Etymology of Break Dance
The term Break Dancing was not coined from the beginning. It came into circulation from the 80’s when the media began to focus on it. In 1991 David Toop explains that it is an adaptation of Break - a dance which was popular before being replaced by the Freak. It was Chic’s Le Freak that brought this about in 1978 However, Crazy Legs, Frosty Freeze and Rock Steady Crew had a hand in reviving Break dancing once again. Toop further explains that the word break or breaking is a musical as well as a dance term. It is also a historical proverb. The tunes like Buck Dancer’s Lament (early part of this century) had a two bar silence in every eight bars. This was the break - a chance for quick dance footwork. However DJ Kool Herc contradicts this view. In his documentary The Freshest Kids, he strongly opines that “breaking” has come from the colloquial “break” referring to some one who is not quite on; is crazy. With the right beat the dancers seemed to be quite off; hence the similarity. Others say that the term comes from the break or the pause in the song schedule providing one a good chance to show his best dancing skills.
D.J.Kool of New York is credited to have used the term B-boy for the first time in 1969. During performances when he would be DJing, he would shout out to the boys “B-boys! Go down!” It prompted them to begin break dancing. In the same year, that is 1969, James Brown recorded “Get on the Good Foot“. It was a number that generated strong vitality being expressed in acrobatic dancing skills. Toop is of the opinion that Afrika Bambaataa led to Break Dancing. Many of the first time Break dancers like to be called the B-boys. B-Boy was a term used to refer to city dancers, while the term Break Dancer came to be circulated by the media. The “B” does not refer to any particular word. Most probably it means Boogie, Bronx or Break. Nowadays the term B-girl is also being used. The “B” in B-Boying does not mean Boogaloo in all probabilities. The latter was a dance style which came into being in the West Coast. It belongs to the run of the mill Funk style of dance than to the B-Boying hip hop genre. Funk style or Popping is entirely different in origin and hails from California - the background for funk. However it must be admitted that in course of time the two intermingled.
