In this essay I will explain how the youth culture strongly influenced the development of Breaking as a legitimate dance style and technique.
B-boying started in the early 1970s and originated from the South Bronx in New York. It was first cultivated by youths who at the time were seen as the people who were supposed to be at the bottom of the society, living in the ghetto. Breaking soon turned into their lifestyle. A whole new culture was formed called Hip Hop, this included 4 important elements, Breaking, MC-ing (rap), Graffiti and DJ-ing.
Breaking first started underground, youths would meet up at block parties to show off their latest move. A man named Kool Herc would host parties in his house where the Bboys would dance to the instrumental break of the songs he played. In the early days of Breaking the B-boys performed mostly top rock, a style where they’d be stood up doing light footwork. Without the young new B-boys who wanted to dance and socialise at these parties Breaking may never have flourished in the same way. At the parties Bboys would bring new moves and add their own flavour to the dance style helping to develop the moves.
Until around 1974 Breaking remained underground, but suddenly the art form was taken to the streets. Due to this, a different culture of young B-boys joined in the lifestyle. Hispanic boys and girls now merged in and added new moves, it is said that Puerto Rican breakers put the Breaking on its back by adding much more floor work. A quote to back this up is Rivera (2003) ‘in the New York City neighbourhoods where the dance form developed, breaking’s commercial success was closely associated with Puerto Ricans and initially even boosted their status within the local youth culture.’
In 1982 Breaking hit the West Coast hard. Due to Rock Steady Crew (one of the original crews) dancing in the hit movie ‘Flashdance.’ Breaking was now becoming commercialized, and this was strongly because the young people of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas were mesmerized by the style and ethos of Breaking. The West Coast also put their own new flair on the style, they put emphasis on huge power moves such as windmills or headspins. If the Rock Steady Crew hadn’t been in Flashdance Breaking may not ever have been as popular as it is today, and the technique may never had become so driven by power moves.
However some say that the commercialisation of Breaking actually caused the dance style’s technique to decline, a quote from Rajakumar (2012) explains how Flashdance influenced badly on the culture of breaking and Hip Hop, ‘Critics now find flaws in the films as example of the early commercialization of break dancing diluting the intensity of the socioeconomic roots of the origins of break dancing and hip hop culture.’ Many of the original B-boys believe Breaking was purely made to spread love, B-boys were too busy learning how to do a windmill so weren’t committing acts of violence. The commercialisation actually brought a bad name to the technique and police tried to ban Breaking.
On the other hand we all know that Breaking as a technique is still flourishing today, thousands of young B-boys from all around the world join in at conventions. Battling still nowadays helps develop the moves. Battling is when the young B-boys and B-girls break against each other in the light of gaining respect by showing the best moves. Battling mainly develops the technique as every breaker wants to show off the best moves he or she can, commitment and competitiveness drives these inspiring young people to create amazing new moves to show the world.
So to conclude, there have been many different ways B-boying as a technique has developed, but if one thing is sure it is that it wouldn’t be the same without the youths growing up between 1970 and 1990 who really put their whole life into creating something so inspiring.
The Freshest Kids. (2002). [DVD] USA: Israel.
Rajakumar, M (2012). Hip Hop Dance. California: Library of Congress Catologing-in-Publication Data. 38.
Rivera, R (2003). New York Ricans from the Hip Hop Zone. Unknown: Palgrave Macmillan. 76.