Why is Hip Hop so popular? One reason is that it relies upon the skills of the dancer. The dance is part style and tradition and part freestyle. The part that is traditional is what we will explain today.
Dance requires a lot of stamina, energy, training, and the physical power to perform these dances, but the payoff is excellent for your portfolio, physical health, and it is just plain fun!
Hip Hop burns a lot of calories and it is a great way of getting exercise and helping you lose fat while you build muscle.
Before you begin, you need to make sure you have the right dance gear. Never try to wear street shoes instead of dance sneakers. A shoe that sticks to the floor while you are moving can cause serious injury to your body and to the dance studio floor.
You need clothes that do not restrict you and allow your skin to breathe. Good dance gear is important and it doesn’t cost a lot to acquire it. You can order what you need online at Just For Kix.
The Harlem Shake
Based on a dance called Eskista, from East Africa, hip-hop gained global popularity in the 1980s. A lot of dancers call it “the drunken dance”. The Harlem Shake has no formal moves. The dancer uses their own style, creativity, and movements. There is no wrong way to do the Harlem Shake. There are too many variations of this dance to give you step-by-step instructions. However, if you click here, you can see the first original Harlem Shake styles. This is on a YouTube video from 1981.
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The Running Man
The Running Man takes a little practice. You will see it often in the hip-hop circles. It is a lot of fun to master and every hip-hop dancer will add this to their favorite dance styles.
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Start with your feet together and your arms hanging at your sides. Your starting position is on your side.
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Lift your left leg up high. You will bend your knee, forming a 90-degree angle. While you are doing this, bend your arms and lift them as if you are actually going to run. Close your fist.
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Push down and back with your left leg and lift your right leg following the same motions you did with the left. (bend the knee at a 90-degree angle)
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Push down your hands at the same time, relaxing them slightly but keeping a fist.
Floating
This is a dance that goes by many names, including:
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The float
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The glide
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Sliding
These are very basic moves that dancers are taught early on in their training.
The entire purpose to make it appear that there is no friction between the floor and the dancer’s shoes. When done properly, Floating creates the illusion that the dancer is walking on air.
The Robot
When the Robot gained popularity in the 1980s, it grabbed a place in hip-hop history. You just cannot be a hip-hop dancer and not do the Robot. You will see seasoned hip-hop dancers adding the robot to their dances. It is fun and great practice.
The robot is basically doing anything you would normally do, but in the motion as a robot would do it. It is a series of freeze, turns, and dime stops. You simply stand in a defined straightway and steps, turns, and movements are done with bending only the joints as much as possible. It doesn’t even have to be done in sync with the music. The robot is a dance that fits in with any hip-hop program.
Perhaps the best thing about adding hip-hop to your fitness plan is the variety it offers. There are so many ways to do it, you will never get bored. All you need is basic gear and a little drive.
