Breakdance
Breakdancing , Breaking , B-Boying or B-Girling is a dance form originally danced on the street , which arose as part of the hip-hop movement among African-American youth in Manhattan and the southern Bronx in New York in the early 1970s. People dance to pop , funk or hip-hop . For many young people, B-Boying, as it was called in the 1970s and early 1980s, offered an alternative to the violence of the urban street gangs . Today break dancing demands a high level of discipline from the dancers , who often have to have athletic skills . Breakdance is now a globally widespread and recognized form of dance. The breakdance culture sees itself as free of boundaries of origin , gender or age.
History of origin
The beginnings
The roots of B-Boying (this is what breakdancing was originally called) go back to 1969. The prerequisite for the emergence of B-Boying was the socio-economic situation of the New York ghettos, which was characterized by crime. The dance was an interpretation of the tension and violence between urban street gangs . The forerunner of B-Boying was the Good Foot Style named after James Brown's hit Get on the good foot . The dancers let themselves fall to the floor, turn around and jump back up to the music. Another forerunner is jazz dance . The later name B-Boys for the dancers - and thus B-Boying for the dance - is said to go back to the then popular Kool DJ Herc in New York , who called the dancers B (for Break ) Boys because they were used for their special actions the instrumental breaks used by the DJs . Around 1976 the first dance groups formed, such as the Zulu Kings or the Rock Steady Crew . At this point in time, the battle gained importance as a competitive format in B-Boying . In a battle , two groups compete to dance against each other. The battle later became an integral part of B-Boying .
B-Boying becomes public
The first photos and thus the first documents about B-Boying were taken in January 1980 by the photographer Martha Cooper . In this context, Sally Banes published the newspaper article Physical Graffiti: Breaking Is Hard to Do in The Village Voice on April 23, 1981 . She wrote the first article about B-Boying . In 1983, B-Boying was introduced to the general public with the film Flashdance, which made it famous all over the world within a very short time. In Europe and Germany, B-Boying was best known for the 1984 film Beat Street .
Breakdance fashion wave
In order to make the phenomenon of B-Boying more accessible to the general public , the media referred to the dance as breakdancing . Niels Robitzky writes in his autobiography: Most of the […] names to which we ascribe the hip hop elements today do not come from people from the culture itself, but were created by the media in order to be able to market the culture better. So writing was turned into graffiti, MCing into rapping and B-boying into breakdancing - not exactly with the consent of the artists themselves . Within the scene, people still speak of B-Boying or B-Girling in order to emphasize the origins of the dance and to distance oneself from the term breakdance coined by the media . The fact that the dance was also shown in the media by non-professional dancers (e.g. Eisi Gulp in his program Breakdance - join in, stay fit ) meant that breakdancing was perceived by the public as a dance consisting mainly of tricks . In 1986 the fashion wave finally ended. So it came about that until 1990, when the Battle of the Year was founded by Thomas Hergenrother, there was no more talk of breakdancing or B-Boying .
1990 until today
From 1990 onwards, breakdancing became increasingly important again, so that today there are dancers in every country in the world. Especially in South Korea, but also in other countries, it is possible to make a living through dance.
The different dance styles
The dances B-Boying , Locking , Popping and Electric Boogie are now incorrectly summarized as breakdance . In the true sense of the word, breakdancing is just a synonym for B-boying .
B-boying
The inventor of B-boying is unknown. The dance is probably not attributable to a single person. The place of origin of the dance is New York. In its development, the dance was largely influenced by rocking , various James Brown dance steps, floor exercise and the kung fu films that were popular at the time. The essential elements of B-Boying include
- Top Rocking (dancing while standing),
- Footworks (dancing on the floor),
- Freezes (remaining in as impressive a position as possible) and
- Powermoves (rotating on a part of the body or along a body axis).
Footworks and freezes are often grouped together as styles . During the fashion wave in the 1980s, there was also the robot dance, in which one moved (as possible) robotically.
The following aspects are examined for the interpretation of the dance:
- originality
- execution
- Body language
- Dealing with the music.
Locking
Don Campbell is considered to be the inventor of locking , which is why the dance was also called Campbell-Lock when it began. The dance originated in Los Angeles in the early 1970s . Locking is characterized by wild gestures that come close to imitating the movements of marionette or cartoon characters.
Popping
Boogaloo Sam is considered the inventor of popping . The dance originated in Fresno in the early 1970s . Popping is characterized by short and impulsive movements (so-called pops ), which make the dancer appear mechanical depending on the execution.
Electric boogie
"Boogaloo Sam" is considered to be the inventor of the Electric Boogaloo, or Electric Boogie for short . The dance was created between 1977 and 1978 in Fresno . Electric Boogie is a fusion of Locking, Popping and the Boogaloo Style , which was also invented by "Boogaloo Sam" in 1975. The "illusionistic elements" of Electric Boogie, which were particularly popular in the early 1980s, were borrowed from classic style mimes from the Marcel Marceau school , according to Die Staircase , The Blind One or The March Against the Wind (to which Michael Jackson's Moonwalk goes back, for example ). This step is actually known as backslide and was developed by the California based crew "The Electric Boogaloos".
Elements of B-Boying
Top rocking
Top rocking generally describes dancing while standing. A related form is Brooklyn Rocking / Battle Rocking (origin in Brooklyn , NY): Here you “fight” the opponent with (often provocative) gestures.
Uprocking
Uprocking results from three aggressive movements against the opponent. The movements are freely chosen and always end on the ground. Uprocking takes you straight from a top rock (dancing while standing) to the footworks.
Footworks
Footworks or downrocking are dance steps ( moves ) on the floor.
- Six-Step is the basic step for footworks and therefore an essential element for every style set. Variations are the less common “four-steps” and “eight-steps”.
- Styles are combinations of footworks and freezes . Depending on your preference, you can do without freezes. The most important thing about a style is the originality of the set and the style with which it is danced.
- Legrider - rotation around your own axis on one leg or knee.
Freezes
Freezes are poses that the dancer assumes by pausing briefly in the movement and thereby making a figure that looks as impressive as possible. This concludes his sequence of dance steps (set) or emphasizes certain sections in the music.
- Baby Freeze / Turntable Position - The basic freeze. The dancer stands horizontally with one hand on the floor. The elbow of the standing hand is in the pelvic area.
- Air chair - Like Baby Freeze, only the elbow is on the back. One of the most difficult and aesthetic of the freezes because of the high degree of flexibility.
- Air Freezes - The Air Freeze is basically a handstand on one arm. The body position can vary. E.g. the back can point to the floor, but also the side. An air freeze that is kept particularly horizontal is also called a flag .
- Hollowback: A handstand that tries to bring your legs down behind your back as far as possible. In other words: a bridge with your feet off the ground.
Power moves
Power moves are acrobatic elements that usually - but not necessarily - include rotations around any axis. The most important are:
- Backspin - The first power move ever (before only top and down rocks existed). In principle also the simplest. You turn on your back.
- Head Spin - rotating on the head.
- Swipes - you stand on your hands and legs on the floor with your back down and jump around your body axis, whereby the leg that gets the momentum never touches the floor.
- Airtwist, twist or airflare - is a full turn around your own body axis. You stand in an inclined handstand and jump one turn in the air to land on your hands again. A variation of the airtwist is the elbow track or elbow twist, where the same movement is made on the elbow instead of the hand.
- Ninety Niners - a rotation on one hand in a one-handed handstand
- Two Thousand - like Ninety Niners, except that you turn on both hands exactly under your head.
- Turtle - The dancer is in the turntable position and rotates his body by switching from arm to arm.
- Windmills - Lying rotation around its own axis while the open legs do not touch the ground. The twist is done on the shoulders and upper back.
- Flare - is the same movement as flanks in gymnastics. The spread legs circle around the dancer, who is holding himself on his hands, in a curved manner.
The weighting of the elements is left to the artist. However, the jury of the “Battle of the Year” has guidelines for this.
Breakdance competitions
In so-called breakdance battles, individual dancers or entire teams compete against each other in order to prove their skills. In alternating order, you have to outdo the opposing opponent with your own performance. There are rules of conduct during the competition. So z. B. deliberately touching the opponent in most cases to disqualify the dancer. In organized competitions, a judging panel decides on the winner, which mostly consists of former dancers. International and national competitions are enjoying increasing popularity, especially the worldwide BOTY. Often in combination with other elements of hip-hop, such as B. Rap or graffiti , organizes outdoor events that attract large crowds.
Battle of the Year
The largest international breakdance competition in the world is the Battle of the Year , or BOTY for short . It is held every year in Braunschweig with teams from all over the world. More attention is paid to the show of a group. In this sense, the BOTY is not a normal breakdance competition, as all groups show a show and only the four crews in the first row battle each other. To the BOTY International , there are preliminaries, which are carried out worldwide and are also organized by BOTY team in Germany. The winners of these preliminary decisions then travel to BOTY International in Germany, with financial compensation for travel expenses .
IBE
The IBE (International Breakdance Event) has grown into one of the most important international battles. The IBE, which takes place annually in Rotterdam , manages like no other event that the world's best dancers from all over the world dance together in a great atmosphere. Mostly the dancers are divided into groups, e.g. B. "US BBoys" or "Korean BBoys". The IBE is particularly characterized by its relaxed character. In 2006 the event paused for 2 years. It has been taking place in Heerlen in Limburg since 2008 , including in August 2013.
FloorWars and FloorWars Germany
The FloorWars is an international battle in Denmark. B-boys from all over the world gather here. FloorWars Germany is an official preliminary decision for the event in Copenhagen. Crews from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are admitted. The event takes place every year in January or February. The event is organized by an association in Cologne. The organization is not interested in financial profit, but has set itself the goal of an intercultural get-together of the breakers. The focus is on a mutual get-together among friends.
Youth Olympic Games 2018
The organizational team of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games decided together with the IOC that breakdance would be part of the program for the Games in Buenos Aires . A competition in the breaking category will be held for this, with 12 athletes of each gender. In addition to a competition for women and one for men, there is also a mixed competition.
Enter the Circle
Enter The Circle was founded in Kiel in 1998 and is one of the oldest jams and the largest b-boy battle in northern Germany. The event takes place twice a year (Kiel and Hamburg).
More competitions
Other breakdance competitions include Freestyle Session , Mighty 4, Redbull Beat Battle , Redbull BC One , B-Boy Summit , UK B-Boy Championships , and World B-Boy Championships , as well as the R-16 in Korea. In addition, the International Dance Organization regularly organizes breakdance tournaments. Especially in the USA there are often very large outdoor events.
See also
literature
- Eva Kimminich: HipHop B-Boys dance and body images. In: Richard, Birgit / Krüger, Heinz-Hermann (ed.): Inter_cool 3.0. Young people's image and media worlds. A compendium on current youth culture research. Munich: Fink Verlag 2010, pp. 81–97.
- Eva Kimminich: Dance styles of hip-hop culture. Movement cult and body communication (PDF; 376 kB) text from 3sat accompanying a DVD (2003). Contains u. a. a "small encyclopedia of power moves".
- Niels Robitzky ( Storm ): From swipe to storm breakdance in Germany , gives not only tips but also insights into the life of a B-boy.
- Dorit Rode: Breaking. Popping. Locking. Dance forms of hip-hop culture. Marburg 2002.
- Nicolaus Schmidt (artist) , Breakin 'the City , Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86678-453-6 . Current photo documentation and texts about breakdancers in New York City.
Web links
- Brenson Lee: Planet B-Boy , video documentary about the B-Boy culture.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Brenson Lee: Planet B-Boy Video Documentation about the B-Boy culture.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Eva Kimminich: Dance styles of hip-hop culture. Movement cult and body communication (PDF; 376 kB) text from 3sat accompanying a DVD (2003). Contains u. a. a "small encyclopedia of power moves".
- ↑ a b c https://www.msu.edu/~okumurak/styles/breaking.html
- ↑ a b c d e f Niels Robitzky (Storm): From Swipe to Storm-Breakdance in Germany Ggbt not only tips but also insights into the life of a B-Boy .
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated September 2, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Publications Site thenotoriousibe.com
- ↑ Article on olympic.org. August 31, 2018, accessed September 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Enter the Circle - Official Facebook Page. Retrieved December 12, 2019 .
