Hip hop is quickly becoming one of the most popular
styles of music and dance around the world today. What is hip hop, and
where does it come from? Let’s have a look!
Hip hop dance is a style of dance originating with the
hip hop culture that started in the late 1970s. Hip hop culture has a
rich history, with roots in Jamaican and African culture. The music
associated with hip hop culture is very percussive, meaning it has a strong, heavy beat and usually lots of bass.
Where this kind of music might have been played with drums or other
percussion instruments many years ago, much of it now is electronic or remixed by DJs.
This emphasizes another important part of hip hop dance: it is largely improvisational.
Unlike the many other styles of dance that are rehearsed or structured,
solo hip hop dancers usually make up their moves and dances on the
spot. There are, however, three main ‘styles’ of hip hop dance. Let’s
look at them one by one.
The first style is called breaking, or break dancing.
This is the kind of dancing you see people participating in when they
spin, jump, flip, or twist on the ground. There are a few basic moves or
techniques for this style of hip hop dance that are commonly used
amongst all breaking performers.
The second type is called locking. It originated as a style of funk
dance, but is now considered a part of hip hop. Locking refers to
stopping a fast movement very suddenly and freezing in place. This is
done to the beat of the music, making for very rhythmic dance moves.
The last main style of hip hop dance is called popping.
It is also a funk style that originated in California. Popping refers to
very quick, controlled reflexes in the muscles, called pops, ticks, or
hits. This is done continually in rhythm with the music, mixed in with different poses.
All three of these styles are often combined in hip hop
dance performances. It’s very common to see dance ‘battles,’ called
competitive jams, where dancers try to outperform each other. These three areas make for a very versatile, expressive, and innovative
style of dance that epitomizes the free style of hip hop culture. Why
not try to find some hip hop dance videos online? Check out the history
of hip hop dance and see if you like the music and the style, too.
(1) percussive ( adj. 形容詞 ) 衝擊的
Much tribal music is very percussive and has a heavy beat.
很多部落音樂都非常有衝擊性，並帶有很重的節奏。
(2) bass ( n. 名詞 ) 低音
The speakers in his car have a lot of bass
他車子裡的喇叭有很大的低音bass。
(3) remix ( v. 動詞 ) 混音
My friend made a remix of a song and it had a much faster beat.
我的朋友把曲子重新編成快節奏感的歌。
(4) improvise ( v. 動詞 ) 即興創作／表演
We went to see a jazz band yesterday and the piano player improvised an awesome song.
我們昨天去聽了爵士演奏， 其中的鋼琴家即興表演了一首很棒的曲子。
(5) funk ( n. 名詞 ) 放克
Funk music is a lot easier to dance to than jazz.
Funk音樂比爵士樂更容易跳舞。
(6) rhythm ( n. 名詞 ) 節奏，韻律
The rhythm of that new rap song is really great.
那首rap的旋律很好聽。
(7) outperform ( v. 動詞 ) 勝過
He outperformed everyone on the test last week.
他在上個禮拜的考試的表現超異於其他應試者。
(8) versatile ( adj. 形容詞 ) 多才多藝的
Versatile performers can perform a lot of different dances.
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