Old School vs New School Hip-Hop Dance

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Old School vs New School Hip-Hop Dance

Dance is an integral part of hip hop music, somewhat being a critical element of hip hop culture. Since the beginning of hip-hop music, the creative raps and beats have always been coupled with lively dances that make the music livelier and more enjoyable. The initial form of hip-hop music is referred to as old-school hip-hop, whose accompanying dance is called old-school hip-hop dance, while new-school hip-hop is accompanied by new-school hip-hop dances. While both versions are still hip-hop, there are various differences between the dances associated with the two types of hip-hop. This paper seeks to explore the origins of hip-hop dance, and its transition from what is referred to as old-school to new-school hip-hop.

Hip-hop’s history dates back to early England where migrants during the 1960s started to use mixing methods in music, hence giving rise to the beat, the 4/4 melodic rhythm, which gives a strong dial, random, and synchronized sampling mix (Gonzales 64). While the culture dates back to the early sixties in England, hip-hop gained its maturity as a culture in New York during the 1970s (Gonzales 64). During the 1970s in the south of Bronx, New York, a community that comprised people from several ethnicities and was marked by racism, poverty, racial segregation, inequality, insecurities, drug trafficking, violence, and fear (Gonzales 64). During the 70s, the South Bronx could have been considered a very disadvantaged society, something that is suggested to have significantly segregated the community from the rest of society (Gonzales 65). Studies suggest that this segregation pushed the people within the South Bronx community to find unique methods of expressing themselves, and feeling like part of a community (Gonzales 65). The community sought a sense of collective character and belonging that they would feel a part of (Gonzales 64). The mixing of funk and disco music resulted in the development of hip-hop in the South Bronx during the 70s, which initiated the development of hip-hop as a culture, and not just music (Rajakumar 8). African American, Afro Caribbean immigrants, Puerto Rican, and Latino youth were the main elements that contributed to the development of hip-hop (Rajakumar 8). Within their disadvantaged community, the youth from these minority groups sought methods to express themselves within their resource-deprived communities that could not provide dance schools for classical dances (Gonzales 65). Therefore, the youth had to develop a different type of dance that would accompany their newly found music, hip-hop dance (Gonzales 65).

Hip hop drew from various sources since the main contributors were from multiple ethnicities and backgrounds. The main idea behind the music was self-expression, originality, and non-violence, which significantly appealed to the youth from the economically and socially disadvantaged South Bronx (Rajakumar 13). It is important to note that youth were the primary group that explored hip-hop as music, and turned it into a culture. When hip-hop was becoming a culture among the youth, it was defined by its novel music, the dressing, the speech associated with the music, and its dances (Rajakumar 13). Rap was considered the voice of hip-hop culture, while graffiti was considered its public face (Rajakumar 14). Hip-hop dance was what was considered hip-hop’s physical embodiment (Rajakumar 14). This meant that for the culture, hip-hop dance was very important (Rajakumar 13). It represented how the youth used the culture to physically express themselves in non-violent means, which as earlier mentioned, is particularly connected to the disenfranchised New York youth (Gonzales 65). This was, therefore, the beginning of what is currently referred to as old-school hip-hop dance.

The foremost old-school hip-hop dance style was breaking (commonly known as break dancing) (Rajakumar 14). Breaking represented the initial qualities of hip-hop culture, which were self-expression and originality since it did not follow any particular choreographic movements nor was it a known move that others could typically follow (Rajakumar 13). The idea was to gain the respect of other youth in nonviolent ways and the only way New York youths knew how; through hip-hop dance. Most old-school hip-hop dance is based on improvisation and freestyling based on the original intentions of the culture’s development and popularization. This trait continued for old-school hip-hop dance during the 80s and 90s, but various styles had already come up that are still referred to as old-school hip-hop dance.

Old-school hip-hop dance included specific street styles as well as funk styles that incorporated improvisation and freestyle. Old-school dances that emerged between the 1970s and 1980s include the original breaking, locking, and popping (Uršej and Petra 195). Breaking is what is referred to as break dancing, though this name is erroneous (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Breaking is a freestyling, unstructured, and significantly improvisational type of old-school hip-hop dance (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). The dance involves acrobatic as well as gymnastic movements that are synchronized to the hip-hop beats (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Breaking is probably one of the most famous hip-hop dance styles because of its improvisational and unstructured nature making anyone able to do a couple of moves with ease. This was the initial dance style associated with hip-hop during its onset, presumably because the founders did not already have an existing dance for the music and needed something unique that expressed them.

Popping on the other hand involves rapid compaction and ease of muscles to create jerking of various joints (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). This dance style originated from breaking but popping involved more explosive movements that seemed to be directed outwards compared to breaking that would also include inward body movements. Popping first came to light with the initial form of hip-hop when the culture began spreading within the United States (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.). The Fresno California Boogaloo Sam was the initial form of popping, with The Electric Boogaloos popularizing the dance style through their dance group (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.). However, the dance style has evolved over time to include other dances such as the robot, miming, isolation, gliding, scarecrow, ticking, animation, tutting, strutting, snaking, strobing, and dime stop (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.).

Locking involves rapid, distinct hand and arm movements that are combined with relaxed legs and hips (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Locking moves are typically exaggerated and large moves that are rhythmic and significantly synchronized to the music (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Locking originated after popping was already developed and was specifically used in Los Angeles (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.). The style was first used by Don Campbell and was initially known as Campbellocking (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.). However, as the dance’s popularity increased, it was coupled with popping and other moves and referred to as locking. Locking is incorporated into several old-school dances including the Leo walk, break down, pacing, lock, jazz split, wrist twirl, up-lock, Scoo B Doo, the skeeter rabbit, whichaway, funky guitar, floor sweep, and alpha (Lil Beatz Ltd. n.p.).

As hip-hop music evolved through the 20th century, so did the dances that accompanied the music. The development of funk hip-hop music can be perceived as the beginning of the new-school hip-hop culture, which subsequently developed the new-school hip-hop dance. New-school hip-hop dances include street jazz, krumping, house, and Harlem shake (Ursej et al. 1). House dance involves rapid, complex footsteps coupled with fluid torso movements (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Krumping involves rapid-fire, expressive, and highly vigorous movements of the torso and limbs (Ojofeitimi, Shaw, and Woo 347). Street Jazz on the other hand involved a combination of various jazz dance moves, funk dance, and old-school hip-hop dance moves. These dances are more recent compared to breaking, popping, and locking since they are developed in daily spaces such as block parties, street dances, schoolyards, parks, and dance clubs.

There are various similarities and differences between old-school and new-school hip-hop dances. Perhaps the most important similarity is that both dances are linked to hip-hop music and are an integral part of hip-hop culture. Hip-hop dance, despite being old-school or new-school, is the physical embodiment of hip-hop music, just as the raps are the voice of the music (Rajakumar 14). Another similarity between the two versions of hip-hop dance is that they both value unstructured, improvisational, creative, and freestyle dances. Both old-school and new-school hip-hop dances are still founded on self-expression and therefore use lots of improvisation and creativity within their moves. While new-school hip-hop dances have evolved over the years as the music evolves, the dances are still founded on the same principles as old-school hip-hop dance. However, there are several differences between the two dancing styles.

While old-school hip-hop dance focuses primarily on improvisation and freestyling, new-school hip-hop dance involves more choreographic movements that are cooperated among a group of dancers. These dances are sometimes much simpler to follow since the choreographic movements are sometimes repetitive and involve simple feet or torso movement. Another key difference is that while both styles use funk dance moves, new-style primarily uses them, while old-school uses both funk and specific street styles. Since most of the old-school dance styles are borrowed from the funk and street dances, they are typically coupled with old-school funk, electronic, and hip-hop music. New-school hip-hop dances on the other hand are primarily done to the newer hip-hop music, typically produced in the 2000s and beyond.  However, new-school hip-hop dance borrows more from old-school hip-hop dance owing to the fact that it was developed as an adaptation to the new form of hip-hop music. Dance styles such as street jazz involve both old-school dances and funk dances that are accentuated by jazz dance styles.

Old-school hip-hop dances are also different from new-school dances based on where they are mostly seen. Old-school hip-hop dances are typically seen in dance battles and ciphers compared to new-school dances that are typically seen in choreography camps or dance classes. This could be owed to the fact that old-school dances typically happen in daily spaces and insist on improvisation and self-expression while new-school dances focus on synchronization and structure. Another difference between the two is the current popularity within the media. New-school hip-hop dances are very popular and mainstream compared to old-school hip-hop dances which can be considered still underground dances. This can be attributed to the emergence of the internet during the new-school hip-hop dance wave, which had led to its significant inclusion in platforms such as YouTube. The new-school trendsetters are more popular than poppers, lockers, and b-boys.

While there are various differences between the two types of hip-hop dances, they are still correlated at their foundation. Both dances are the physical embodiment of hip-hop music and reflect the times and situation of the persons engaged in hip-hop culture. Both versions seek to offer their audiences a form of self-expression.

Works Cited

González, Martha Rizzo. “Social trend of hip hop dance: as identity and cultural practices in youth.” American International Journal of Social Science 5.2 (2016): 61-71.

Lil Beatz Ltd. “Street Dance Styles: Popping and Locking.” 2019. https://www.lilbeatz.co.uk/popping-and-locking-street-dance-styles/

Ojofeitimi, Sheyi, Shaw Bronner, and H. Woo. “Injury incidence in hip hop dance.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 22.3 (2012): 347-355. Rajakumar, Mohanalakshmi. Hip hop dance. Abc-Clio, 2012. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=K15KI5FjqIcC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=hip-hop+dance+origins&ots=qMTuaBCaeP&sig=GE_E2UnGEz4SqcXXuDjbja_pVDA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Ursej, Eva, et al. “Investigating the prevalence and predictors of injury occurrence in competitive hip hop dancers: Prospective analysis.” International journal of environmental research and public health 16.17 (2019): 3214.

Uršej, Eva, and Petra Zaletel. “Injury occurrence in modern and hip-hop dancers: A systematic literature review.” Slovenian Journal of Public Health 59.3 (2020): 195-201. https://sciendo.com/es/article/10.2478/sjph-2020-0025