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April Rodriguez: Hip Hop vs. Urban Choreography

Link to Article Here you

And here for those of you who don’t want to sign into facebook.

An interesting article, worth reading to anyone interested in the Hip Hop, choreography, the evolution of the culture and all that stuff. It’s a facebook note and I looked at the tag list and it was amazing. Lando, Elm, Mike Song, Gigi, Kyle Hanagami to name a few. Especially, as we grow in Hip Hop, it’s important to examine where we stand and what we’re actually doing as a group.

October 28, 2009 - Posted by dreamstatecheung | Other | | 4 Comments

4 Comments »

  1. Okay, so my thoughts. First, I’m no expert on Hip Hop so when I make claims, it’s based on my limited understanding. To get technical, Hip Hop is 4 elements, graffing, scratching, rapping, and bboying. House, popping, locking, those are all funk styles and technically not a part of hip hop. But then there are classic hip hop dance moves that people came up with. But then does that mean there is a choreography element as well? I know that all the old school hip hoppers say that a major element of Hip Hop is freestyle, which they differentiate from “Studio Hop” that is studio learning hip hop that only teaches set moves. But then freestyling means you can’t just do the same moves. We come up with moves within the boundaries of the style and that becomes freestyle.

    If you watch 80’s breakdancing, the only thing people do was the 6 step, windmills, flares and backspins. No one ever heard of halos, darkhammers, air flares, etc. But the style evolved and now all those are indisputably a part of bboying. Nowadays, popping and locking are so closely tied with hip hop that many people don’t realize their funk roots. They seem synonymous with hip hop, but technically they’re not part of it.

    I read an article where Mr. Wiggles was saying it doesn’t make sense that people do hip hop dance to pop music and stuff that’s basically not hip hop. Is that really hip hop then if it’s not to the music? I guess I pose the question, what then do we consider Hip Hop dance? I don’t really have answers, but these are just my musings.

    Comment by dreamstatecheung | October 29, 2009 |

  2. First off, I am only a bboy and I have little passion for choreography, so keep that in mind when considering my opinion. However, I do respect all (most*) dancers and their styles.

    While dances do evolve over time (apply the Schrodinger equation roffle), they all have roots that define their static traits, largely defined by the type of music that inspired the dance. Popping, locking, house are not hip hop simply because they did not come from hip hop music. I consider breaking hip hop solely because of the type of music that inspired it (old school breaks/hip hop). However, modern day urban dance is inspired by this modern hip hop (ever see a choreography done to the UMC’s?), so I argue that while they are both ‘hip hop’, the evolution of hip hop music used in the two dances has diverged. I would consider breaking to be hip hop while urban choreography (unless done to old school breaks/hip hop) to be, for a lack of a better term, hip pop, or modern hip hop.

    It’s almost a coincidence that bboys and urban chreographers both dance to ‘hip hop’, because the types of hip hop music used in both dances is completely different. I can’t break to modern hip hop and old school breaks/hip hop aren’t the music of choice for urban choreographers. Bottom line is, the music defines the dance, the dance does not define the music.

    Comment by direntropy | October 29, 2009 |

  3. Hey ReFresh dance :)

    Thanks for linking my post! I really appreciate it and am glad you found it interesting.

    Glad I came across your blog. It’s always coo to find others who share a passion for dance… even though we might be from a different scene. Keep the positivity and spread the love <33

    Looking forward to other posts :D

    Comment by Apes | November 2, 2009 |

  4. Thanks for the message April and the article. I think it makes a lot of interesting points.

    Comment by joefasho | November 3, 2009 |


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