Hip hop dance is an exciting, expressive style best known for distinctive movements, including popping, locking, and breaking. While it doesn’t have as long a history as traditional styles like ballet, it has more than half a century of development and roots in even older forms. Here’s a basic overview of this popular dance style.

The Origins of Hip Hop Dance

Hip hop started to emerge in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the work of Kool DJ Herc, a Jamaican DJ in Brooklyn. While the original hip hop dancers came from the east coast of the US, the dance was almost immediately adopted on the west coast as well. 

Each region began to develop its own distinctive style early in the history of this dance movement, with west coast dancers developing the robotic movements that gave rise to popping and locking.

Evolution Through Time

What started as two separate dance movements began to spread and merge into one inclusive style of dance. Its growing popularity led to professional dance studios adopting what had once been a street dance scene. Hip hop dance quickly grew competitive, and in the 80s and 90s, freestyle dance battles became popular, in which two dancers challenge each other surrounded by a ring of watchers.

Hip Hop Dance Today

Not only has hip hop continued to grow in popularity, but it has also become the dominant form of dance on stage and in production studios of all kinds. Concerts and music videos frequently feature hip hop dance, and other types of dance even borrow moves from this style sometimes. Dance studios across the country offer classes for students of all ages, allowing them to join dancers from the last several decades in this energetic form of exercise and expression.

To enroll your child in hip hop dance classes, call New Hampshire Academie of Dance in Londonderry, NH. Serving the Greater Derry Area for over 50 years, this family-oriented dance studio is here to build up your child’s character along with their dance skills, starting with students as young as 18 months. For questions about classes, call (603) 432-4041 or reach out online.