Hip Hop dancing is now a culture which is bound through four types of expression: Turntablism, graffiti art, emceeing, and b-boying. Hip Hop started in the early seventies through parties which were held by DJ Kool Herc, b-boying part of Hip Hop has now expanded to cover all kinds of other dance styles.
B-Boying started in Brooklyn, NY in Kool Herc parties. This particular style was created to satisfy a dancer’s “breaking” point. When a breakdown record is used, b-boys and b-girls will get to the dance floor and then dance the “uprock” and “toprock” moves, therefore moving quickly following the beat and having arm movements which allow more momentum and then even more strenuous footwork. In B-Boying, most styles are freestyle, still, when the dancers hit the floor, there will come even more distinctive moves. Some of the particular styles are Six steps, swipes, spins, freezes and CC’s. They now become a more complex and artistic danceform. One of the evolution is the calling of this style of b-boying dance by Breakdancing in the east coast, while the west coast then developed their brand of Hip Hop funk dance.
One type of funk dance called Locking which was created by Don “Campellock” Campbell is very stylish. It is freestyle, however some moves, notable skeeter rabbits, scoobots, and whichaways signify a locking “feel”. Still, a dancer still needs to dance a move using lots of style to be able to lock. This Lock is a basic move and consists of the movement if stopping abruptly with arms in front as if you are riding a bicycle, sitting on one hip and then slightly bending yourself at the waist.
Other parts of this dance is the feeling of being funky. It becomes comical and can contain acrobatic movements such jumping and landing in splits, or leaping a turn in the air to then landing on your knees. Locking itself is alive and well in the Underground Hip Hop Community since its start, while a recent popularity has been detected throughout all Hip Hop fans. Lockers are findable throughout the world.
Another style of funk dance is Popping, which started with Boogaloo Sam and Poppin’ Pete. Popping started as a mix between Locking and The Robot. Although it has many different styles which range from strutting to tutting, boogaloo and others, the main movement is still the hit.