Break Dance and B-Boying
B-boying is the name given to a kind of hip hop dancing. More commonly it is known as breaking. It has been inspired by the footwork from rock and top and also spinning and power moves alternating with freeze shots. The home of B-boying is Bronx, New York. Kool Herc who was a DJ spinning his way through block parties in Bronx coined the words B-boy/B-Boying. The B-boys were those boys who break the dance in tune with the breaks in the music. Later DJ introduced “breakbeats” by repeating this break part of the dance.
It is common for the dancers to pick up only the power movements. But the real B-boy is to master all the aspects of B-boying. Not all agree on what should be given importance as regards style and power movements. While some stress power moves with all its combinations, others emphasize style of the individual as regards footwork and freeze. The name associated with individuality is the Rock Steady Crew group. Although power moves make a great impression of energy and force it is difficult for the individual to put his stamp on it. Power moves is concerned largely with spinning and as such does not really match with beat. It is more akin to gymnastics than dancing.
This is why the Rock Steady Crew have been advocating the style which stresses on footwork. This was during the 90’s. Breaking is the most widely acclaimed form of hip hop dancing and has been penetrating all corners of the globe. The new school of dancing like the hip hop and house are limited to big urban centres in Japan and US only. For the curious it is advisable to look up history of freezes. People started B-boying sometime during the late 60’s and early 70’s.
This type of dancing came to be termed “Good Foot” after the record bearing the same name which was brought out by James Brown. It was the first type of free style dancing which took in bits from drops, spins and looked similar to the beginning of breaking. Michael Holman has best described it as a majorette marching in a procession. The leg is raised high at the knee and kept there before dropping at the next beat. Simultaneously the other leg is raised. The similarity is to a drum majorette on beat.
While on the one hand the DJ’s innovated new ways to lengthen the break beats in the records, the dancers on the other hand got time to invent and try-out. Very soon one saw the style of dropping to the ground and popping up to the rhythm of beat. This made the new generation of B-boys to be nicknamed as “boie-oie-oings”. Footwork became predominant when the dancers began to use their arms and hands to support their frames. Feet and legs thus became free to try out gymnastic steps, shuffles and sweeps.
This new wave sent out ripples. Brooklyn made changes to these drops and gave birth to the Brooklyn Rock or Up-Rocking. Soon a new style began to develop. The first to do so were the Nigger Twins, Clark Kent and Zulu Kings. From the 77’s Breaking slowly began to lose its hold with the blacks and was about to die out.
But with a new generation it made resurgence. The Puerto Rican B-boys infused life into it by taking it to new heights. They introduced more difficult acrobatics and new steps known as backspins and windmills. Crazy Legs and Rock Steady Crew influenced by Jimmy Lee and Joe Joe introduced these new moves.
Mention must be made of other B-boys like Lil Lep of New York City Breakers who continued to develop the art. Bruce Lee and other stars of Kung Fu with their martial arts had a major impact on B-boying culture. It gave it a thrust and push. Many of the martial arts move, like windmills came from Kung Fu. It was used to make the artist rise from the floor. By repeatedly doing so the name “windmill” came into use.
From the 80’s the popularity of B-boying began to accelerate. In 1983 the film Flashdance helped to take it outside New York. Previous to it there had been other movies like Wildstyle and Stylewars but it was Flashdance that broke down the barriers. The main theme was not about B-boying but a short scene in it showing B-boying and popping that seemed to take the world by storm. The other big movies about breaking were Breaking, Breaking2 and Beat Street. The latter, with a scene depicting a combat between Rock Steady Crew and New York City Breakers had the greatest force.
The media swooped down on this new find and made it highly popular. But due to too much exposure and hype people began to think that it was only a passing fad. It appeared that B-boying had reached its nadir. Now the media turned into a foe from a friend. It began to play down the act.
Thus we see that although the 85’s and 86’s saw a period of depression for the dance, from 1990 it began to make come back. Although nothing definitely can be said, but most probably this was due to the dedication and grit of the real B-boys. They never really gave up their first love. As far as my knowledge goes it was from California that the resurgence was staged. Today events like B-Boy Summit and Rock Steady Anniversary are held annually. Many B-boys, from all corners of the globe gather to keep the art alive and improve upon it.
