B-boying in the context of "Break (music)"

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⭐ Core Definition: B-boying

Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance developed by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City.

Breakdancing consists mainly of four kinds of movement—toprock, footwork, power moves, and freezes—and is typically set to songs containing drum breaks, especially in funk, soul, and hip-hop. Its modern dance elements originated among the poor youth of New York during the 1970s and early 1980s. It is tied to the birth of hip-hop, whose DJs played songs featuring rhythmic breaks for dancers.

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B-boying in the context of Power move

Power moves are dance moves which are loosely defined as moves relying on speed, momentum, and acrobatic elements for performance. They are prominent in B-boying, often the centerpieces of routines featuring the other elements (toprock, downrock, and freezes) that make up breaking. Power moves are closer to gymnastics than dancing. B-boys who focus heavily on power moves and execute them as a main part of their routines are often called "power heads".

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B-boying in the context of Freeze (b-boy move)

A freeze is a b-boying technique that involves halting all body motion, often in an interesting or balance-intensive pose, for a few seconds. It is implied that the position is hit and held from motion as if freezing in motion, or into ice. Freezes often incorporate various twists and distortions of the body into stylish and often difficult positions.

Spins are often combined with freezes, and the spins are usually done in the form of highkicks. Various handstands ("inverts", "Nikes", and "pikes") can be frozen, and skilled breakers sometimes incorporate the technique of threading into handstands by forming a loop with one arm and leg, then "threading" the other leg in and out of the loop.

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B-boying in the context of Dance crew

The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 1960s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as uprock, breaking, locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping. African Americans created uprock and breaking in New York City. African Americans in California created locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping—collectively referred to as the funk styles. All of these dance styles are different stylistically. They share common ground in their street origins and in their improvisational nature of hip hop.

More than 50 years old, hip-hop dance became widely known after the first professional street-based dance crews formed in the 1970s in the United States. The most influential groups were Rock Steady Crew, The Lockers, and The Electric Boogaloos who are responsible for the spread of breaking, locking, and popping respectively. The Brooklyn-based dance style uprock influenced breaking early in its development. Boogaloo gained more exposure because it is the namesake of the Electric Boogaloos crew. Uprock, roboting, and boogaloo are respected dance styles but none of them are as mainstream or popular as breaking, locking, and popping.

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B-boying in the context of Hip-hop theater

Hip-hop theater is a form of theater that presents contemporary stories through the use of one or more of the four elements of hip-hop culture—b-boying, graffiti writing, MCing (rapping), and DJing. Other cultural markers of hip-hop such as spoken word, beatboxing, and hip-hop dance can be included as well although they are not always present. What is most important is the language of the theatrical piece and the plot's relevance to the world. Danny Hoch, the founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, further defines it as such: "Hip-hop theatre must fit into the realm of theatrical performance, and it must be by, about and for the hip-hop generation, participants in hip-hop culture, or both."

Hip-hop theater productions appear in a wide range of platforms including single performances, week-long festivals, and traveling repertory companies. Board Chair Of the historic Philadelphia Freedom Theater and producing Director Of The Devon Theater Of Mayfair Karl Dice Raw Jenkins is the leader in hiphop theater with multiple of Grammy nominations as a singer producer and Playwright, The Last Jimmy [The kümmel, Freedom Theater, Adrienne Arsht & La Grand performances have all presented Karl. Karl's other works include Box A Hiphop Musical telling the life of enslaved African American Henry Box Brown. The King Of Love and more. Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken word poet and dancer who has been commissioned several times to create and direct single hip-hop theater works. British choreographer Jonzi D is the artistic director of the London-based Breakin' Convention, a week long hip-hop theater festival. Rennie Harris, Mourad Merzouki, Kwesi Johnson and Victor Quijada are artistic directors who run hip-hop theater companies in the U.S., France, UK and Canada respectively. The Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, and the Rhythm Technicians pioneered this theatrical genre which started in the United States.

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B-boying in the context of Spin (breakdance move)

A spin is a b-boying move that involves rotation of the breaker's body about some axis in contact with the ground. It is possible to perform a spin on virtually any part of the body, but bare skin often causes painful and spin-killing friction with the floor. To solve this problem, many breakers employ pieces of cloth or wear long clothing, pads, or caps. When the dancer uses his hands to aid in speeding up the spin, it is called tapping. A dancer may tap for a few rotations and then glide for subsequent rotations. Spins form an integral part of many breakers' routines, while others eschew them in favor of more complex-looking repeated movements, back and forth, after each rotation in a given direction.

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