FlexN, also spelled as Flexing, is a style of

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, Locking (dance), locking, house dance, waacking, voguing, etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created o ...

from

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

that is characterized by rhythmic Brukup/Dancehall performed and incorporated element's like pauzN ,konnectN,GlidN,Getlow,Bonebreaking and hat tricks.Their performance for FlexN has storytelling showmanship,2015-18 FlexN @ Park armory stamped the culture to make FlexN Global.

Origins

Before FlexN gained mainstream exposure, it started out at the home of a couple called Rocky and Sandra Cummings. In 1992, the couple created a talent show and a local cable TV show in New York City, called 'Flex N Brooklyn'. The dance roots are traced back to

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

, and "...a chopped-up instrumental called the 'Volume' riddim". The producers of the new genre refer to it as FDM, Flex Dance Music. Unlike other street dance styles originating in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, FlexN did not come from hip-hop dance, funk music, or

hip-hop culture Hip-hop culture is an art movement that emerged in New York City, in the borough of The Bronx; Primarily within the black community. Hip Hop as an art form and culture has been heavily influenced by both male and female artists. It is charac ...

. It evolved from a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n style of street dance called bruk-up. In a 2009 interview with ''

WireTap Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

'' magazine, dancer Stefan " Mr. Wiggles" Clemente described bruk-up as a "reggae style of

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

Variations

FlexN is represented by 8 movement styles, with flexers often mixing the styles. * Bone-breaking is characterized by rhythmic

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...

movement. * Bruk Up, “broken” in

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

, is a style that resembles movement of broken limbs. * Connecting (K'nect'N), is often compared to tutting, but is of different origins than

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 ...

. * Get Lo integrates movements on the floor and the levels in between. * Grooving is the foundation of the flow of FlexN with roots in Jamaincan

, characterized by rhythmic movements that can be subtle or aggressive. * Gliding is a style of illusion of air walking, sliding, and floating, using hand placements, body movement, and foot placement. * Hat Tricks is a style that utilizes the hat for illusions, concepts, and animations. * Pausing (Pauzn) is characterized by discrete movement similar to a movie watched frame by frame.

Exposure

FlexN has been performed on the third season of ''

America's Best Dance Crew ''America's Best Dance Crew'', often abbreviated as ''ABDC'', is an American competitive dance reality television series featuring both national and international dance crews. The show was produced by singer, record producer, and former ''Ameri ...

'' (ABDC), on the second season of ''

The LXD ''The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers'', commonly called ''The LXD'', is an American web series that premiered on Hulu. The series follows two groups of rival dancers: the Alliance of the Dark, who are the villains, and the Legion of Extraordinar ...

'', and at the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...

as part of the YouTube Play event. In 2011, the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' published a brief news article on flex dancers Bones the Machine and DJ Aaron. In 2013, NextLevelSquad performed FlexN at Breakin' Convention and Adedamola "Ringmaster Nugget" Orisagbemi performed FlexN at the Vail International Dance Festival. The 2013 independent film ''Flex Is Kings'' documents the lives of several flexers over a two-year period leading up to a dance competition called BattleFest. ''Flex Is Kings'' was screened at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. FlexN was also the subject of a French online dance show called "Puma the Quest". In 2014, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' published a seven-page article about flex dancer Saalim " Storyboard P" Muslim.

Origins

Variations

Exposure

Notable FDM Producers

References

External links