Break-dance is a part of street dance. The origin of break-dance can be traced back to 1970s new age movement. This decade was instrumental in evolution of street dance and several other forms of related dance including breaking, b-boying or b-girling etc. The umbrella term that can be used for this movement is hip hop movement. People of Afro-American culture led this movement in streets of New York City and Manhattan. Break dance is a very popular hip-hop dance style and its popularity is ubiquitous in many parts of the world. It is performed along with hip hop music or pop or rap.
Interestingly, break-dance was developed for the purpose of countering violence as an alternative option. It was a means of letting out frustration and anger. It was a medium to express one’s suppressed innermost feelings. It has turned into an altogether different thing in the modern world. Now it’s very much productive and its popularity all across the world shows the class of this dance form. It combines best of dancing and athleticism. It promotes gender equality and race unification.
Breakdance involves elaborate body movements, aesthetics, synchronization and mode. B-boys and b-girls are people who perform this style of dance. Break-dance has to have music as the companion. Breakdancing is all about fashion, technique, spontaneity, athleticism, style and concept. It’s a very entertaining form of dance which is quite popular in India as well. Many bollywood movies in 1980s had break dance sequences. Later on film stars like Javed Jaffrey, Prabhu Deva and Hrithik Roshan etc performed many break-dance movements in films.
Worldwide, its popularity was accentuated by Michael Jackson. His videos and songs involving break-dance were hugely popular amongst youths. One can find many Indian youths enrolled in learning break-dance classes. There are several moves in break-dance. The primary moves are; dizzy run, handglide, toprock, downrock, headspins, suicides, footwork, air flares, applejack, freezes, swipe and windmills.