Hip-Hop Dance

were popular in the 1960s and early 1970s in African-American and Latino communities. In its earliest form, it began as elaborations on James Brown’s "Good Foot" dance[1][2] which came out in 1972. Breaking at this period was not primarily floor oriented as seen today; it started out as toprock which dancers perform while standing up. An influence on toprock was uprock[3] which was created in Brooklyn, New York.[4][5] It looks similar to toprock, but it is more aggressive and looks like a fight. Uprock is done with partners, but in toprock, and in breaking in general, each person takes turns dancing.[6] In 1973 DJ Kool Herc invented the break beat.[7][8] A break beat is a rhythmic, musical interlude of a song that has been looped over and over again to extend that instrumental solo. Kool Herc did this to provide a means for dancers who attended his parties to demonstrate their skills.[8] B-boy and b-girl stands for "break-boy" and "break-girl"; b-boys and b-girls dance to the break of a record.[8] Further influenced by martial arts[9] and gymnastics, breaking went from being a purely upright dance style—toprock only—to becoming more floor oriented.