Toprock & Downrock

There are four basic elements that form the foundation of Breakdancing. These are toprock, down rock (also known as footwork), freezes, and power moves. The most basic moves are Toprocks and Downrocks. Toprock refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position, relying upon a mixture of coordination, flexibility, style, and rhythm. It is usually the first and foremost opening display of style, and it serves as a warm-up for transitions into more acrobatic maneuvers. This is the entry dance that B-boys and B-girls use to start their set. These steps are done before you do a power set or before you go down to the floor. This is the breaker's chance to show how well he or she can rock the beat and/or make gestures to intimidate their opponent. The object is to make a connection with the song either by gesturing on a horn or rhythm section while your feet usually step on the "snare" of the drum/beat section. Its style is obvious to anyone watching, because it is incredibly unorthodox looking. Breakdancer take pride in having unique toprock that still stays within the definition of what toprock actually is. Downrock includes all footwork performed on the floor as in the 6-step, a six step combination of different, repeating moves. The foundational move of downrock is the 6-step. Downrock is normally performed with the hands and feet on the floor. In downrock, the breakdancer displays his or her proficiency with foot speed and control by performing fairly complex footwork combinations. These combinations then usually transition into more athletic moves known as power moves, which are actions that require momentum and physical power to execute. The rest of the dance is founded around these two elements. Dancers usually begin by toprocking, and then continue by going down to the floor and performing a 6-step or 4-step.

The Making Of The Crew

According to "History of Breakdance", Among those for whom old-style Breaking was especially popular were many of the youths and street gangs that roamed the South Bronx. And it was in those streets that Breakdancing really started. Often, the best Breakers in opposing gangs would battle dancewise instead of fighting. They would battle over turf. Or because someone stepped on someone else's shoes. They might battle prove that their gang was better than the other gang. Sometimes they would make a contract that the loser would not go around to the winner's neighborhood anymore. Sometimes they battled just to gain each other's respect. Unfortunately, these Breaking battles did not always stop fight. In fact, they often would cause a fight, since dancers would sometimes get physical when they couldn't win dancewise.No one likes to lose. But today Breaking battles have, to a large extent, replaced fighting in the Bronx.

In this way Breakdancing crews-groups of dancers who practice and preform together-were formed. And soon formal crews organized, who not only practiced and preformed together, but who also developed their own dance routines. Some of these crews became very dedicated to their dancing, and since they had nothing better to do, they would spend hours a day praticing, developing more and more complex moves, improving their form, and increasing their speed. And then Afrika bambaataa came along. Bambaataa is the legendary grand master D.J. who is the individual most responsible for the successful growth of Breakdancing.

Crews were started because of street gangs battling each others and it became formalize. They started the first breakdance crew and breakdance battle’s. There are now many crew all over the world with their own unique style. Many of them practice everyday because they all hope to be the best breakdance crew in the world.

History of B-Boying

Breakdancing is a street dance style that evolved as part of the hip hop movement. It was also used among gangsters as a way to settle their differences rather than fighting. Whoever performed the most creative moves in a single or routine dance wins the battle. It Replace actual fighting and turf disputes with a breakdancing battle. The theory was sound, often with the best dancer being the best fighter. This way it solved many gang fighting’s. I went and look up were breakdancing originated from and there were many websites on breakdancing and where it originated from. It was not hard to find where breakdancing originated from because most of the websites has the same information where breakdancing originated from. Some sites featured information about where breakdancing originated from before it started in the U.S. Breakdancing seems so different from all other kinds of dancing that the first question people ask when they see it is: "Where did these kids learn to dance like that?" To many people, this dance seems to have come out of nowhere. But like everything else, Breakdance did come from somewhere, something and someone. In the U.S Breakdancing started in the late 60’s and exploded into the 70’s and 80’s among a large population especially with the youth. According to research, it was introduced among African American communities in South Bronx of New York. Over the years break dancing has borrowed freely from all types of dances and martial arts. In the case of Breakdancing, the someone is the great superstar, James Brown, and the something is the dance, the Good Foot. James Brown, the godfather of break dancing, was quite influential, he changed breakdancing and made it famous. It was his dance style that helped to shape breakdancing and point it in a new direction. He made a huge success with his smash hit “Get on the Good Foot”. Afrika Bambaataa, the legendary DJ, also influenced breakdancing. He was marked as the man most responsible for the successful growth of breakdancing. He popularized breakdancing with various musical changes.

Introduction

When I was younger, in my Junior High years, I started dancing and the first dance I came into contact with was C-Walking. C-Walking is a dance involving your feet. C-Walking is very creative and I loved it. I later became fascinated in b-boying or breaking when I saw it the first time. In case for people who don't know what b-boying or breaking is, it is commonly refer as breakdancing. When I first saw b-boying it was so powerful and beautiful that it attracted me to it. It was unbelievable when I saw these people performing and executing crazy and dangerous stunts like it was nothing, they had no fear. I saw their passion for this dance and it really came to me. I knew it was calling me, so I started breaking too. In my high school years I practiced b-boying a lot, not just by myself but with friends. Since I came from a small town and had only one high school, not many people know of breakdance or has seen many breakdancings. Me and my friends were in the Multicultural clubs at our high school and we did performance for the school. We also perform for other schools including schools in the small town near us. The problem is, many people don't know what breakdancing is and they don't think it is a dance. So for the next four months I will be talking about b-boying. What is the history of breakdance, where it originated from. I will put some clips of people b-boying, performing unbelievable stunts. For anyone who wants to see more b-boying you can find them on Youtube, it has so many videos of people b-boying or b-girling. I will also be talking about the moves, power moves and footwork. I will be explaining about the battle of the year, a breakdance competition held in Germany once a year. I will also be talking about some of the teams and how the battle's work.