Hip hop dances are fun, physical workouts that let a dancer explore their creativity while moving their body in exciting and expressive ways. If you're looking to take a hip hop dance class, there are several different styles you might be taught. Below, discover some of the more popular ones and what they involve.

A Guide to Hip Hop Dance Styles

1. Breakdancing

Breakdancing emerged in the early 1970s and became a cultural touchstone throughout the seventies and early eighties. Also called b-boying or b-girling, it consists of four main movements: a toprock, performed while standing up; a downrock, in which all footwork is performed on the floor; power moves, which use upper body strength to perform spins, windmills, and other acrobatic movements; and freezes, in which you halt all bodily motion into various poses. There are infinite variations on these four main aspects, and entire hip hop dance classes are usually devoted to the art of breakdancing.

2. Popping & Locking

Popping and locking entails meticulous, almost robotic movements in which you jerk parts of the body outward (popping) and quickly contract them (locking). Since popping and locking is such a specific dance, it only pairs well with certain types of music. In a hip hop dance class, you might pop and lock to tunes that are more on the funk or electronica side.

3. Krumping

Krumping is a street dance that relies heavily on improvisation and expressive actions. It involves the whole body articulating emotion through energetic, exaggerated, and largely unchoreographed movements. There are four main moves from which all others in krumping flow, which are arm swings, chest pops, jabs, and stomps.

4. Jazz Funk

Jazz funk blends urban hip hop with traditional jazz and bits of classic ballet and Broadway musical theatrically. Common jazz funk movements include isolations, pirouettes, rolled shoulders, and jazz hands. There is both sassiness and precision in jazz funk dancing, and it's perfect for trying out and incorporating different styles that are not usually associated with hip hop.

Learn all these dances and more when you enroll in a hip hop dance class. The Joan Garret Dance Arts Studio has been training dancers young and old throughout the Newark, OH, area for over 50 years. They offer hip hop, ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, and tap dancing lessons, to name just a few of their class offerings. Call (740) 344-8789 or visit them online to enroll.