| Breakdancing is the street dancing which began | | | | breakdancing choreography came about. One crew |
| around 1969. Most people will agree that the | | | | would invent a move which would inspire an opposing |
| superstar James Brown began the whole thing with a | | | | crew to go one better. For some of these guys |
| dance called the "Good Foot". James Brown was a | | | | breakdancing was literally the difference between life |
| real innovator and his dancing was something to | | | | and death. They were very dedicated to what they |
| behold. He did things with his feet that would give | | | | were doing. |
| most of us a couple of broken legs! | | | | Just as all these new breakdancing crews were |
| Simultaneously in the ghetto, what is known as the | | | | bursting onto the scene a guy called Afrika |
| "dance battle" became very popular and in many | | | | Bambaataa embraced the genre. Afrika Bambaataa is |
| cases replaced gangster warfare as a method to end | | | | a legendary figure in the hip hop world. He was |
| disputes. Breakdancing lent itself very well to the | | | | largely responsible for bringing breakdancing into the |
| dance battle and the Good Foot was a perfect base | | | | general public's consciousness. He got to know all the |
| for breakdancing. | | | | crews and encouraged them to develop what they |
| Street dancers adopted the Good Foot which, for a | | | | were doing. Bambaataa's "Zulu Kings" breakdancing |
| short period, became known as the B-Boy and then | | | | crew became a force to be reckoned with, winning |
| breakdancing. Back then the dance moves were a lot | | | | many battles. |
| different to the kind of breaking we see today. | | | | Since then breakdancing has continually progressed |
| There were no popular, documented moves such as | | | | and more and more very talented dancers were |
| the headspin or the windmill. The dancers simply used | | | | bringing their skills into the arena. There were new |
| their feet and nothing else. Some would argue that | | | | moves being invented by the week and it wasn't |
| this "old style breaking" is more complicated than the | | | | long before we had headspins, windmills, backspins |
| kind of dancing we see these days. | | | | and all the other high energy, acrobatic moves we |
| Some of the floor work improvised back then was | | | | see these days. |
| fantastically complex. If you go to a modern | | | | The "Rock Steady Crew" were one of the groups to |
| breakdancing competition you won't see many of the | | | | pioneer this new school breaking. These guys along |
| old school moves but you will see a lot of | | | | with Charles Ahearn who made the seminal hip hop |
| gymnastics. Impressive though this is, there are | | | | movie "Wild Style" were to bring breakdancing fully |
| those that think breakdancing has lost its roots a | | | | up to date and the dancing phenomenon became |
| little. On the other side of the coin you have people | | | | much more popular. There was no stopping the |
| saying that it's just an evolution. | | | | onward march of the break dance. |
| As a way to solve street battles and gang violence it | | | | Nowadays breakdancing influences a lot of the |
| was inspired. You were finding that amazingly, the | | | | choreographed dance routines which are an integral |
| gangs were using breakdancing instead of fighting. | | | | part of a modern pop record release. You have |
| The breakdancing "battle" took on a world of its | | | | young kids coming up who are really into it and the |
| own. Of course there were still fights and inevitably | | | | genre is experiencing something of a renaissance. |
| sometimes a sore loser in a breaking battle would | | | | There's no doubt about it, breakdancing is here to |
| resort to violence. | | | | stay and if you want more info a quick search on |
| Out of all this, breakdancing crews were formed. The | | | | the Internet will turn up thousands of references to |
| members of a crew would practice and dance | | | | this modern art form. |
| together. This is when the first very basic | | | | |