Street Dance: Origins and Main Styles

Street dance is a broad term for a dance style that blends many other styles, including house, locking, popping, new style, breakdance, electric boogaloo, crump, hip-hop, and others. Originally, street dance was created by African-American young men from poor neighborhoods in the US, who were fighting for their social status. Street dances replaced street fights.

The style as such became known to the world only in the 1970s. In the Bronx (New York), the main hip-hop venue was created, where street dance further developed. Sheets of hardboard were placed directly on the asphalt to create something like a mini-stage. Dancers took turns stepping into the center of the circle and performing dance moves, showing them to their friends.

Street dances are rich in acrobatic tricks, so no one was immune to injuries. However, as the dance style evolved, more experienced dancers took on teaching beginners, telling them about various nuances and warning them against falling while performing a particular trick.

Since the stage was right on the street, anyone passing by could stop and watch the dancers' performance. Many people watched this spectacle with caution, and indeed, street dance contains many risky elements.

In addition, street dance usually had an aggressive character because black people were often discriminated against and racial discrimination existed. Through dance, African Americans tried to express everything they had on their minds, and that's why their movements featured sharp transitions, sudden changes in tempo, unpredictable stops, and an impulsive nature overall.

The dances that had the greatest influence on street dance are:

• Krump. A powerful and aggressive style designed to tell the unfriendly world what you think of it. In this dance, emotions are not held back – fierce anger can switch to positivity and vice versa. Krump is characterized by jumps, fast speed, and abrupt movements. It is a dance that mimics a fight, but the philosophy of the dance is to channel aggressive energy into a peaceful direction, gaining energy and strength for further life.
• Breakdance. A dance originally performed during breaks at American club discos. The coolest guys, who had already honed their skills on street platforms, would step into the center of the club dance floor and perform various tricks. Improvisation gradually turned into a set of beautiful and recognizable elements.
• Hip-Hop. This is one of the most popular styles, whose dance moves can be seen in movies like 'Step Up', 'You Got Served', 'StreetDance', 'Heartbeats', 'Stomp the Yard', as well as in various television shows like 'Soul Train' and 'So You Think You Can Dance'. Hip-hop is characterized by improvisation based on dance moves from breakdance, locking, funk, and other similar styles.
• Crip Walk. An improvisational foot dance, known only in America until 2009. This style originated in Compton (Los Angeles) in the 1970s, like street dance. The C-Walk technique is quite interesting – it involves maintaining a 90° angle between the feet. The feet can move in all directions and at any pace. As for the dancers' attire, a gangster style is characteristic – sneakers, baggy pants, white t-shirts, and plaid shirts worn over t-shirts.

Street dance is considered a folk dance because it was created by ordinary people and watched by ordinary spectators. Both guys and girls can dance street dance. This dance helps a person loosen up and self-actualize. Today, you can master the technique of street dance in almost any dance studio in Russia.