Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Week 7- Physical Graffiti: Embodied Histories of Hip-hop Dance
The term "Physical Graffiti" was used by Jorge "Popmaster Fabel" Pabon as an overarching theme to describe how breakers and Hip-hop dancers write the history of Hip-hop with their bodies and movements. Many Hip-hop dancers embody many of the style elements found in MCing( such as battling) and graffiti ("getting fame,") etc. As you define your understanding of EMBODIED HISTORIES and BBOY/BBIRL(S), think about how the gestures used for breaking, popping, locking and other Hip-hop dance practices can be understood as a physical repertoire of Hip-hop history. How are particular moves connected to the history of Hip-hop? How do we identify the origins of particular Hip-hop dance moves? Can gestures be sampled physically in performance? Pabon tells us that we must consider the ways that breaking brings several parts of hip-hop history together through gestures.
As we prepare for midterm, think about how the terms connect across the elements.
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The gestures used for breaking, popping, locking, and other hip-hop dance practices can be understood as a physical arsenal of hip-hop history. According to the lecture, “breaking began with the Black and Latino youth in New York in the early 1970s at the birth of hip-hop” (2/26). The dancing style of breaking forms remnants of African American slave dance practices such as the juba, lindy hop, flash dance, and the Charleston (Lecture 2/26). You may see different dancers doing funny things with their legs and be able to recognize they are “ripping off” of the Charleston dance move. According to our reading, Capoeira was introduced by African slaves (Pabon, 58). Capoeira is a form of self-defense disguised as a dance. All these different kinds of hip-hop dancing didn’t just come from African descent, they also came from all around America. According to our reading, dancing like popping and locking originated and developed on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement (Pabon, 57). “In the early 70’s dancers from Brooklyn played a major role in the creation and development of hip-hop culture dance known as ‘rocking’” (Pabon, 59). This type of dance was more confrontational. Each dancer would face each other and battle it out by dancing. I feel like all of these different styles of dancing basically express physical struggles they are trying to get out through dancing instead of violence. If you ever were to youtube breaking, popping, or locking, you’ll see how the style of dancing can look physical and aggressive. Another note, “in hip-hop dancing there are no counts while dancing”, they just go with it (Lecture 2/26). All hip-hop dance moves originate from somewhere and then grow to something bigger which is what we see every day in music videos and concerts.
ReplyDeleteThe video of Rennie Harris’s Pure Movement is seen differently through the naked eye. The different formation and moves not only tells a story but also contains history. In lecture, we learned about all kinds of different dance moves like Juba, cake walk and Charleston. Knowing the history of the dances allows you to understand the story being told by the dancers. The origin the Juba or Lindy Hop and many more were practiced by African American slaves who created certain moves to mimic their masters. Since then, the dance moves we see today are not taught in class but passed down from dancer to dancer and the chain continues with bigger and ways to incorporate moves such as the Charleston. B- Boying and B-Girling just like graffiti is controversial but for anyone that can decode the language being spoken through either body movements or written words can truly see what the artist is trying to revel. Writer and dancer Pabon urges others to find the deeper meaning in body movements. From lecture dancer’s battle in what is called “cipher” a stage created by the audience. When a dancer comes to the center they are telling their opponent with their body to step and try to beat their move. This technique is known as “call and response” used by dancers, MCers, and in DJing. Dancers are regularly fighting for braggadocio rights. Dance is a form of art that not only represents a crews region but also tells a story in history with no spoken words.
DeleteIn the music genre known as hip hop, breaking is an essential element. The film, “RIZE” describes that breaking is a way to express emotions from everyday life in a positive way, as dancing is better than turning to drugs and alcohol. Breaking includes elements like baggy clothes, facial expressions, the MC, and the energy from the dancers which often bounces off from the audience. According to lecture, breaking has a key component of improvising and collaboration, especially when it comes to battling. BBoy and BGirls find a beat and show it in their dance moves, using moves like spins, popping and crumping. The film “Beat Street”, made in the 1980’s, showed a lot of breaking battles, and it appeared many of the moves used by b-boys in the film were not much different than the moves used in breaking today. The b-boys in this film did moves like the windmill and head spin. The character, Lee, was a member of the New York Breakers, who went to underground parties and break danced against others such as the Rock Steady Crew. According to Jorge Pabon’s article, freedom is the key and the dancer is challenged in undefined space with various music and potential opponents among the audience. MC Hammer’s moves in “Can’t Touch This” are moves that will never be forgotten. Michael Jackson’s moves in “Thriller” are still being performed today, as they opened the doors to new breaking moves. The Jabbawockeez do not have a leader of the group, therefore their choreography, music and design choices are made as a group.
ReplyDeleteOne form of self-expression that has evolved through time is dance. One thing that has helped with that evolution is music, as music has changed dance as well has seen those changes. Dancing is a form of communication and each region has a different way of getting their point across with physical movements. One form of dance is breaking that started with Black and Latino youth in New York in the 1970’s (Lecture 2/27). Breaking started out as “street dance” associated with “ghettos”, but this street dance was an outlet for violence (Lecture 2/27). For that reason it is not learned in a studio it is passed down (Lecture 2/27). Even breaking has evolved since it started in the 70’s. Some of the earliest dancing by b-boy pioneers was done upright, a form that became known as “top rockin’” (Pabon 59). As the years have passed many different styles of dance have come to be. If you watch the Jabbawockeez video on YouTube called “Evolution of Hip-Hop” from the show Americas Best Dance Crew you can clearly see that they incorporated dance styles from the 80’s all the way to present dance styles. The one thing about dance is that it never goes out of style, instead it just evolves.
ReplyDeleteany moves that are associated with modern hip-hop dancing originated in New York City, just like hip-hop itself. Also, like hip-hop, hip-hop dances have been influenced by African traditions including dances like the Juba, Cakewalk, Charleston, Lindy Hop and Stepping (Hodges Persely). Those who engaged in hip-hop dance were known as B-boys/b-girls, which stood for break boy/girl. This term was coined by DJ Kool Herc when he announced during a show, “B-Boys and B-Girls are you ready?” right before he played a break beat (Jorge 58). These dancers used non-verbal techniques and culturally acceptable movements and gestures in order to communicate to the crowd (Hodges Persely). Contrary to popular belief, some of the core moves of hip-hop dance, including “popping” and “locking”, actually have west coast origins (Jorge 57). The “popping” technique involves constantly moving a dancers body with quick sudden motion while popping their joints into different positions. “Locking” is a technique where a dancer makes a sudden move and locks it in place in order to link it to another move using jerking and fluid movements (Hodges Persley). These two techniques were grouped with B-boying/b-girling were put under one label known as “breakdancing” (Jorge 57). Hip-hop dancing has evolved from an underground and relatively unknown style of dance, to something that has reached mainstream popularity. In communities where gang affiliated individuals outnumber those who try to stay out of them, hip-hop dancing is being used to keep children busy to keep them from getting involved with gangs (RIZE). Today, hip-hop dancing is gaining popularity and respect in American and throughout the world as a true form of dance.
ReplyDeleteEverything that we have talked to up to this point in class came together this week when we looked at the art of physical graffiti. Physical graffiti is the art of dancing or breaking to the mixes that the DJ’s out together. (Pabon 57) The DJ’s would mix a sound together multiple time and then call out “B-
ReplyDeleteBoys (B-Girls), are you ready”, as coined by DJ Kool Herc, to signify when a break was approaching so they could start dancing. (Pabon 58). The B-boy and girl would have to sample from various types of dances moves from many different cultures, multiculturalism, and compile them altogether to go along with the music. (Lecture 2-27)They include the simple top rocking, which would move into a bottom-rock, which would lead to other gymnastic like moves and freezes (Poban 61). Although b-boying was a different art form from DJing, b-boys would have to follow the same sampling rules as DJ’s. In the movie “Beat Street”, two charters almost get into a fight because one accuses the other of sampling his moves. (Beat Street) But a common saying was “Rocking instead of fighting” came about where b-boys would compete against each other dancing rather than physical fighting. These battles co-inside with battles MC’s do against each other. Each element of hip-hop is so diverse but they all come back together in the end and support each other.
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ReplyDeleteBreaking was introduced in the early 1970s with Black and Latino youth, which has remnants of African American slave dance practices. (Lecture 2/26). Many influences come from African American dance traditions, such as the juba and continued to develop with the cakewalk, Charleston, stepping, and eventually became current popular dances like the Dougie. As discussed during the lecture, many breakers began to incorporate karate moves especially the kicks. (Lecture 2/26). This was shown with the Jabawokeez in week two and the Rennie Harris Pure movement video. Breaking was an alternative to participating in gangs and other violent acts. (Lecture 2/26). Breaking was often used as an alternative to fighting with someone that a person may have a beef with and “instead of saying, ‘hey man, you want to fight?’ you’d say, ‘hey man, you want to rock?’” (Chang 33). This was shown in the documentary Beat Street when the two crews were battling in the middle of the cipher dancing against one another. These types of battles would happen in areas other than a typical dance studio, such as the streets, churches, or parking lots, because breaking is more improvisational and less focused on an eight count in a studio. (Lecture 2/26). The core breaking moves like popping, locking, and toprocking, are moves while standing and spinning, and freestyling are performed on the floor. These elements are all displayed in the Jabawokeez ABDC performances, especially in week seven. In week seven the Jabawokeez utilized the call and response component of breaking by leaving the stage and engaging with the audience and judges. Fabel says it best when he says, “The formula is simple: submission to the music, allowing it to guide and direct, equals dancing.” (Pabon 61).
ReplyDeleteBreaking was born when hip hop was born. As stated in the lecture, it began with black and latino youth in the early 70’s dancing to “breaks” in the beat of a song being played by the DJ. The ones who were doing the dancing are called BBoys or BGirls (also known as BreakBoys and Break Girls) a term which DJ Kool Herc founded. This form of dancing is connected to African-American dance practices such as the “lindy hop”, “flash dance”, and “Charleston” (Lecture). The term “Physical Graffiti” is one of great importance for breakers. It is “the practice that breakers use to write experiences and histories using physical gestures and dance moves to speak” (Lecture). Breaking occurs in a cipher, which is a “circular space used for breaking, rapping, and/or DJ battles. This space is surrounded by an audience who call and respond to the participant” (Lecture). However, as Pabon points out, “although dance forms associated with hip hop did develop in New York City, half of them (that is, popping and locking) originated and developed on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement” (57). Popping is the popping of your joints very suddenly into different positions. Locking is making a sudden move, then locking it in to place to link to dancers next move. Hip hop dance as a whole, which includes breaking, popping, locking, and various regional vocab as well as global dance vocab (Lecture), has been passed down through “physical sampling”, from the beginnings with breaking groups like the Rock Steady Crew, down to Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, then to Chris Brown.
ReplyDeleteFrom analyzing Jorge “Popmaster” Pabon’s reading “Physical Graffiti: The History of Hip-Hop Dance,” the importance of the city of New York and the underappreciated aspects of hip-hop culture are significant in the embodied history of b-boys and b-girls. It’s fascinating to read about how not only did New York play a very prominent role in the development of hip-hop music, but its impact on embodied history and b-boying/b-girling is also significant. It’s interesting when the readings refer back to people, places and concepts that have been mentioned and discussed in past readings. For me, the most fascinating aspect of b-boying/b-girling is the different names and moves that are incorporated into this genre. For example, some of the moves or styles Pabon mentions are the pop and lock, the boogie, the Chinese strut and power moves. Some of these moves also came from outside of New York. New York’s role in the embodied history of b-boying/b-girling is the beginning of it all, but Pabon’s reading shows that the influence of the early moves are apparent around the world. Chang’s reading “Zulus on a Time Bomb: Hip-hop Meets the Rockers Downtown” continues the exploration of various aspects of hip-hop culture around the world. Something that is apparent not only in this reading, but in other ones in this class, is that the sphere of influence that hip-hop has created doesn’t have any limits. Not only for embodied history or b-boying, but all aspects of hip-hop culture. Chang doesn’t focus on b-boying as much in his reading, but its overall significance is apparent.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel breaking best describes hip-hop. So far in class some of the things we have talked about are blackness, DJs, MCs, regional sounds, and Polycuturalism. First and foremost no other element of hip-hop embodies Polycuturalism the way breaking does. It originated in New York from blacks and Latinos, and contains remnants of African American slave dance (Lecture 2/27). Even to this day this is one part of hip-hop that doesn’t care who you are, just how much skills you have. The term breaking is credited to DJ Kool Kerc; he would put breaks in his samples to give the boy and girls in the audience a break to dance, thus the term B-boys and B-girls (Pabon 58). Couple weeks ago we talked about sampling in hip-hop, when a DJ or MC uses someone else beat and adds on to it. Well this is also true in breaking, dancers sample moves from one another and add it to their repertoire of moves. Just as in DJing some breakers don’t like it when you sample their moves (Beat Street).In the movie they show dancers battling which is an alternative way to show machismo and get bragging rights, rather than resulting to violence to show dominance (Beat Street & Lecture 2/27). Another thing we have talked about is regional sounds, but there are also regional dance moves. For example Detroit stepping is different that Kansas City stepping (Lecture 2/27). According to Sally Banes, “breaking is a way of claiming the streets with physical presence, using your body to publicly inscribe your identity on the surface of the city” (Banes 14). Kinda sounds like graffiti doesn’t it, well it is just a physical form of it. Adding to the point that breaking has all the elements we have talked about in class to this point. Like any other element of hip-hop breaking too is a way to get the youth in the inner cities away from violence (Chang 26). In the movie Rize, Swoop, says, “If you got a certain talent…don’t be afraid to express it.” That’s how hip-hop is, doesn’t matter what element if you’re good at one express it.
ReplyDeleteThe term physical graffiti is used to describe "street" or break dancing because it communicates with, makes a mark on, and represents the community or creates a particular identity. Street dancing is not taught in class similar to graffiti, hence the graffiti aspect of "physical graffiti." Sally banes argues, "'breaking' is a way of claiming the streets with physical presence, using your body to publicly inscribe your identity on the surface of the city..." (Lecture).
ReplyDeleteToday's "street" dance moves have been sampled from other dances in history. The cakewalk is a slave dance that was used by slave to mimic the grand walks of their masters (Lecture). African slaves introduced Capoeria, a form of self-defense disguised as dance, to Brazil (Pabon 58). Capoeria has some movements that are very similar to b-boy and b-girl steps (Pabon 58). This could explain the reason that dance "battles" occurred and another reason that street dance can be described as "physical graffiti."
Just as any other aspect of hip-hop, dancing can be used to communicate and express the feelings of the dancer or the community at one time. And also like every other aspect of hip-hop, the "hip-hop" style of dance has made its way to the mainstream and can be learned in a dance studio, along with the other types of dance. Although there are no counts in hip-hop dance, it is not a skill that can just be picked up; it takes practice and dedication, just like the other types of dance.
Hip-Hop and its modern day dancing was introduced in the early 1970s with black and Latino youth that were living in urban New York (2/26). Hip-hop dance was influenced by a lot of traditional African and American culture. For example, Charleston is a dance that came from American roots, while Juba and stepping was a dance of the Afro-American slaves. People who engage in modern day hip-hop dance are called break boys and break girls, or otherwise known as B-Boys and B-girls. Many dance crews incorporated gymnastics floor work such as back hand springs and back flips, and even karate (2/26). Breaking was an alternative way for urban youth to come together and make something beautiful out of their bodies by doing unique movements and dance moves. Break dancing was a way to release tension and stress, much like graffiti, DJing and MCing did for the youth too. These activities all brought people together as one. Breaking is a lot similar to MCing, the only major difference being that MCing, a voice is heard, and with breaking, gestures are seen. MCing can be used in battle with another MC, and break dancing can also be used in battle to see who has the best and the most original gestures and dance moves. In Chang’s reading, the reading states, “instead of saying ‘hey man, you want to fight?’ you’d say, ‘Hey man, you want to rock?’” It can be said that break dancing is a way of self-expression and a way of proving oneself to a certain group or area. Much like graffiti, a lot of B-boys and B-girls use their talent and dance moves to make it big. An example is the TV show America’s Best dance Crew. Season 1, there was an all Asian American dance crew called JabbaWockeez that ended up being number one in the competition. This dance crew wore white masks that covered the majority of their face. This is an example of how breaking can bring fame just like the business of graffiti can as well. Most people who are familiar with hip-hop culture will recognize the image of the Jabbawockeez when they see a white mask and baggy clothes. It’s like they trademarked that image, much like Graf artists such as Taki 183’s logo is now infamous. Many dance battles happen in the streets, in parking lots, but never in a dance studio with a typical 8 count (2/26). Some widely popularized dance moves are popping, locking, and dropping, spinning and free styling. This hip-hop dance that was once an underground, unknown style of dancing is now mainstream and widely popular. Hip-Hop dance has made it on TV, made it into many people’s lives, and many people who are affected by Hip-Hop dance now recognize it as a legitimate style of dance.
ReplyDeleteBreak boys, break girls and the different components of breaking come from a long history of many different cultures and traditions. Kool Herc established the terms b-boy’s and b-girls, which stand for “break boys” and “break girls”. These are terms that refer to dancers who dance within the break of beats (Pabon 58). Breaking was first discovered within the black and Latino youth in New York cities in the early 1970’s at the birth of hip hop. The dance form contains remnants of African American slave dance, such as Juba, and is connected to the African American dance practices of lindy hop, “flash” dance, the Charleston and more (2/27 Lecture). These breaking moves, such as popping, locking, top rocking, spinning, and more have been passed down and inherited, through the process of watching and learning from different regions. “Although dance forms associated with hip hop did develop in New York City, half of them (popping and locking) originated and developed on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement,” (Pabon 57). This type of hip-hop dance consists of breaking, popping, locking and other regional dance vocabulary and moves. Hip hop dance can be understood as a dance genre performed that employs a majority of gestures, turns, movements and attitudes that are associated with breaking (2/27 Lecture).
ReplyDeleteDJ Kool Herc coined the terms “B-boy” and “B-girl” by calling on these dancers prior to the “break beat”, or danceable part of a song (Forman and Neal, 58). The origin of B-boy/B-Girl style is essentially tied to the call and response relationship between music and movement; between audience and performer. According to Banes, “Breaking means going crazy on the floor. It means making a style for yourself” (Chang, 33). It is important to remember that although breaking is creative and generative, it is not random or thoughtless. Breakers draw from a bank of diverse knowledge and “expand their dance vocabulary by including remixed moves of other styles” (Lecture, 2/27/12). The evolution of breaking leads to the idea of dance as embodied history. Because “dancers represent the root forms of the dances” supplemented with “his or her own flavors”, dance can both preserve history, as well as write it (Forman and Neal, 58). This form of “kinesthetic knowledge production” is both time and location sensitive and tells a specific cultural history (Lecture, 2/27/12). Dance moves are passed down through firsthand observance and imitation which both allow valuable cultural information to be transmitted, preserved, and built upon. Dance crews like the Jabbawockeez, Rock Steady Crew or MC Hammer all display eclectic, coded dance moves that reveal valuable information about their historical setting and cultural environment.
ReplyDeleteBreaking is one aspect of many that makes up Hip-Hop culture. It is a part of the embodied history, and bboys and bgirls started breaking in urban spaces as a way to express themselves to the breaks in the music. In his article, “Physical Graffiti,” Fabel discusses the rise of breaking and the history behind it. He talks about the origins of dance moves from different areas and emphasizes that these moves started in the streets, not the dance studio. In addition, Fabel highlights the challenges of the dance commercialization. He argues that it results in “the loss of spontaneous performance” (61). In a studio or stage setting, performers also lose the cipher and must adjust to the placement of the audience in front of them instead of around them, which takes away from the call and response factor. Chang also discusses the rise of breaking as a part of Hip-Hop. As the movement grew, outsiders like Ahearn and Chalfant were interested in documenting it, and their push to promote it influenced its move to the mainstream. It is interesting to note the inner debate that exists with the commercialization of breaking. For some, it’s exciting that the dance form receives recognition, but its original form and history risks getting lost in the shuffle.
ReplyDelete“B-boys and b-girls have”, as Chang states, “influenced the modern dance world in multiple ways, reconfiguring the physical motions of body throughout the world” (56). The art of break dancing and physical graffiti is, as the blog title entails, an embodiment of history. It incorporates a variety of traditional dances, and “as long as dancers represent root forms of the dances, the rest can be colored in with [the artist’s] own flavors” (Pabon 58). Samples in break dancing may include martial arts, Capoeira, folk dancing, or elements from Latino culture. Physical graffiti has become an established art form over the past several decades through its advancement of techniques in fluidity, momentum, balance, and sampling combinations.
ReplyDeleteIt is significant to note that the development and performance of physical graffiti is diverse and ever changing. Pablon comments that, “misinformation…undermines the intricacies of each dance form, as well as their origins” (Pabon 57). One must be knowledgeable and well versed in the history of break dancing in order fully understand and respect it.
“Breaking isn’t just an urgent response to pulsating music. It is also a ritual combat that transmutes aggression into art” (Chang 33). As demonstrated in the film Beat Street, break dancing not only acts as a social activity, but also as an alternative to gang life and violence. It is another form of conversation and expression, and as one becomes more versed in the art of physical graffiti he or she gains a greater vocabulary to express oneself through it.
Hip-hop dance can be traced back past the 1970s, but it really started becoming a big part of the hip-hop culture about that time. Jorge “Popmaster Fabel” Pabon gave it the name of “Physical Graffiti”. (Forman & Neal) Physical graffiti is the practice that breakers use to write their experiences and histories using physical gestures and dance moves. (Lecture notes) The dance is a form of embodied histories; telling stories with your body, claiming public space (body as a public space), and providing an outlet for expression. (Lecture notes) The dance form contains a wide range of African American slave dances like the “Charleston” and “juba”. These dances were essentially passed down and/or learned by culture exchange. (Lecture notes) The people that performed these dances were known as b-boy/b-girls, which stands for break boys/break girls. “Breaking” refers to dancers who dance to break beat. “Breaking” started as a “street dance” and was associated with “ghetto” and urban spaces. The dancers then began to expand breaking vocabulary including remixed moves. This lead to a lot of sampling, even though the genre was pretty much made of samples from African American, Asian, and Latino dances already; this lead to a big cross-over from the streets to the dance studios as mainstream. (Lecture notes) The issue with this transfer was that “breaking” couldn’t be taught, necessarily. It’s completely improved with no 8 counts. The term “break-dancing” surfaced as the commercialized outlook on hip-hop dance. The core breaking moves include popping, locking, top-rocking, and spinning. Ultimately, free styling combines any of the listed moves with creative samples. (Lecture notes)
ReplyDeleteDancing has become a large part of hip-hop culture. We have learned how hip-hop artists draw off of different styles of music and instruments, and hip-hop dance artists are no different. Hip-hop originated as part of the funk culture on the West Coast and simultaneously in parts of Brooklyn. This genre of dancing seems to always be growing and in motion. All of the moves build off of each other and are handed down among b-boys and b-girls. As we discussed in lecture, typically, hip-hop is not learned in a formal dance classroom. Each move that has been created tells a story and moves are still being used that were created at the very beginning of the hip-hop dance age. As noted in the chapter on Physical Graffiti, “the best way to preserve the dances is by learning from the earliest available sources or a devoted practitioner of the forms. The pioneers of these dance forms hold the key to the history and intentions of the movement. They remain the highest authorities, regardless of other opinions or assumptions.”However, too often people do not understand the history of the dance moves, and do not give credit where it is due. The dances incorporate moves from all sorts of influences such as gymnastics, martial arts, and different genres of dance like ballet. Just like with music, hip-hop dance is all about sampling and bboys and bgirls competing to improve their moves and incorporate new styles.
ReplyDeleteHip-Hop dance is a dance style that the dancers dance with hip-hop music. Hip-Hop dance included breaking, locking, popping, jazz and so on. But the very first dance style that associated with hip-hop was breaking. According to the lecture, “Breaking began with the Black and Latino youth in the early 1970s at the birth of hip-hop” (2/26). Breaking refers to dancers who dance within the break beat. The majority of the hip-hop moves are done standing up while breaking consists primarily of moves executed close to the ground. It needs a lot of practice for the b-boys or b-girls in order to master the basic steps and movement that appear simple when performed. Sally Banes argues “breaking is a way of “claiming” the streets with physical presence using your body to publicly inscribe your identity on the surface of the city… ” (Banes 14) This defined breaking in a very accurate way and bring us back to the street where breaking was created.
ReplyDeleteIn lecture, breaking was presented as a dance movement that began with Black and Latino youth in New York in the early 1970s. It makes sense that breaking, one of the four key elements of Hip-hop, originated from the same location during the same time as the other three key elements. However, the Pabon article made sure to make note of the West Coast’s contribution to breaking. “Although dance forms associated with Hip-hop did develop in New York City, half of them (that is, popping and locking) originated and developed on the West Coast as part of a different cultural movement” (Pabon 57.) Popping and locking have become essential components of breaking so it is crucial to recognize the role West Coast funk played in the formation of the standardized set of bodily movements associated the breaking. I really enjoyed how the Schloss interview with Alien Ness illustrated how passionate authentic b-boys and b-girls are about their craft. It seems as though breaking is a lifestyle, art form, and sport. The breaking world is not free of the machismo, battling elements prevalent throughout all areas of Hip-hop. Ness explains, “But when I walk into a cipher, man? Everybody there is my enemy. I’m the merciless God of everybody that enters my universe, and that cipher’s my universe and I ain’t got time to like you. If you’re not backing me up, you’re my enemy” (Schloss 31.) To Alien Ness, breaking is a war with philosophical elements that speak a language with its own set of rules and punctuation. That’s the core idea behind breaking, breakers use physical gestures to speak their stories and communicate with those around them.
ReplyDeletePhysical graffiti, like other aspects of hip-hop culture, is an artistic display of social critique, claiming of space, and form of expression. One example of this graffiti in hip-hop is “breaking” claimed by B-Boys and B-girls; in that, breaking is a form of dance showcasing raw physical response with various physical gestures (Lecture 2/27). Furthermore, breaking samples from many styles of dance and culture such as the Charelston, lindy-hop, Capoeira, and Irish tap (Forman and Neal 60). Recognizing hip-hop aesthetics as a dynamic system, physical graffiti and breaking did not arise on its own. For example, without pioneer’s DJ Kool Herc creating the break-beat volume for dancers, and without contributions of polyculturalism and ethnic/regional contribution, this art form and style would certainly not be as it is today (57). Today aspects of physical graffiti are observed throughout music, media, and mainstream culture; however, because of its formation and instruction departing from institutional and European-traditional braggadocio, this form of dance has been regarded as taboo (2/27). Contemporary groups such as the Rock Steady Crew and the Jabbawockeez are popular innovators and entertainers involved with physical graffiti who use moves tied to break-style such as, popping, locking, and spinning (Video/Lec 2/27). Finally, as stated, hip-hop culture and physical graffiti have risen and diffused into higher systems of society; but as the case may be, its communion with its cultural and historical inception may convince some that this art also has personal and communal transcendence. Susanne Carbonneau would quote, “hip-hop must be regarded as a spiritual endeavor” (2/27).
ReplyDeleteHip-hop dance, like hip-hop music, is a way of self-expression and also a reflection of history. Breaking is the dance performed by B-boys and B-girls in the break beat (Persley: lecture 2/27). DJ Kool Herc coined these terms(Chang 19). Juba, Cakewalk and Tap are all part of African American traditional dancing, also referencing plantation dances and slave dances that mimic “grand” walks of their masters (Persley: lecture: 2/27). “Top-rockin” combines dance forms from uprocking, tap, lindy hop, James Brown’s “good foot,” salsa, Afro-Cuban, and various African and Native American dances. This is just an example of the nature of breaking and how the edginess we see in today’s dance is actually sampled from traditions of cultures from hundreds of years ago. When I saw Chris Brown’s performance at the MTV awards, I would not have thought his spins, freezes, jerking, popping and locking all had different originations. Some components of breaking like battling, bragging, machismo, and call and response are seen in “MC-ing,” another element of hip-hop. Music goes together with dance, further justifying the claim that breaking brings several parts of hip-hop history together. “Each of the dance forms is performed best with its appropriate musical influences” (Chang 25) Together these gestures of dance and the music it accompanies, resembles a history of the oppressed African-American and Latino people whose cultures define them.
ReplyDeleteThe moves and bodily gestures used for breaking can be linked back to past historical events. Therefore, breaking is almost like a physical interpretation of the history of hip-hop. As we learned in lecture, “breaking began with the Black and Latino youth in New York in the early 1970’s” (2/26). Whether it’s popping, locking, or a different dance practice, these different gestures can be linked back to ancient ancestry. A lot of the dance forms contain “remnants of African American slave dance practices” (2/26). This is similar to the movie “Rize” where the people krump to express their emotion and frustration of everyday life. The movie actually depicts the hardships after the Rodney King situation in 1992, but it really shows how these people use breaking to show their feelings. It is interesting to see the development of breaking. Nowadays, there is a lot of body movement involving breaking, however, some of the earliest breaking by b-boys was done pretty much upright. This was known as “top rockin” (Pabon, 59). This isn’t so relevant today, as breaking has gotten much more than just standing upright. These dance moves all date back to a certain time period. As we learned in lecture, there is even a dance for President Obama. I think breaking and dancing are both great for hip-hop. They have really changed the hip-hop game and it has given people a better and healthier way to express their feelings and emotions. Plus, most of the “talented” breakers are awesome at what they do.
ReplyDeleteIt is no question that dancing and B boy/ girl is a big part of hip hop’s history and came from the birth place of hip hop (NYC, 2-27). Physical graffiti is a good way to look at how this dancing is portrayed. It is not just dancing or just some colors thrown on a wall, its art. Some see all the crazy footwork and popping as just dancing but a lot of times they are trying to prove a point to the other group. Pretty much so they can one up the competition and “come up” on top and try and show a story to the audience (2-27). That is artist main goal in hip hop, just trying to get your point across. Many different styles can come into play when breaking. People also sample off of other breakers and beats. They incorporate it into their own routine and put their own twist on it. People have been sampling for years and years. Some popular styles people bite from are dances like the Charleston, tap dancing, slave dances, and Capoeira (Pabon, 58). (If you have never seen capoeira, I would strongly recommend in doing so, it is awesome). Dancing is a big outlet for people who want a “crew” but don’t want to be in a gang (2-27). You still get to incorporate battling, having a crew, bragging, and bringing all the machismo you can (2-27), just without so much violence. Breaking is a very interesting dance and is much different from any other style, no eight counts. Floor moves, top rocking, and free styling are just a few aspects of this amazing style.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop dance refers to dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop mainstream exposure. Classically trained dancers developed these studio styles in order to create choreography from the hip-hop dances that were being performed on the street. Because of this development, hip-hop dance is practiced in both dance studios and outdoor spaces. The commercialization of hip-hop dance continued into the 1990s and 2000s with the production of several other television shows and movies such as The Grind, Dance 360, Planet B-Boy, Rize, StreetDance 3D, America's Best Dance Crew, the Step Up film franchise, and The LXD, a web series.
ReplyDeleteBefore taking this class I did not know how much dance has affected the hip-hop culture. Like freestyleing and MCing, dance can also be related to hip-hop in many ways. The two most obvious ways are battling and sampling. During class on Monday we watched a dance battle. This was something that I have never seen before and could definitely see the resemblance between the rap battle and the dance battle. While watching this battle one of the dancers studied the other dancer’s moves, just like in rap battles and ultimately ended up winning the battle. Another reason hip-hop dance and hip-hop are extremely similar is sampling. As you can tell from watching Michael Jacksons Thriller, Michaels’ dance moves have been sampled to this day; ranging from one of today best dancers Chris Brown to one of the best dance crews in today’s society the jabbbawockeez. While watching street dance you can see one of the main styles they use is breaking. “ At about the same time, certain slang words also became titles of the dance forms, such as rockin’ and breakin’ used generally to describe actions with great intensity.” (Pabon, 58) Another type of dance is Top rockin’. “ Toprockin’s structure and form fuse dance forms and influences from uprocking, tap, lindy hop, James Brown’s “ good foot”, Afro-Cuban, and various African and Native American dances.” (Pabon, 58) So as you can see there are many different aspects to hip-hop dance.
ReplyDeleteBreaking, as one of the four elements of hip hop, is a way for dancers to communicate to others through gestures and body movement. Just as scholars write books and journals to preserve history and create a conversation in society about various topics, breakers preserve the history of hip hop and dance. The different styles that have influenced and helped create what we now know as hip hop dance have come from all over the world. Many of them are rooted in slave tradition and have been passed down from generation to generation. Breaking began in the early 70s and the majority of those who practiced it were Black and Latino youth from New York. Kool Herc called the dancers who mastered the different components of hip hop dance b-boys or b-girls. These dancers would usually dance during the breaks of the songs played by the dj. These artists use their bodies to communicate a message and in the mean time they are telling the history of hip hop and those involved. They do this by taking the different types of dance found in their culture and modifying it to express their own ideas and emotions. Even just by watching the few videos that were assigned these different influences begin to become more easily recognizable. When taking these styles into consideration, one can see a pattern and a sort of an “embodied” timeline that illustrates the different cultures that have come together to create hip hop culture.
ReplyDelete“Physical graffiti”, also known as hip-hop dance is a vital element of hip-hop that is considered by many to be an art form. As we learned in February 27th’s lecture, “breaking” (a major style of physical graffiti) was described by Sally Banes as “a way of claiming the streets with physical presence, using your body to publicly inscribe your identity on the surface of the city”. This corner stone of hip-hop gained tremendous popularity during its birth back in the early 1970s due to large numbers of African American and Latino youth participating in the movement in New York City (lecture 2/27) and its popularity still lives on today. Most physical graffiti takes place in the streets, but it also occurs at the large-scale level as seen on shows such as America’s Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance. Similar to the MC’ing aspect of hip-hop, physical graffiti often times takes the stage of a battle where the competitors go head to head, constantly trying to outdo one another. Improvisation is also a tremendously important characteristic to dance; this is because there is rarely a step count like different forms of dance (lecture 2/27), and thinking on your feet (literally) is appreciated by audiences and fellow Bboys/Bgirls. The winner is usually determined by the dancer’s creativity, skills, power moves and the crowd’s approval or disapproval. As Pabon tells us, breaking brings several parts of hip-hop history together through gestures. Dance influences graffiti, DJ’ing and MC’ing, while it is also influenced by its counterparts. Because of this, hip-hop is a melting pot of several different ideas and styles compared to simply a type of music.
ReplyDeleteBreaking has been a part of Hip-hop since it’s evolution in the 1970’s. Much like the music itself, breaking is a melting pot of rhythmic styles that have been brought together over time from different cultures around the world. Breaking originated with the Black and Latino youth in America as an alternative to gang life. The term significance of the term is that it refers to dancing during the “break” in the beat of a song. Because of the dynamics of breaking, and, as we learned in lecture, it is considered to be a “physical graffiti” because it is the outlet breakers use to share their experiences and histories, utilizing physical gestures and dance moves as their voice. As Hip-hop culture became more vastly popularized, the art of breaking did too. Similar to how artists sample audio, sound bits, beats…etc. for their music, BBoy’s and BGirl’s also sample from a large library of history. Breaking includes movements, gestures and styles from an array of cultures all around the world—from dances of African decent such as Juba and Lindy Hop to forms of Brazilian martial arts. In my personal opinion, breaking is one of the most freeing modes of expression, because it allows one to tie in his/her background, while letting loose, kicking it freestyle and actually feeling the beat.
ReplyDeleteBreaking, or B-boying and B-girling is an integral element of hip-hop and has a history stretching as far back (or further back) than the other elements of MCing, graffiti, and DJing. Hip-hop dance operates with the same mechanics of sampling, remixing, spontaneity and innovation as the other elements. It is also subject to the same misappropriation of its history and meaning, both by outside and, according to some, inside influences. East Coast and West Coast styles of dance were melded into one monolithic concept of “breakdancing,” a term often rejected by purists and practitioners of the art for this reason (Pabon, 57, 60). In Jorge “Popmaster Fabel” Pabon’s essay, he references the “purity” of breaking dance forms, and how they have been corrupted and diluted by not only media which captures them in limited form (Pabon, 61) but also by the “younger generation of dancers,”who create “hybrid dances with unclear form and structure” (Pabon, 61). He disparages “power moves,” stating that they require less strength and skill than footwork and freezes (Pabon, 59). Like the DJs who lack respect for anyone who doesn’t “dig in the crates,” or graffiti writers who scoff at digital art, Pabon’s argument is that of the aging pioneer, repeated through possibly every art movement in history: we did it better in my day. If the quintessence of hip-hop is the re-imagining of codified forms of art, shouldn’t the younger generation be praised and encouraged in its quest for new ways of breaking? Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1980s, the media saw and formed New York’s innovative dancing styles all into “breakdancing”…but the media was inaccurate. There are many different dance forms, so to label them all under one specific genre caused people to overlook the West Coast’s “funk” culture (Pabon 57). Rhythm is demonstrated through every aspect of Hip-hop, whether if it is through the beat that a DJ plays, the flow and rhyme pattern of a MC, the flowing of a graffiti artist’s mural or tag, or a dancer’s movement (Pabon 57). Many believe that DJs or MCs are the ones who mostly contribute to Hip-hop, when in reality all four parts of Hip-hop equally contribute to make it what it has become today. Names of certain dance moves came from slang words that were popular within the Hip-hop culture and from contributors to the culture. For example, DJ Kool Herc addressed dancers as “B-boys” and “B-girls” and since then those terms are still being used today (Pabon 58). In regards to sampling, I believe gestures can be sampled physically in performance. The first thing that comes to is Fat Joe’s “Lean Back”. That gesture, turned into not only a song, but somewhat of a dance move. I am not familiar with different types of dance moves, but from viewing lots of Hip-hop music videos, it is very apparent that a lot of dance moves imitate or sample everyday gestures. Some dance moves Jorge Pabon mentions on page 59 of That’s The Joint, are power moves, which are moves that require more physical power, such as footwork, spins and gymnastics. Another interesting fact Pabon talks about when mentioning how Hip-hop is confrontational, is “Apache Lines”. “Apache Lines” are when one crew stands in a line facing an opposing grew and then the two crews challenge each other concurrently (Pabon 59). Gestures in Hip-hop dance are what make dancing such a huge part of Hip-hop too. The gestures a dancer makes with his or her moves can tell a story and bring visual to the words and beats of a song, ultimately attaching each component of Hip-hop together.
ReplyDeleteBreaking is known as physical graffiti because they share a lot of the same attributes. They both claim public space, and incorporate multiple dance genres and different cultural style, which is also known as embodied histories. As seen in the movie Beat Street, the claiming of public space is important to break dancing as well as graffiti, and the two go hand in hand. One hip-hop artist tends to create graffiti and break dance. Claiming public space as a dance venue at is illegal, and the main characters of Beat Street get arrested for doing so.
ReplyDeleteWomen were very marginalized in early hip-hop, and this is also seen in Beat Street. In the very beginning of the film a group of girl mc’s say, “Us girls can boogey too, we can dance, we can shake it”. However, not much dancing is going on, and the women are very reserved. This is the only showing of women breaking in the film. In Rize, women are very prominent and breaking it down just like the men. This shows that from 1984, when Beat Street was made, to 2005, when Rize was made, there was huge progress made for women in break dancing.
Embodied histories seems to be the main point of Beat Street, as in the end, the main couple incorporates the formal dance styles, modern dance and gospel music, with break dancing. All these genres are able to come together to put on a wonderful and inspiring performance, where all histories can come together.
“Unraveling the history of locking, popping, b-boying/b-girling, and uprocking takes us toward a true understanding of their essence and significance in the world today,” (Pabon, 61) this along with every other aspect of hip-hop culture that we have studied thus far have the same underlying idea. If you do not understand the meanings behind something, or the history of a cultural text, then it becomes impossible to understand that thing at all. Prior to this class or this week the only thing I really understood about hip-hop dancing, all different styles, is simply that I am not capable of doing it. Learning about how these moves and the culture of dance itself has changed over time has proven to be much more complex than meets the eye. In class we discussed the “dougie,” (2/27) which I had only known from the song “Teach Me How to Dougie.” Such a popular song in some recent years is almost guaranteed to have its deeper cultural meanings ignored. The moves so often made mainstream have been around for much longer, and were originally performed as a way of feeling and writing the experiences of the music itself. It has been most interesting to see the relationship between the way that recent movies and music have portrayed not only particular dance moves but the hip-hop dance culture, and the larger historical and contextual meaning behind them.
ReplyDeleteDance forms associated with hip hop did develop in and out of the ghettos of New York City back in the 1970's. While other dances such as popping and locking were created over on the west coast as part of a different cultural movement. You can even look as far back as the slave days where Capoeira was originated as a form of self- defense dancing. This form of movement was introduced to Brazil and also very similar to b- boy steps and moves. Some of the earliest dancing by b- boy pioneers was done upright, a form that becomes known as top rockin (Physical Graffiti pg. 58). Some great examples on physical graffiti consist of Chris Brown, Michael Jackson, and Jabowokeez. These are three greats to the dance aspect of the hip-hop culture, yet with all their own styles. Michael Jackson was known for his moonwalk, a dance move that he mastered and was only his move. Chris Brown was like Michael Jackson in the sense that dancing, and free styling to the music was natural to them. Breezy to me is considered one of the greatest dancers. You give this man a good beat and rhythm and let him go to work, free styling with all different sorts of moves. Then the Jabowokeez, which are more of a group that bases their style and dances to the beat and rhythm exactly. They are the most creative dancers I've seen this day, and have perfected their dance moves to go perfectly along with the music’s tempo. to wrap it up, physical graffiti plays a big role in hip hop and is never the same, no matter where you go. While the west originated in popping and locking, the East and NYC had more of a breaking style, then the Midwest, such as Chicago focused a lot on footwork in their dances.
ReplyDeleteHip hop dance, or breaking is a fairly new concept for me. I didn’t know much about the subject before the lecture and readings. According to the lecture on Monday, breaking began in the 1970’s with Black and Latino youth in New York City. Bboys and Bgirls take different styles and moves from certain cultures and eras in history. They take variations from styles such as Juba, Cakewalk, Charleston and Stepping. One good example is Chris Browns performance at the 2007 VMAs. He used many different styles of dance. One prominent style in his performance is the Charleston which derived from Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1920s. Lindy Hip hop is another early form of dance used in hip hop dance or breaking. This form began in the 1930s and inspired “Swing dance.” The term physical graffiti describes hip hop dance taken to the street. Just like graffiti is free spirited and improvisational, so is breaking. We learned in lecture that you can’t learn these dances from the street in a dance studio. You can’t learn how to krump in a studio. I’m impressed with some of the styles that are used in breaking the style is very free spirited and loose.
ReplyDeleteThe dance styles of breaking are known to have begun among black and Latino youth in the early 1970’s at the birth of Hip- hop culture (Persley). Breaking like many aspects of Hip-hop provided an outlet for youth to express themselves in a way to refrain from violence. Breaking started as a “street dance” associated with the “ghetto” and urban spaces in cities but today it seems to have crossed over form the streets to the studio. Many veterans of Hip- hop dance and people like Jorge Pabon fear that dance today has lost all sight of the historical content of the moves; the dancers have forgotten where it all began. Pabon says, “The same concerns apply to the story lines and scripts pertaining to the dances’ forms and history. Unfortunately the younger generations of dancers either haven’t made enough effort to learn each dance or lack the resources to do so” (Pabon 61). Hip- hop began as something that could not be taught, dancers merely witnessed other dancers and through improvisation created their own style. The intuitions of Hip- hop as a social dance practice are due to the fact that Hip- hop dance today is taught everywhere, it had to become legitimized and broken down to add 8 counts for example (Persley). Yes, hip- hop dance is a way for youth to express themselves but Pabon and many others believe this expression is muting the original founders of these moves. Pabon believes, “As long as dancers represent the root forms of the dances, the rest can be colored in with his or her own flavors” (Pabon 61). Dancers own styles and moves can be used as long as there is an obvious knowledge of the historical content. Hip- hop dance along with all other forms of hip- hop are defined as ways for artists to release their frustrations in a way other then violence, “Breaking isn’t just an urgent response to pulsating music. It is also a ritual combat that transmutes aggression into art” (Chang 33). When I watched hip- hop dancers before this lecture and before these readings I didn’t think twice about where the moves came from, I just thought the dancers were extremely creative. Now I take into account the amount of history associated with those moves and the amount of people that it has been passed down to.
ReplyDeleteInformation is not always communicated verbally. There may be other ways than linguistics that two individuals or different communities use to share knowledge. Certain types of knowledge can be expressed through signs, the physical, or really any aesthetic. A certain B-boy or B-girl move may refer to a certain culture or period of time. In Chris Browns MTV Awards performance his dance referred not only to people like Charlie Chaplain but also to cultural periods like the beginnings of hip-hop in the mid-late 1900’s. This specific mode of producing reference we can call embodied history. Yet, a performance does not necessarily have to always refer to the past. When a breaker dances their dance extends itself into the future. It projects the dancer’s own aesthetic knowledge of the world into the future. Breakers in early hip-hop took what they knew from the world around them. They took the music knowledge of the dj, the public stance of the graffiti artist, and the crowd control of the mc along with battling, improvisation, and sampling of all aspects of hip-hop to create a physically embodied expression. If we understand that artist’s world and that artist we may be able to begin to understand what that artist was doing. However, physical movements are in a sense a different language; thus they may need a certain translation or convention to understand. Without this knowledge of the hip-hop world and people within it, we simply “can’t touch this.”
ReplyDeleteB-boying/B-girling, breakdancing, and or breaking are all essentially the same popular style of street dancing associated within the hip-hop culture. “Breaking began with the Black and Latino youth in New York in the early 1970s at the birth of hip-hop (Lecture 2/26).” The gestures used for the style of dancing can be understood as physical repertories of hip-hop history because like hip-hop, dancers will express their emotions and frustrations with everyday life through breaking, popping, and locking. This notion is clearly evident from David LaChapelle’s 2005 film “Rize” which reveals the exploding dance phenomenon in the streets of LA and how these moves are indigenous to African tribes but most important, keeps kids from gangbanging and hustling. We can identify the origins of particular hip-hop dance moves by analyzing the history of dance and dancers moves/gestures because dancers sample, copy, and rip off moves and styles from past dance practices through “influences from up rocking, tap, lindy hop, James Brown’s ‘good foot’, Afro-Cuban, and various African and Native American dances (Pabon 58).” As a result the style of dance incorporates movements, styles, and gestures from all around the world making it a polycultural aspect associated with hip-hop. Breaking has been deemed “Physical Graffiti” in the sense that dancers express themselves physically rather than artistically but both do so to attain fame and recognition throughout the culture. Breaking brings several parts of hip-hop history together through its gestures and can teach us a lot about the origins of the art, where it is now in terms of today’s society, and where the culture could/will end up in the future world of hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteBefore lecture on Monday I had never heard the term B-Boying or B-Girling, I just always thought of dance at pop, jazz, ballet, tap, or breakdancing. Growing up I took ballet and tap from the time I was old enough to enroll in a class which was 2, and then once I became a “teenager” is when I finally got to enroll in jazz class. Dance was never a huge part of my life, it was more so when I lived in Texas than faded as I grew up in Knasas. I think for me a huge part of being a good dancer is having self-confidence in what you do. If you have the confidence then you will be able to tell a story with each and every dance move, and to me that’s what is amazing about dance. Chris Brown is a good example of an awesome B-Boy artist. When I watched his MTV Awards 2007 performance I was amazed. I have no idea how anyone could move their body like that, and with each and every move I saw complete confidence in what he was doing, which in the end made it an amazing performance. Another great thing about dance is that is can be carried on even after you have passed on. Michael Jackson’s music video “Thirller” is legendary, and will always be. I went and watched Cirque de Soleil tribute to Michael Jackson concert last week and it was amazing. But the thing that amazed me was how each performer carried on Michael’s dance moves. They of course couldn’t sing the songs, but they kept each major music video dance moves alive and performed them how we remembered them.
ReplyDeleteI have never thought to compare dance to art or music, but they all seem to share a lot of similarities. Each artist, rapper, or graffiti artists are all sharing a story in their own way, a story of their life and of what they see, and that’s what dance does. In the article, “Physical Graffiti: The History of Hip-Hop Dance” I became framiliar with several different dance styles such as, popping and locking (West Coast), “Flying tuts” and “Dime Stopping” (San Jose). I had never heard of any of these, and one thing that fascinated me was the fact that each dance style is regionalized across the U.S. Which is how rap is too. Not only does music have sampling, but dance does too. Jorge Pabon mentioned that, “Genres of dance have borrowed without giving credit to their rightful owners.” And, “We hope we will see the day when these dances are clearly distinguished and given their due respect.” Although I think everyone should receive the credit they deserve and shouldn’t have their music or dance moves taken from them, it always makes the performance or art much for fascinating when you mix things up.
Hip-hop dance came out of New York City in the 1970s around the same time other elements of hip-hop, like MCing, were coming to life. The moves native to New York included b-boying/ b-girling and toprockin’. Popping and locking are more loosely connected to hip-hop culture in reality because they actually came out of the funk culture from the West Coast that media associated with hip-hop (Pabon, 57). All these different moves together were incorrectly labeled “breakdancing”, and society came to associate that inappropriate term with hip-hop. Breaking really just means dancing on the break beat (Lecture 2/27). I think it is really interesting how clowning and krumping styles of dance were created by Tommy Johnson in Los Angeles. He wanted to combine comedy and hip-hop dance to provide children in South Central Los Angeles with something fun to do to avoid the gang culture and violence that surrounded them (RIZE).
ReplyDeleteThe idea that makes hip-hop a unique genre of music is that it samples from several other media and art forms, including other music. Just like any other element of hip-hop, dance is another area where artists sample, and they do this by including gestures that are generally associated with other art forms. An example of this was the two men dancing on “So You Think You Can Dance.” They added in a pirouette in the air from ballet dancing (Lecture 2/27). Other styles that hip-hop samples from include tap, lindy hop, African American slave dances like the juba, the Charleston and even Capoeria, which is really “a form of self-defense disguised as a dance” (Pabon, 58).
Physical graffiti established during hip-hop’s origination in the early 1970’s was an embodiment of culture, literally. Also known as breaking this form of hip-hop expression was part of the origination of the cultural phenomenon. B-boys and B-girls mix top rocking with power moves and floor work to “claim their body as a public space”. Like many of the other elements of hip-hop, breaking has been commercialized so that it is acceptable to the masses. There are two main losses to this generalization of the art form that fable talks to, the presentation and the environment. The cipher is the stage that the performer presents his/her skills in. It is not a typical stage but a circular platform that the audience creates with their bodies. Whoever is in the center of the cipher is the one owns the stage at that point. The on-lookers provide the performer the electricity and call & response that the b-boy needs to deal with breaks in the music. Fabel also talks about the environment as a whole. “In order to preserve the true essence and dynamics of these dance forms, they should exist as a social and cultural reality celebrated in their natural environments.” Performing within clubs and street corners is what maintains the purity of the dance form. Preserving the history of breaking, not “break dancing” is the same issue that DJ Kool Herc talks about in Chang’s article of how the “new skool” is taking away the original meaning of hip-hop within sampling, breaking. The thing I think the pioneers are missing from their definition of hip-hop is that it is an evolutionary culture. Ben Chung and member of Jabbawockeez dance crew responds. “Hip-hop includes locking, popping, b-boying and we also have pop which kinda fell into hip-hop”. It used to be that hip-hop sampled from everything else, similar to how breaking takes from capoeira and the Charleston. However, now there isn’t anything that does not sample from hip-hop.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Hip-hop dance has been given the nickname “Physical Graffiti” in this class. Both of Graffiti and Hip-hop dance have many things in common. Both arose with the beginnings of the Hip-hop scene. Both are core elements of hip-hop. Hip-hop dance also is stricken with controversy and commercialization, just as graffiti has been. And more importantly, both are true expressions of art and beauty.
ReplyDeleteHip-hop dance started in the 1970’s along with the rise of Hip-hop. It encompasses many forms of dance, such as: crumping, popping, locking, breaking and various others. At first glance, Hip-hop dance would seem as if it is just moving your body to music. However, hip-hop dance has a much deeper meaning.
One of the core elements of Hip-hop culture is its dance, and much like many other elements it was a way to express oneself, and make a message of one’s current surroundings. Whether it’s the “Dougie” from Dallas or the popping and locking from the West Coast, when hearing the word Hip-hop many immediately associate it with dancing (Pabon). Yet, these dances continuously have become commercialized, much like other elements of Hip-hop. A prime example of this is Wolf Blitzer’s performance of the Dougie at the Soul Train Award shows(Lecture 2/27)
This commercialization poses the important question: Can dance continue to be a core element of Hip-hop if it becomes an over commercialized object? Will Hip-hop dance still retain its cultural significance in the Hip-hop community if anyone can go to a dance studio and learn how to crump to an eight count?
It’s amazing to think how the silly act of moving one’s body in rhythmic motion can be so deeply analyzed, and yet when it comes to dancing there is clearly so much more to it than just the moves being performed — especially when it comes to modern day physical graffiti. One constant that remains true throughout hip-hop is the use of sampling, and in the embodied history of break dancing it is no different. From its roots in swing dancing, and with the influence of the Latino community in New York City, breaking became a way to establish a crew without the use of violence. It was a safer alternative to gaining respect on the streets of the under developed communities, and it allowed for the evolution the hip-hop culture. This is most widely seen during ciphers. Where ciphers began as a way for DJ’s to prove their skills, it evolved into the DJ’s proving their talents while MC’s tried to demonstrate theirs as well. Finally with breaking thrown into the mix, the ciphers became a place for crews to establish themselves on all levels. This anti-violent way of verifying their dominance, while promoting hip-hop in the eyes of the public, and underground.
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ReplyDeleteI have always respected dancers because I know how much goes into it. Some people could look at certain dances and say how easy it is or how it takes no skill to do that. After hearing the lecture on this topic and seeing all of the different moves that go on with it, it is amazing. It is important to note that dance gets its origins from all over the world and past history. Lecture notes state, “Hip-hop dance also samples from other African, African diasporic, European, Asian and Latino dance vocabs based on their intersections with African American culture. This is why dance can be talked about in this physical graffiti topic because they have a lot of the same influences with using culture to get influenced in their dancing. Certain moves also are influenced from history. One example is the, “Connection of African American dance practices such as, the lindy hop, Flash dance, and the Charleston (Lecture notes). A lot of elements go into dancing that help the dancers stay with their culture.
Breaking, another important aspect of Hip-hop, is a way for people to have conversation with others by telling stories about things that have happened to them. Breaking began with young Black and Latino’s in New York in the early seventies (Lecture). They used physical gestures to write their experiences. It’s a way that B-Boys and B-Girls define their own public space (Lecture). As Sally Banes said, “breaking is a way of claiming the streets with physical presence.” It was a way for them to express themselves without the physical violence (Chang 26). He says, “instead of saying, ‘hey man, you want to fight?’ you’d say, ‘hey man, you want to rock?’” (Chang 33). When Hip-hop music crossed over, so did the dance aspect of it. Dance studios began teaching hip-hop classes as a social dance practice, which unlike street dance was a way for them to communicate using “culturally acceptable movements” (Lecture). In studios you’re taught the movements, in street dance you’re performing without a formal set of steps because it’s mostly improvisational. In Pabons, article, he says that street dance is largely sampled from earlier practices, such as the cakewalk and The Charleston. “Top rocking” was a move done by earlier breakers, and now has expanded with moves such as popping, locking, and spinning (Pabon 59). We definitely see this is true, because you see major artists such as Chris Brown, doing it in their work. I watch a lot of dance shows, such as So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew’s and you see a lot of them mimicking practices that many may not even consider Hip-hop such as tap and ballet, which the winning team on a season of ABDC used a lot of.
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