How to dance hip-hop: simple steps to mastering the style

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

There is no time limit for dancing - if you've been into hip-hop for a long time, it's time to finally go learn it. An ideal place to learn dance is a studio where you can find like-minded people. But if you dream of learning how to dance hip-hop at home, you can start with simple steps towards your goal.

Not dance, but culture

Hip-hop is not just dancing. It's a whole culture. This is a musical genre, and a style of clothing, and a way of life. He comes from the African neighborhoods of New York in the 70s. The founding fathers of hip-hop are black DJs Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Gerk and Grandmaster Flash. The driving force behind this dance genre was music. And the further she went in her development, the more various dance branches and subgenres appeared in hip-hop. So, locking and popping styles appeared in California.

In addition to dance and music, hip-hop culture also includes elements of fine art - graffiti drawings, as well asoriginal style of clothing - wide trousers, T-shirts, caps, massive jewelry. Depending on the direction of hip-hop, other elements may be included. For example, hip-hop hills dance in heels (from English heels - heels).

If you decide to master hip-hop and the main elements of this style solely for the sake of self-development and do not strive for public performances, you can limit yourself to home video lessons. But if you intend to immerse yourself in hip-hop culture, then sooner or later you will have to find yourself a studio.

Another thing is if you live in a small town where there is no such studio yet. Then your task is to learn from videos, go to master classes and festivals in other cities, and who knows, maybe you will be the first to open a hip-hop studio for beginners in your city. Not an easy task, but worth the effort.

How to dance hip-hop: pumping the body

A strong and agile body is the key to effective performance of dance elements. Your workouts should include not only practicing dance movements directly, but also exercises for different muscle groups - push-ups, squats, planks and, of course, stretching.

Acting

To be a great dancer, you need to have strong energy. If the dancer moves sluggishly, he is simply not interesting to look at. You have to "ignite" people with your dance. To do this, you need to learn not only to dance hip-hop, but also to be able to work with the public.

How to dance hip-hop:Features

The ability to dance well will bring you not only the admiration of the public. Owning your body and working on yourself every day really change your character, provide a constant surge of endorphins - hormones of happiness and at the same time make a person much more self-confident.

Despite the fact that this dance is based on freestyling (free improvisation), in order to easily improvise in hip-hop style, the basic elements must be practiced and repeated many times. Freedom of movement comes with practice. The simplest elements can be learned from the video, more complex ones will require work with a trainer.

It is important to learn to feel the so-called "groove" in music. In the Russian-speaking hip-hop community, this is usually called "kach" - with your body you seem to spring to the rhythm of the music. To understand how to dance hip-hop, you need to master this skill. In this style of dance, the movements do not beat the melody, but the rhythm. Try bouncing your knees to hit every bit. All other movement will be superimposed on top of this quality.

Movements from old school hip-hop are quite amplitude and jumpy. For example, one of the simpler elements in hip hop is called a criss cross. This is a jump from a wide stance, during which the legs cross like scissors. The new wave of hip-hop means more variety in technique and playing with the rhythm of the track - your movements are not uniform in rhythm, they can suddenly slow down or speed up.

Where to go to study?

When you decideIf homework is already enough for you, you should start looking for a hip-hop group for beginners. Yes, despite the fact that you have been training hard at home, you should come to the group for beginners, and the coach himself will determine the group of a higher level if he sees fit. If, on the contrary, it turns out that you are doing some element incorrectly, you will have to relearn with the group (by the way, sometimes it is even more difficult than learning from scratch - muscle memory takes its toll).

Don't try to choose a studio closer to home. Students will go to really good teachers to the other end of the city. A coach should be chosen not only based on the success of the group, but also on personal energy and charisma. A good dancer is not always an attentive coach. And vice versa: a competent teacher can be very invisible on stage. Finding a guru is a very individual process. There is no single recipe for everyone. You just need to go and try to study with those who you like. Over time, you will understand whether this is yours or it is worth going in search again.