How to b boying dance
How To Bboy: The Complete Beginner Guide | by BreakDance Decoded
You are confused right?
You watched a few videos of those athletic guys busting out moves after moves on YouTube — and you’re all fired up now.
You really, really want to pick up this dance known as bboying. You want to learn how to bboy.
The problem?
You don’t even know where to start.
A quick search on YouTube gave you hundreds of tutorials and playlists.
But you’re a complete beginner.
Where should you begin? What should you start with? What do you need to prepare before you begin learning?
Are you even strong enough?
Questions, questions, questions.
You see…
I have received questions like these countless of times. And despite being asked so many times, there was no definitive resource I could point someone to to kickstart their bboy journey.
Until now.
I’ve put together a complete beginner’s guide (broken down into multiple sections) that will guide you EXACTLY on how to start.
It is what I call the “Ultimate List of Bboying Tutorials”. It contains every resource or tutorial that I think is good enough to teach you the basics of breaking.
After going through all these tutorials, you can pat your back, start practicing, start creating and becoming good.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Before we even begin on what to learn in bboying, you need to be part of the culture.
Do you know what is the easiest way to be part of a culture?
Learning the terms and vocabulary.
Being able to identify yourself as a bboy, and use the correct language at the right time welcomes you to the family of hip hop. After going through the resources below, you’ll be able to hi-5 any bboy and communicate with them in bboy lingo.
Bboy Sign Language: A Guide to Battle Gestures
Guide to the 25 Most Popular Powermoves And Their Names
Break Terminology 101
It’s Breakin, not Bboying/Bgirling
List of All Hip Hop Terms
Concept of Biting
PoeOne Explains Importance of Sweep
What’s next after you’ve learnt the language of the dance? You have to immerse yourself into the culture.
Not the moves, not the terminology, not the fashion.
But the knowledge that is deep inside your head.
Only by understanding the culture and attaining the knowledge of hip hop will make you a true bboy.
What is Bboying?
The Roots of Bboying
History of Breakdance
History
You’re already impatient, aren’t you?
3 chapters in and I haven’t even touched on a single move.
Yet.
That’s because the fundamentals of breaking isn’t the moves.
The fundamentals of bboying is the music. And that’s true for any dance.
Without music, there can be no dance. No physical expression. No artistry.
To learn the dance, you need to learn the music. Learn what is old, what is classic and what is new and modern.
And enjoy your time grooving and jiving to it.
157 Bboy Tracks You Must Listen To Before You Die
This Playlist of Bboy Songs Will Make You Move Your Feet
Strife Mixtapes
Stance Mixtapes
DJ Lean Rock
DJ B Ryan
DJ Nobunaga
DJ Four Eyez
DJ Fleg
DJ Jebel
We’ve finally reached the first lesson, the first movement of the dance.
The Toprock.
The Toprock is the upright portion of the dance. It’s where you step to the beat, play with your hands and just enjoy being groovy and cool.
The Rock
Cross Step
Indian Step
Salsa Step
6 Point Toprock
B.yu Video Series on Toprock Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Toprock Tips
Ynot’s Toprock Workshop
Before you can get into your footwork, you have to do what we call a transition.
A transition is some move or movement you do to change from levels to levels (e.g from toprock to footwork).
A get down (also known as a go down or a drop) is a method of transiting from your top rocks to your footwork.
Here are a few examples of the commonly used get downs you must know to change from the top level to the footwork level.
Coffee Grinder Get Down Tutorial
Knee Drop Tutorial
Cork Screw Tutorial
Indian Step Get Down
30 Drops in 60 Seconds
Powermove Entrances
The footwork is mainly what differentiates us from other dances and sports.
Let’s be honest.
We are quite possibly the only dance in the world to have developed such sophisticated movements at this level.
The footwork is what it describes — doing moves using your legs and arms and creating patterns of movements that are unique to yourself and breaking.
Watch to see what I mean here:
How to Choose Your First Footwork Direction
Basic Footwork Mechanics
Keebz — Steps 1–6
How to Coffee Grinder
How to 2 Step
How to 3 Step
How to 6-Step
7 Conditioning Exercises To Improve Your Footwork
How to Instantly Improve Your Footwork
What is a freeze? A freeze is what it implies — you act like you are frozen.
It serves like a punctuation in your dance. Imagine the various moves and movements like the words in a sentence and the freeze a full stop.
That’s how a freeze is.
Sharp, and locked tight to (usually) signify the end of something.
How to Baby Freeze
How to Turtle Freeze
How to Chair Freeze
How to Shoulder Freeze
8 Freeze Conditioning Exercises
How to Make Your Freeze Sharp
This is the part you’re probably most excited about.
It is the most physically challenging — and rewarding part of the dance. Many of the moves here require you to practice harder than you thought you ever would, as well as get the particular technique right.
It is not surprising to see people take a few months to learn any one of these moves.
But do not be disheartened — because the rewards will be well worth it.
How to Swipe
3 Swipe Mistakes
How to Windmill
3 Windmill Mistakes
How to Flare
How to Backspin
How to Cricket
How to Halo
Remember I mentioned that transitions are ways for you to get from one level to the other? They are also ways to get from one move to another.
In fact, you can count them as moves on their own.
And here are some common transitions used by bboys (some bordering on difficult) to get from moves to moves.
How to Kip Up
How to Valdez
How to Grub
How to Backspin Kick Up
How to Coin Drop
You’ve finally reached the last chapter of the complete beginner guide to bboying.
By now, you should have a clear idea of what the fundamentals of bboying are — and where you should start.
And if you’ve been diligent, you would have already been practicing the moves listed above.
Once you get your fundamentals down pat, you are ready to develop it a step further — and create your own moves.
You do this by employing creativity.
Employing what we call concepts or mental models that you can apply to change up your dance and to switch up your moves.
And where can you get these concepts?
You can either 1) think of it yourself or 2) use concepts that have already been used by other bboys.
And here, you can choose from a variety of videos where some bboys have willingly shared their most ingenious concepts with you.
Concepts for Breaking
How to Flip a Dance Move and Not Bite
3 Original Ways to Create Moves and Movements
Roxrite’s Bboy Concepts
Korean Footwork Dictionary: Penny | Rhythm Gate | 2Touch | TinoRoc | Fleta | Knukl
Leveraging Concepts
How’s that for a guide?
Now, you no longer have any excuse to not know where to start.
Just follow through the Chapters, consume the knowledge and practice everything inside.
And you’ll be well on your way to learn how to bboy.
Peace,
Erin
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Originally published at breakdancedecoded.com on November 30, 2016.
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what is happening with street dancing in Russia and the world: Music: Culture: Lenta.
ru The results of the first ever Red Bull Dance Your Style, a street dance competition that brought together participants from different parts of the globe, from Cuba to Kazakhstan, were summed up in Paris . Here the judges were replaced by spectators, and the tradition of competing within the same discipline was replaced by a crazy mix of hip-hop, house, crump, locking and other modern styles. Lenta.ru tells how the international contest went and what industry representatives think about dancing in France, Russia and around the world.
Grand Al is a former cattle market that has turned into a real cultural center, symbolically adjacent to the State Higher Conservatory of Music and Dance. On Saturday evening, the vast territory of the site accommodated not only contestants from different countries, but also numerous spectators.
Everyone got a bracelet to, like Neo from The Matrix, make a difficult choice between red and blue. Fortunately, the choice was not between painful reality and blissful illusion, but between the participants of the battle, who made a long way to the Grand Al hall, which included a year of qualifying rounds, 65 events and 29countries.
And although the dancers whose professional range consists of a wide variety of directions made it to the final, they had to adapt their skills to a motley, but easily recognizable playlist. We had to adapt to the pop club bangers from LMFAO and Macklemore, and to Freestyler and Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) that sounded at all discotheques of the late 90s, and even to the measured ballads of Ed Sheeran.
Vladimir Gudym is a participant from Russia. In the dance party, he is known simply as Vovan. As a rival, he got the expressive Belgian Delanotce, skillfully mixing ferocious energy and soft artistry. After a draw and the third round, Vovan dropped out of the competition, but left the stage with an unchanging smile. Known as a choreographer on the TNT “Dancing” project, Gudym himself prefers locking, while noting that breaking has become perhaps the most developed style in his native country - b-boys have been working hard on its development for a long time, but they are on their heels krampers come.
“Our rampers are recognized all over the world, they drive in all countries: in Asia, and in America, and in Brazil. In short, everywhere,” notes Vovan. According to his observations, in general, over the past ten years in Russia there has been a noticeable surge of interest in street dance: “Dancers began to travel abroad, look at other dancers from other countries, study, take master classes and gain new knowledge. Accordingly, the quantity and quality are improving.” When it comes to funding, b-boys still hold the upper hand, while the rest of the street styles, according to Gudym, are not in such a privileged position:
“Of course, there are some festivals and some kind of support, but it hasn't reached a new level yet. I communicate with a lot of people, and everyone always rests on the fact that you can bring someone, you can pay for it through master classes, but in general, do everything with high quality, on a good site, with a good prize, with class judges, light and sound is very difficult.
This needs money."
Despite financial difficulties, Gudym believes that many quite successfully earn money in this business, not particularly understanding the intricacies: “Sometimes I stumble across social networks on people who have a huge number of subscribers. I don't know them, they never shone in any dance party. Just people from somewhere else who have promoted Instagram well. In terms of dance level, they may not be up to par, but in terms of popularity and earnings, they can be quite powerful. ”
Vovan himself launched many projects in Russia, including Locking Up, a locking festival created with his wife Anna, which has become one of the largest in Europe. “I did all my projects myself. I am extremely bad at organizing negotiations with some government agencies and companies in order to beg for money. It's easier for me to figure out how to pay for it myself. Or not to pay back, but to go into the red, but to realize the idea. If it works, I will rejoice, ”the dancer shares.
As the most significant project for the whole of Russia, he calls the TNT show, which gave the world the phrase-meme: “Congratulations, you are dancing” and made you believe that choreography can be not just a form of leisure, but also a career: “Now people relate to dancing much more serious than before. Partly because of this project, because it allows you to fully experience the industry for yourself. That is, people already see the difference when an amateur and a professional come. Not only through emotion, but also through technique.”
An impressive track record dancer and curator of Red Bull Dance Your Style, Bruce Ekanji seems to have a different opinion about how seriously people take his life's work: “For many, dancing is not a job. For example, when you say you're a dancer, people are like, "OK, what is your job?" I am dancer! And they continue: "I understand, what is your profession?" But the situation is improving. Slowly but surely".
Bruce Ekanji
Photo: @littleshao / @bruceykanji
In France, Bruce is one of the iconic figures of street dance.
It was thanks to him that Juste Debout appeared in the country 18 years ago - a large-scale contest, which the founder of the event himself prefers to call not a fierce dance battle, but a meeting of professionals (Ekanzhi regularly reminds that battles are not a competition, but a way to improve one's skills). And although in France street dancing is almost a cult, the choreographer notes that extra sponsors will not interfere with the movement:
“We don't have many partners yet, because people still think that street dancing is something from the ghetto. We need more powerful partners: brands, companies, organizations.” At the same time, Ekanji emphasizes that a powerful surge of interest in dancing is a trend that is not unique to Russia: “In France, we have many platforms like Red Bull Dance Your Style or Juste Debout. It's great to see the success of dancing and realize that those who do it are real artists. We've done a great job, all of us. In Europe, in Russia, in Asia, in America, together we are slowly working on the evolution of street styles.
I was in China a couple of months ago - it's crazy there. There street dance is gaining momentum. They used to try rapping, but it turned out to be too much politics, and they decided to take up street dancing, because it is also a way of self-expression, a way to build a connection between the young and the older generation. This is a global trend. Some come to me at Juste Debout, and it turns out that they, for example, worked as bankers, doctors, lawyers. When asked what styles are most popular in his native France, he unequivocally answers: “Hip-hop, popping and breaking. I'm sorry, I just had to say those three words because they're statistics. The French win battles in these categories.”
When Bruce Yekanzhi and I walk past Vova Gudyma, he immediately runs up to shake hands, and after a short but extremely friendly conversation continues: “You Russians work so hard. I was at a dance camp in your country, and people came there who trained all three days. From 10 am to 10 pm they danced non-stop.
This is what I like about dancers from Russia, you really do your best.”
Bruce, who celebrated his 43rd birthday this year, does not slow down himself: combining teaching and solving organizational issues, he is very strict about the work processes in Juste Debout and even manages to scold beginners for weak motivation. I want to grumble like an old man, although I am already a little like that, but the younger generation does not want to work anymore. They want quick success, to make things easier,” he says.
However, the words of the experienced choreographer were not confirmed in the final of the competition. The winner of the Red Bull Dance Your Style competition is 17-year-old Shinshan from the Netherlands, the youngest of 16 contestants to become famous after Holland's Got Talent. He outperformed Yana Vankova, a master of krump and popping from the Czech Republic, the winner of Gudym Delanotce, and Bogdan the Flava, a contestant from Kazakhstan bursting with positive energy.
As a result, the audience preferred the Dutchman to the technical American Angyil, and the winner admitted that he did not expect such a "surreal" success at all. He attributed his triumph to the ability to move like a "Cuban snake": "I am plastic, but at the same time rhythmic and static."
After Shinshan slightly shyly thanked his mother, brother, and everyone involved in his victory, and then left the main stage, the level of fun at the Grand Al site did not decrease. The participants of the battle and the visitors of the event went to the afterparty, where they performed virtuoso dances for four hours, erasing the boundaries of styles and accelerating from spectacular robot dance to playful and incendiary vogue. The dancers were sweating, hugging and applauding each other endlessly, completely forgetting about the competition that had unfolded a few hours before. In some ways, Bruce Ekanji turned out to be unconditionally right: dancing can really bring joy, happiness and, most importantly, a sense of unity.
The history of breaking (breakdance) — GOOD FOOT dance studio in Nizhny Novgorod
B-boying originated in the Bronx, in one of the districts of New York. The very term B-boy or B-boying was coined by dj Kool Herc, who often played records at various street parties. The word B-boys means Break boys - guys dancing to broken rhythms of music (hence, by the way, the name Breakbeat came from). Some novice dancers used to get hung up on individual elements and tried to work within the framework of a single direction. Many believed that this was not entirely correct, since a real B-boy should be able to do everything. The first to stand out from the crowd and demonstrate their individuality was the Rock Steady Crew, which united all directions and managed to give each dance element its own special distinctive feature.
A new generation of b-boys brings breaking to life. And first of all, this is the merit of Puerto Ricans, who were able to re-seed the hip-hop dance culture and push breaking to a higher level.
They began to use more acrobatic tricks in the dance and worked hard to invent new dance elements. For example, the well-known B-boy named Crazy Legs from the Rock Steady Crew team once invented and introduced elements such as backspins and windmills to the masses. Movies with the participation of martial arts stars, such as Bruce Lee, have greatly influenced the process of updating B-boy culture. Some dancers tried to use elements of kung fu in their movements, since films in which narrow-eyed guys waved their arms and legs rather quickly were very popular in New York in the mid-seventies. By the way, such a dance element as windmills was born thanks to the style of kung fu and allowed a person to abruptly tear off the torso from the floor in a jump.
Breaking, in other words b-boying, is very different from other forms of dance. One could even say that it is a progressive development of previous dance forms.
In New York in the 50s and 60s. there was a large influx of immigrants.
Everyone brought some part of their own into the dance, like, for example, the Africans, who brought rhythm into the dance. The influence of African dance on breaking is obvious, not only because of the "circle dance". Also, the expression b-boing (b-boing) can be borrowed from the African word Boioing, which means "Hop (dancing), jump (jump)".
Breaking, originally known as Rocking, is a progressive development of the Good Foot dance style. Young dancers went out to the dance floor and "broke" ordinary movements to the beat of the broken beats of the record. In its early days, b-boying consisted of Toprocks, Floorrocks and Freezes - spins had not yet been introduced. As "dance battles" took hold at the time and breaking became a part of hip-hop culture ("fight with creativity, not with weapons"), it increasingly forced dancers to use their imagination to perform all sorts of battle stunts. . The main goal in the battles was to beat the enemy with more ingenuity of all kinds of friezes and movements and the execution of fast and clear runs.
This circumstance also explains the fact that those people who united in teams and generally danced together developed their own style in order to resist other teams."
The first b-boy team was called The Nigga Twins and they pioneered the b-boy movement with the Zulu Kings, The Seven Deadly Sinners, Shanghai Brothers, The Bronx Boys, Rockwell Association, etc. After some years of development of this dance in the mid-70s. there were people with considerable experience in dance. They were considered kings: Robbie Rob (Zulu Kings), Vinnie, Off (Salsoul), Bos (Starchild La Rock), Willie Wil, Lil' Carlos (Rockwell Association), Spy, Shorty, (Crazy Commanders), James Bond, Larry Lar , Charlie Rock (KC Crew), Spidey, Walter (Master Plan) and more!
In the 80s such teams as Rock Steady Crew, NYC Breakers, Dynamic Rockers, United States Breakers, Crazy Breakers, Floor Lords, Floor Masters, Incredible Breakers, etc. appeared in New York. At the time, a big rivalry was between the RSC and NYC Breakers, and between the RSC and the Dynamic Rockers.
Battles between these teams in the early 80s attracted the media.
The 81st RSC show was shown by ABC at Lincoln Center.
The 82nd battle between the RSC and the Dynamic Rockers was taped for the documentary "Style Wars".
In 1983, the movie "Flashdance" and the video clip of Malcolm McLarens "Buffalo Gals" appeared on the screens. RSC played a major role in both productions, and were shown around the world due to the huge success of both the film and the video. For many, the break was then something new, something that had never happened before, something that no one had ever seen before, something that was really spectacular and exciting.
In the same year the film "Wild Style" was released, and in support of this film there was a tour, which was the first international tour of hip hop culture - MC, DJ, writers and b-boys went to Paris and London - and this was the first the time breaking was seen "live" in Europe.
'84 saw the release of Beat Street, which also featured Rock Steady, NYC Breakers and Magnificent Force, and over a hundred b-boys and b-girls put on a spectacular show at the closing ceremony of the LA Olympic Summer Games.
