HipHop

Hiphop dance is an umbrella term consisting of social party dances done to Hiphop and Rap music. Hiphop dance is often heard to be categorized in three main eras; Oldschool, Midschool and Newschool.

The first era is with Breaking, the original dance of Hiphop Culture. The oldschool hiphop dance is originally done to Soul, Funk, Jazz & Swingbased rhythm, rhymes and grooves. Oldschool hiphop is closely connected to vernacular jazz dances. The change within the music from old jazz is known to have happened with DJ Kool Herc and turntablism August 11th 1973 in Bronx, New York. The «Breakbeat» was invented as the «new» music that the Bboys and the Bgirls danced to at block parties. These get-togethers were often outdoor in the street and this is where the cyphers and battles happened which are foundations of Hip Hop dance. Midschool Hiphop music were influenced by the «Boom Bap» sound with a different groove then the old school sound. At the change into the new millennium, hiphop music was then widely spread to the world and is presently one of the most popular genres in the world. It developed from being an underground subculture to a mainstream popular industry.

Other dance styles that is closely connected to hiphop culture is the Funkstyle dances Locking, Popping & Electric Boogaloo. These styles were a big part of the beginning of Hiphop Culture as the young «hiphop heads» got a lot of inspiration from watching tv-shows as «The Soultrain». These styles were danced to Funk music and are originally American Westcoast dances.