Is Break Dancing or Breaking Really For You?

Breaking, break dancing, or b-boying – call it which ever you prefer – it’s a dynamic dance style that evolved from the ever popular hip hop in the South Bronx during the 1970s. Hip Hop is actually a mix of four different cultures rap, djing, graffiti, and break dancing. So is break dancing really for you?

Break dancing refers to breaks that occur in the music and the movements associated with those breaks. From the South Bronx it quickly became popular on the New York streets and then onto the night clubs.

It became popular in disco joints to fill the air with all kinds of cool moves that corresponded with the break in the music. Soon break dancing was a phenomenon around North America. Did you know that the best break dancers were also the best gang members or best fighters?

That’s because the muscles developed for this kind of dancing are also the muscles developed for fighting. Break dancing is often referred to as a game of chicken with an invisible assailant. In the early days of breaking the streets of New York were filled with competitions and teams would dance to win.

If you watch a good break dancer carefully you’ll notice that many of the moves are inspired by Kung-fu and supported by ballet type actions. It’s believed that the dance may have originated from the lindy hop or the Charleston.

Feet moving sideways, up on the toes, spinning on elbows, hands, knees, and head, fighting moves, and pantomime are all elements of breaking. If you don’t believe it’s an art try it sometime. You’ll quickly discover it takes a great deal of skill.

Break dancing is actually considered more of a sport and a dangerous one at that. Breaks, sprains, twists, and cuts are very common. After all the dancer is flipping and spinning through the air and the landing surface is never soft. In fact several dancers have broken their necks and back in 1982 one actually died. When a break dance move goes wrong serious injuries can result. Perhaps that’s part of the reason for the rough raw urban feel it has which is often associated with fighting.

The 1980s saw several films with some great break dancing scenes. The result was a new wave of dance style across the nation. Kids around the country were break dancing in their basements and in the streets. Kids were making up their own steps and moves.

Today we see the evolution of break dancing in rap and music videos. Pop stars like Britney Spears often use some of the break dancing elements in their videos. Break dancing actually brought out some new socially accepted ideas in dance. It confirmed that fighting moves could in fact be part of dancing and that contact with the floor and spinning and gymnastic style moves could also be incorporated into dance. You could say since break dancing hit the scene dancing has never been the same especially in the night clubs.

There’s more to break dancing than just the dance. There’s a whole fashion culture that goes with it. Low pants, sideways tipped hat, and t-shirt were the standard wardrobe. And sneakers were a fashion and safety requirement. Adidas with thick laces are very popular and some of the really serious breakers like to have matching hats, shirts, and shoes.

Although the fashion styles have changes a little from the earlier days sneakers and hats remain consistent and since the 1990s trucker’s hats have become part of the scene. And of course clothing that’s going to work with your moves is always essential. One reason why track suits have become every popular.

Is breaking really for you? Only you can decide. Break dancing requires skill, co-ordination, stamina, and a great deal of practice. If you think you’d like to give it a try may we suggest your basement. After all you don’t want to make a fool of yourself on the dance floor do you?

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.