Hip Hop Dance
Hip hop dance is a category of dance that refers to primarily to popping, locking and breaking and also the newer styles of hip hop choreography seen today.
There are many styles of hip hop dance, some with many moves some with only a few. There are different styles within a dance style also.
Also different dancers and choreographers have different styles and can look very different in the way they do and style things.
Hip hop dance styles do not have to be danced to hip hop music though it is common. Each dance style usually has a style of music it is typically danced to whether that is funk, breakbeat or hip-hop.
Hip hop dance today often refers to the choreographed hip hop routines you may see the backing dancers in music videos do, or that hip hop dance crews do.
There also exist dance crews and groups that do more than one style of hip hop in their performances and maybe even mix dance styles.
You need to have a good foundation in whatever style of hip hop dancing you are learning in order to execute it well. Each style of hip hop has not only its own moves, but also its own techniques.
For example popping technique involves the contraction and releasing of muscles, you will not see this in other dance styles, it is a technique used in popping and popping related styles.
Getting a good foundation in whatever style you learn allows you to perform it better especially as you go onto a more advanced level. It is as much about the style as it is the moves that you are doing.
Hip hop routines often have a high level of musicality with moves done to the beats of the music, so there is a strong relation between the music and the dancing in this style.
In order to get this right requires a good dancing ability and being a good listener as well as a good dancer. The movements are timed very precisely and are not necessarily always reliant on 8 counts like routines often are.
As well as dancing for pleasure or on stage to an audience, hip hop dance styles can also have a competitive nature. All the major hip hop dance styles have dance competitons, championships and battles around the world with the best dancers in each style taking part.