized competitions with other crews from around the world. New Zealand crew ReQuest won the Australian-based competition World Supremacy Battlegrounds in 2009 and the American-based competition Hip Hop International in 2009 and 2010. On October 12, 2010, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism presented the Certificate of Merit to dance crew Big Toe for winning a variety of international dance competitions. Dance crews are more prevalent in hip-hop, but hip-hop dance companies do exist. Examples include Zoo Nation (UK), Culture Shock (USA), Lux Aeterna (USA), Boy Blue Entertainment (UK), Unity UK (UK), Bounce Streetdance Company (Sweden), and Funkbrella Dance Company (USA).


Social dancing

Hip-hop social dancing (party dancing) began when hip-hop musical artists started to release songs with an accompanying dance. In 1990, rapper
MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...
created the Hammer dance and popularized it in his music video "
U Can't Touch This "U Can't Touch This" is a song co-written, produced, and performed by American rapper MC Hammer. It was released in May 1990 by Capitol Records as the third single from his third album, ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' (1990), and has been con ...
". The Hammer dance was a social dance that became wildly popular and then faded as the album it was associated with, ''
Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em ''Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' is the third studio album by American rapper MC Hammer, released on February 12, 1990 by Capitol Records and EMI, EMI Records. Produced, recorded and Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed by Felton Pilate and James ...
'', lost popularity. Most social dances are short-lived fad dances, some are line dances, and others spawn new dance styles that stay relevant even after the life of the songs they came from come to an end. The development of hip-hop social dancing extends further back than the 1990s with the Charleston, a jazz dance; Chubby Checker's Twist, which was considered
rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
; several 1970s fad dances made popular by James Brown; and the influence of the television show ''Soul Train''. The Charleston was created in the 1920s by African-Americans in
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
as a rebellion against prohibition. It gained popularity once it was embraced by Caucasians, but it was still considered an immoral dance due to its association with alcohol. This dance relied on partnering and eventually led to the creation of
Lindy Hop The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of ...
. Lindy Hop and the Charleston fall under the
swing dance Swing dance is a group of social dances that developed with the swing style of jazz music in the 1920s–1940s, with the origins of each dance predating the popular " swing era". Hundreds of styles of swing dancing were developed; those that h ...
genre; however, there is a dance move used in breaking that is taken from the Charleston called the ''Charlie'' rock. Singer-songwriter
Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...
released the song "The Twist" with an accompanying dance of the same name in 1960. He performed the dance on the television show ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'', and the song reached number one in 1960 and 1962. The Twist was the most popular dance craze of the 1960s because it broke away from the trend of partner dancing enabling people to perform on their own. James Brown was a major contributor to social dance. He popularized several fad dances in the 1970s such as the
Mashed Potato Mashed potato or mashed potatoes ( American, Canadian, and Australian English), colloquially known as mash (British English), is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt, and pepper. It is general ...
, the Boogaloo, and the Good Foot. His accompanying songs to these dances include "
(Do the) Mashed Potatoes __NOTOC__ "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" is a rhythm and blues instrumental. It was recorded by James Brown with his band in 1959 and released as a two-part Single (music), single in 1960. For Recording contract, contractual reasons the recording was ...
", "Do the Boogaloo", and " Get on the Good Foot". The song "Do the Boogaloo" influenced Boogaloo Sam when he created the boogaloo dance style, and the Good Foot triggered the creation of breaking. In addition, James Brown also popularized the Funky Chicken, which was a major influence to Don Campbell when he created locking. In an interview with
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, Lockers' member Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quiñones stated "We're all children of James Brown... And you know, if James Brown was our father then you'd have to say Don Cornelius was our great uncle." In 1970, Don Cornelius created ''Soul Train''. Before officially becoming a crew, members of The Lockers made several appearances on this show. They introduced different dance moves such as the Robot, Which-Aways, and the Stop-and-Go during the "Dance of the Week" segment of the broadcast.
Disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
was very popular during the 1970s, so some dance styles at that time such as
waacking Waacking (also ''whacking'') is a street dance style with origins stemming from punking, a dance created in the gay clubs of Los Angeles during the 1970s disco era. The style is typically done to 1970s disco and 1980s post-disco music and is mainl ...
and hustle stemmed from disco music rather than funk. Hip-hop became more mainstream in the 1980s, and this surge in interest combined with the popularity of ''Soul Train'' kick-started the rise of hip-hop social dancing. One of the more popular social dances created during the 1980s was the Cabbage Patch. The rap group
Gucci Crew II The Gucci Crew II was a Miami bass group popular between 1986 and 1994. The group was made up of MC V and TFS (aka 240 Shorty), along with Disco Rick, who was their DJ early on. Debut single: "Gucci Bass" Their first song, "Gucci Bass", was ins ...
created the dance and introduced it in their 1987 song of the same name, "The Cabbage Patch". Another popular social dance was the Roger Rabbit. This dance imitates the floppy movements of the lead cartoon character as seen in the 1988 film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
''. The rap duo
Kid 'n Play Kid 'n Play is an American hip-hop duo from New York City who were most popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is composed of Christopher Reid ("Kid") and Christopher Martin ("Play") working alongside their DJ, Mark "DJ Wiz" Eastmond. B ...
created the Kid 'n Play kick-step and performed it in their 1990 movie ''
House Party A house party is a type of party held at the home of the party's host. Organization A house party might be organized several months or just a few hours in advance. News of a party may be spread by personal invitations, word of mouth, pos ...
''. It is a variation on the Charleston with elements of the Roger Rabbit and the Running Man. The Running Man is one of the most recognizable hip-hop social dances. According to ''
Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...
'' magazine,
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...
created the Running Man and taught the dance to Janet Jackson when she was working as her choreographer during Jackson's '' Control'' era. Jackson further popularized the dance when she performed it in her 1989 music video "
Rhythm Nation "Rhythm Nation" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, released as the second single from her fourth studio album, '' Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' (1989). It was written and produced by Jackson, in collaboration with Jimmy Jam and ...
", and rapper MC Hammer kept the fervor going when he started to do the Running Man in his performances. The pop duo
LMFAO LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...
brought the Running Man back into the mainstream with their song "
Party Rock Anthem "Party Rock Anthem" is a song by American electronic dance music duo LMFAO. The song features British singer Lauren Bennett and American producer GoonRock. It was released as the first single from their second and final studio album '' Sorry fo ...
", which was named the 2011 song of the summer by Billboard.com. The accompanying dance in the song called The Shuffle combines three social dances: the Running Man, the (half) Charleston, and the T-step. DJ Troy "Webstar" Ryan and Bianca "Young B" Dupree released the song "
Chicken Noodle Soup Chicken soup is a soup made from Chicken (food), chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear broth, chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common addition ...
" in 2006. The dance was so popular, at one point YouTube had over 2,000 video clips of kids performing it. The song sold 335,000 ringtones, but it was not strong enough to sustain momentum for the full length album " Webstar Presents: Caught in the Web", which was not successful. For this reason, the Chicken Noodle Soup song and dance faded. The Dougie comes from Dallas, Texas. The dance was named after the 1980s rapper Doug E. Fresh and popularized in the 2010 song " Teach Me How to Dougie" by the rap group
Cali Swag District Cali Swag District was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Inglewood, California, founded by former Death Row Records artist Young Soldierz, Big Wy and Dairold Potts. They are best known for their 2010 commercial debut single "Teach Me ...
. According to the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', the Dougie has been particularly popular as a celebratory dance among professional athletes. In 2010,
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
news anchor
Wolf Blitzer Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He has been a host of ''The ...
performed the Dougie at the
Soul Train Music Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards ceremony which honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the production company of '' Soul Train'', the program from which it takes its name, and ...
.


Line dances

The Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are examples of urban line dances that were created from hip-hop songs of the same name. These line dances have the same premise as the more widely know Electric Slide. There are variations to the Electric Slide, but the dance is always performed to the song "Electric Boogie" by
Marcia Griffiths Marcia Llyneth Griffiths (born 23 November 1949) is a Jamaican singer best known for the 1989 remix of her single " Electric Boogie", which serves as the music for the four-wall " Electric Slide" line dance. It is the best-selling single of ...
. In keeping with this tradition, the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and the Soulja Boy are always performed to their respective songs. DJ Willie "Casper" Perry created the song "
Cha Cha Slide "Cha-Cha Slide" (or "Casper Slide Part 2") is a line dance song by American musician Mr. C the Slide Man (also known as DJ Casper). The song was released as a single in August 2000 and spent five weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking ...
" in 1996 for a personal trainer in his hometown Chicago. It did not get commercial airplay until 2000 when Chicago radio station
WGCI-FM WGCI-FM (107.5 Hertz, MHz) is an urban contemporary radio station that is city of license, licensed to Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, serving the Chicago metropolitan area and Northwest Indiana. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia (formerly k ...
started playing the song as part of its rotation. Soon after, other radio stations across the United States also started playing the song, and this increase in popularity led to a record deal with Universal Music Group. After securing a deal, the label began producing and distributing instructional videos of the dance to nightclubs, which helped spread its popularity. On February 20, 2011, dancers in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...
set a
Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
when 2,387 people performed the dance at the Anaheim Convention Center. The song " Cupid Shuffle" was released in February 2007 by singer Bryson "Cupid" Bernard from
Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette ( , ) is the most populous city in and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Lafayette Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River (Louisiana), Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's List of municipaliti ...
. In August 2007, 17,000 people set a world record when they performed the Cupid Shuffle (dance) to his song in Atlanta. The Soulja Boy dance became popular through
MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...
when rapper DeAndre "
Soulja Boy DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), known professionally as Soulja Boy (formerly Soulja Boy Tell 'Em), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to prominence with his self-released 2007 debut single, "Crank That ...
" Way posted his song "
Crank That "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" is the debut single by American rapper Soulja Boy, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. It served as the lead single from his debut studio album, ''souljaboytellem.com'' (2007) and accompanies the Soulja Boy dance. The song is recogniz ...
" to his MySpace page and uploaded an accompanying instructional video showing viewers how to perform the dance. After amassing more than 16 million page views, he was signed to Interscope Records.


Footnotes


References

Citations Bibliography *Assunção, Matthias (2005). ''Capoeira: The History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art''. New York City: Routledge. . *Chang, Jeff (2005). ''Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation''. New York City: St. Martin's Press. . *Chang, Jeff (2006). ''Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop''. New York City: BasicCivitas. . *Guzman-Sanchez, Thomas (2012). ''Underground Dance Masters: Final History of a Forgotten Era''. Santa Barbara: Praeger. . *Hess, Mickey, ed (2007). ''Icons of hip hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture''. Volume I. Westport: Greenwood Press. . *Kugelberg, Johan (2007). ''Born in the Bronx''. New York City: Rizzoli International Publications Inc. . *Morgan, Damien (2008). ''Hip Hop Had a Dream''. Volume I: The Artful Movement. Milton Keynes: AuthorHouse UK Ltd. . *Nelson, Tom (2009). ''1000 Novelty & Fad Dances''. Bloomington: AuthorHouse. . *Pagett, Matt (2008). ''The Best Dance Moves in the World... Ever''. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. . *Rubin, Rachel; Melnick, Jeffrey (2006). ''Immigration and American Popular Culture: An Introduction''. New York City: New York University Press. . *Schloss, Joseph (2009). ''Foundation: B-Boys, B-Girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York''. New York City: Oxford University Press. . *Taylor, Gerard (2007). ''Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyberspace''. Volume II. Berkeley: Blue Snake Books. .


External links


"A Dance Teacher's Guide to Hip Hop"
article from ''Dance Teacher'' magazine {{Good article Dance culture Dance in the United States
Hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...
D