HIP HOP

•Hip hop is a conscious movement.

•It is a social-political movement
created in the late 70's.
 • Hip hop is a subculture and art
movement developed by African-
Americans and Latinos from the South
Bronx in New York City during the late
1970s.
• On August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc, a
building resident, was entertaining at
his sister’s back-to-school party, and
tried something new on the
turntable.
THE PILLARS
OF HIP HOP
 B G
R
M E D R
C’ A J’ A
K F
I D I F
N A N I
N
G C
G T
E I
 MC’ING
•MC’ing is the rhythmic spoken delivery
of rhymes and wordplay, delivered at
first without accompaniment and
later done over a beat.
 BREAKDANCE
•Hip-hop dance is not
a studio-derived
style.Street dancers
developed it in urban
neighborhoods
without a formal
process.
 DJ’ING
• DJ’ing and turntablism are
the techniques of
manipulating sounds and
creating music and beats
using two or
more phonograph turntables
and a DJ mixer that is
plugged into a PA system.
 GRAFFITI: STREET
ART
•They are writing or
drawings that have been
scribbled, scratched, or
painted illicitly on a wall
or other surface, often
within public view.
DANCE TERMS IN HIP HOP
• 8-Count
This is how we break
down and count music.
Most dances
choreographed to 8
counts at a time, or two 4-
count measures back to
back.
 BALL CHANGE

• A 2-step move where you transfer the weight of one foot

behind or by the other foot. You’re basically just stepping
twice. The kick ball change, as the name suggests, is when you
kick or scuff your foot before the ball change.
 Cypher
A cypher is where a group of dancers in
a circle and take turns dancing in the
BASS center. It could also be referred to as a
The lowest of the freestyle circle. The cypher, cipher, or
standard four voice ranges circle, has deep, long-standing cultural
(bass, tenor, alto, soprano), roots in hip hop culture, African tradition,
or, the lowest melodic line in and even religious beliefs.
a musical composition, that
supports the harmony.
Different instruments can
produce a bass sound
(drums, guitar..).Dancers
often use the
onomatopoeia “boom” to
describe a bass drum sound.
 DYNAMICS Focus Freestyle
Different types of Where you are Improvisational
execution of looking while you dancing that allows the
movement. dance. Common dancer to express their
Dynamics depend ones are: right, individual style (i.e. a
on how much and left, up, down, dance that is not pre-
fast your energy is planned). It’s the
distributed. and the “45”s
AKA the process of
Contrasts in
diagonals spontaneously creating
dynamics make a
piece look more between those movement that was not
“dynamic. sides. choreographed ahead
of time.
 Full Out
Dancing with 100% of your energy and performance.
Groups
This is when the class is divided into smaller sections, and each group
will take turns performing the piece as the other students watch.
Groups can get intimidating! But it’s also an integral part to your growth.
Push yourself outside of your comfort zone and just go for it!
Hi-Hat
A sound produced by a hi-hat cymbal. Dancers often describe this
sound as “tss tss~”
Holds
When you hold a move/pose and not move during a count.
 ISOLATION
When you isolate one part of your body without moving any other parts.

Levels
How high or low your body gets. Low levels require you to bend your knees,
or “plie.” High levels may involve getting on your toes in “releve.”Match levels
with the choreographer or other dancers by looking in the mirror to check you
are as low/high as everyone else.

Mark
Dancing a piece of choreography with less energy, usually for practicing
musicality, timing, and other tools. This allows you to be more conscious of the
music, timing, and where your body placements are rather than releasing your
bankai. The choreographer might use percentages to indicate how much
energy you should be putting into your mark. Example: “Let’s go just 50% for
this first run-through!” or “Mark it around 80%”.
 MILKING
When you extend movements throughout a portion of the piece or
music. At the end of a move, instead of “putting a period” on it and
ending it definitely by stopping the movement, think of it as a “…” –
like you’re dragging out that move.
Musicality
In dance, the matching of movement to the rhythm, sounds, and
mood of the music. “Dance musicality” is demonstrated in several
ways, depending on the dancer’s style, the song, and countless
other elements.
Lyrics
The words that the singer is singing to, often in sync with the
melody. The lyrics are probably the easiest to distinguish, but
hardest to count / dance to, since vocals don’t always match the
strict structure of 8-counts. Sometimes choreographers will make
moves that correlate with the lyrics, like miming actions or using
certain body parts, AKA wordplay.
 Plié
A smooth and continuous bending of the knees outward with the upper body held
upright.
Pictures
Think of pictures as literal pictures. If someone were to take a photo of you on the
count that you’re hitting a picture, then the clearer that photo turns out to be the
“cleaner” you are executing that picture.
Rhythm
The repetitive patterns within the music. It’s how we “count” our beats (see “8-
count”) and measure our movements.
Select Group
Students chosen by the choreographer to demonstrate the piece to the rest of the
class. The criteria for the selected dancers is solely up to the choreographer. Selected
dancers may have been really clean, not so clean but performed the crap out of it,
had a lot of personal style, or were just fun to watch. There are so many reasons you
can get chosen or not for a select group, so don’t overthink it!
 SNARE
The sharp, staccato drum sound you hear, like the sound you make when
you clap your hands. Dancers often describe as snare as “ka!”
Strings
The segment of music created by stringed instruments like guitars, violins, etc.
Guitar strums and melodies are also useful to take note of, for more
instrumental / acoustic songs.
Switching lines
When a class rotates from the front to back and vice versa to give everyone
a chance to be in the front. When the choreographer says to “switch lines” – if
you’re in the front of the room, then move to the back (and vice versa). This is
to ensure that everyone gets a fair chance at having a good view of the
choreographer throughout the class. It’d be a little selfish to stay in the front
the whole time, right?
 SYNTH
The sound from a sound synthesizer, is produced by electric signals converted to
sound through amps and loudspeakers. Common reference to a “synth” is the synth
piano, which may sound like a long slow bass like “wobba wobba”.

Tempo
The speed of the music. As you’re learning a piece, the choreographer will teach in
slow tempo, then speed it up to medium, and finally “tempo” – AKA the real-time
speed of the song.

Textures
“Textures are like dynamics and musical articulation in piano. They accentuate the
music and match the changes and flow of the song, as well as add performance
technique to a piece. Textures can be staccato, sharp, fast and direct to the point. Or
they can be legato, smooth, and flow with the melody. And textures all depend on
your interpretation on how you hear the music and wish to portray that to your viewer.
Dancers are physical interpretations of music and textures allow people to see the
music more clearly.”
 TRANSITIONS
In a performance set, these are the movements that are used to connect 2
different pieces. The music will change, and there will be dancers
“transitioning” on and off the stage or switching their position on stage.
Urban dance
Urban Dance is a style of dance, community, and lifestyle revolving
around choreographed pieces and performances by a dancer
or groups of dancers. Choreography is influenced by several different
dance styles, but is ultimately based on the choreographer’s own
interpretation of the music. A big part of the modern Urban Dance
culture stemmed from collegiate dance teams and competitions.
FUNDAMENTALS
Hip Hop
Fundamentals ref
er to the 4 pillars
of Hip Hop
Culture.
Originating in the
1970s in New York
City, they are:
Emceeing, DJing,
Graffiti, and
Breaking.
 FUNDAMENTAL / FOUNDATIONAL STYLES REFER TO
THE DIFFERENT DANCE STYLES DEVELOPED FROM HIP
HOP AND STREET AND FUNK STYLES INCLUDING:
BREAKING, POPPING, LOCKING, HOUSE, PUNKING /
WAACKING, VOGUEING, AND MORE.
BREAKING LOCKING POPPING

HOUSE Punking / Waacking Vogueing