World of Dance photo shoot image of Les Twins The 1990s were a turning point for B-boying, as it became more widely appreciated. the Village Voice and NPR) during this time, it was also prevalent in both the rave scene and the original Bronx neighborhoods. Not only was B-boying featured in newspapers across the boroughs (e.g. Despite a brief fall from popularity at the end of the 1980s, B-boying again rose to prominence in mid-1990s. According to Steve Hager, the author of HipHop: The Illustrated History of Breakdancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti, “his very real and vital art form created by inner-city kids became a fad,” for upper-middle class, predominantly white, teens and young adults (Hager 1984). Additionally, films such as Wild Style, Beat Street, and more popularly known, Flash Dance, placed b-boying more prominently on the global mainstream stage. Despite the primarily minority-centric ethos of Hip-Hop and B-boying, this subculture rapidly spread throughout New York City as a well-recognized form of expression.īy the mid-1980s to 1990s, Hip-Hop rose to mass popularity and gained substantial media exposure from artists such as Public Enemy and Run DMC. As a B-boy, dancers felt empowered and liberated from the stigma and stereotyping they faced as a result of their race and/or ethnicity ( Fasting, Kari, and Langnes 2014). The B-boy world functioned as a counterculture – an escape – from the traditionally oppressive society that members encountered on a daily basis. Richard “Crazy Legs” Colón of the legendary Rock Steady Crew What’s more, Latinos were central to the foundation of B-boying and “breaking” as an art form, in particular, further ingraining the “global” element of Hip-Hop and B-boying. Through the use of bilingual rap, Latino artists opened doors for non-English presentations of Hip-Hop and eroded the hegemonic English language in what would become the global phenomenon of Hip-Hop ( Fernandes 2011). The “Holy Trinity” of Hip-Hop music, DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash (two with Caribbean roots), all played a central role in the development of Hip-Hop at this time, bringing with them the over-dubbing of Reggae and Caribbean sound systems.įrom the beginning, Latinos, especially from the Caribbean, were essential in the development, dissemination, and diversification of Hip-Hop culture ( Reznowski 2014). Hip-Hop, and subsequently B-boying, incorporated related art and musical forms from Afro-Caribbean, African American, and Latino neighborhoods of the Bronx ( Schloss 2009). Traditionally, B-boys performed to the tune of rap, Hip-Hop, and computerized beats with a distinctive ‘scratch’ or over dubbing sound. B-boy dance forms (breakdancing) are composed of distinct breaking movements, such as toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. Hip-Hop acted as a staunch rejection of the predominant, white, patriarchal social order ( Holmes-Smith 1997).ī-boying – a sub-set of the Hip-Hop culture – created an environment that centered on street dance performance, and provided one of the most groundbreaking and innovative artistic forms of its time. Initially, this community served as an expressive outlet for the marginalized youth of the Bronx. Encompassed within this scene were the stylistic art forms of rap (MCing), graffiti, DJing, and B-boying. The Hip-Hop subculture gained momentum, and ultimately swept the music industry. The emergence of Hip-Hop as a cultural phenomenon during the decade of the 1970s characterized a pivotal cultural shift in America. Image of 1980s B-boy kids on the Street, New York City.
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