{"id":181,"date":"2020-10-25T16:04:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T16:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/?p=181"},"modified":"2020-10-25T16:20:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T16:20:32","slug":"elementor-181","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/2020\/10\/25\/elementor-181\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Call Urban Dance &#8220;Hip Hop&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"181\" class=\"elementor elementor-181\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d70d589 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"d70d589\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-71599fc\" data-id=\"71599fc\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ac9ebf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5ac9ebf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-xl\">Why You Shouldn't Call Urban Dance \"Hip Hop\"<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-efb20b8 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"efb20b8\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ccaad67\" data-id=\"ccaad67\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e24a886 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"e24a886\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-184\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1e2ecc7\" data-id=\"1e2ecc7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aa96a28 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"aa96a28\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"681\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-1024x681.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-183\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-victoria-borodinova-4080770-2048x1362.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-554aaf4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"554aaf4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-84cc9db\" data-id=\"84cc9db\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-013fb5a elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"013fb5a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-c371228 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"c371228\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-652e7b4\" data-id=\"652e7b4\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-40c03dc elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"40c03dc\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-717430a\" data-id=\"717430a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8faf974 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8faf974\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>What\u2019s the difference between Urban Dance and Hip Hop? Are they the same thing? How do they relate??<\/p><p>Our inbox is full of questions asking about the differences between certain styles, why this style is called this, if one style is in another style\u2019s \u201cumbrella,\u201d and so on.<\/p><p>To answer these questions, we compiled tons of information on these styles:<\/p><ul><li>Popping Dance<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steezy.co\/what-is-popping-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u200d<\/a>House Dance<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steezy.co\/what-is-house-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u200d<\/a>Waacking and Voguing<\/li><\/ul><p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.steezy.co\/waacking-voguing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u200d<\/a>There\u2019s lots of interesting dialogue surrounding each of these dance styles.<\/p><p>(Which we\u2019re always open to hearing! Email jessie@steezy.co if you wanna chat.)<\/p><p>But in this article, we\u2019re gonna focus on the fact that many dance styles that are not Hip Hop are often incorrectly labeled so.<\/p><h2>Hip Hop is a culture<\/h2><p>In &#8220;What Is Hip Hop Dance&#8221; we talked about Hip Hop dance having 2 forms: Breaking and Party Dancing.<\/p><p>While this is a simple way to think about it, a deeper (and probably less convoluted) way of understanding Hip Hop dance, can be found in the understanding Hip Hop culture as a whole.<\/p><p>Hip Hop was born in the 70\u2019s in the Bronx, New York. It was a way for the oppressed, underserved youth to express and empower themselves, feel validated, gain respect, connect with each other, and have fun.<\/p><blockquote>Hip Hop is a culture, a mindset, a way of life. The forms associated with it \u2013 dance (Breakdance, Freestyle Hip Hop, and Litefeet), art (graffiti), spoken word (emcee\/rap), and music (DJ, production), fashion, and so on\u2026 They are ways that the culture of Hip Hop manifests.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Buddha Stretch<\/p><p>So Breaking and Social \/ Party Dancing were the forms of<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>dance<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>that came out of this setting.<\/p><p>And when you call a style of dance \u201cHip Hop,\u201d you\u2019re alluding to a whole culture, one that has deep socio-political and personal roots of those that created it.<\/p><h2>What\u2019s<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>not<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>Hip Hop<\/h2><p>The word started to be recognized by mainstream media, and pretty soon dance studios were labeling their classes \u201cHip Hop.\u201d<\/p><p>Though these studios were probably well-intentioned, the majority of them did not have qualified teachers who knew, understood, and lived a Hip Hop experience.<\/p><blockquote>Someone can tell me what to say in a different language, and I can copy them. Mimic the sounds, tonalities. But if they asked me what I just said, I\u2019d have no idea. That\u2019s what was happening.These studios didn\u2019t teach authentic Hip Hop classes that paid due tribute to its roots and culture, but used the hype surrounding the label, more or less, as a marketing strategy.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Moncell Durden<\/p><blockquote>If a studio is teaching Hip Hop \u201cmoves\u201d that have nothing to do with Hip Hop music or culture, they\u2019re removing the very essence of what makes the style.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Buddha Stretch<\/p><p>The Source Magazine started out as a record pool for DJ\u2019s, and rap artist\u2019s records. The tagline on the magazine was \u201cThe voice of the rap music industry\u201d.<\/p><p>Later the Source changed that to The Magazine of Hip-Hop music, culture and politics.<\/p><p>The Source was influential in the Music industry\u2019s change of categorizing rap music to Hip-Hop music as it was considered the \u201cvoice of the Hip-Hop nation\u201d.<\/p><p>What has since transpired is the term Hip-Hop is basically used to define anything Black and Brown youth\/young adults are doing, whether its music, fashion, gang activity, etc.<\/p><p>\u2013 Bgirl Asia One<\/p><p>Popular TV shows and movies also contributed to the faulty understanding of Hip Hop as well.<\/p><blockquote>The Step Up Franchise, Stomp The Yard\u2026 they displayed Hip Hop in a way to make it feel cool, but safe. The more mainstream Hip Hop became, the more money they made. But at whose expense?<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Moncell Durden<\/p><p>The true meaning of \u201cHip Hop\u201d was, essentially, plucked out of its home and disseminated to the public as a blanket label.<\/p><blockquote>When I think Hip Hop, I don\u2019t think of studio choreography. I think of jams, clubs, circles, people freestyling and doing their own thing, their own way. It\u2019s great that Hip Hop styles got featured a lot more in the media; this created jobs and opportunities. But it\u2019s also why everything is labeled Hip Hop now.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Bgirl Asia One<\/p><h2>Why you shouldn\u2019t call Urban Dance &#8220;Hip Hop&#8221;<\/h2><p>One word? Appropriation.<\/p><blockquote>The movements in Hip Hop all have socio-cultural significance. They signify real, lived experiences. So if you do them by taking or borrowing the moves without understanding these things, you\u2019re dismissing the deeper value of Hip Hop.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Moncell Durden<\/p><p>Urban Dance and Hip Hop are different, not just in how they manifest, but in the culture that they come from.<\/p><h2>So\u2026 What is Urban Dance, then?<\/h2><p>What we understand as<span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cUrban Dance\u201d \u2013 the world of teams, rehearsals, competitions, and concept videos\u2026 it\u2019s not exactly Hip Hop.<\/p><p>Because the common thread of Urban Dance isn\u2019t even a style of dance, but an act.<\/p><p>It\u2019s<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>choreography<\/em>. Choreography that is more or less<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>completely<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>up to the individual choreographer.<\/p><p>They draw from whatever style(s) that they trained in or were influenced by, or come up with random moves with no stylistic origin \u2013 to interpret the music in their own way.<\/p><p>For example, Franklin Yu\u2019s Popping background led to the isolations and hits in his choreography.<\/p><p>And Chris Martin used to be a b-boy, which you can see in all his crazy footwork and athletic floorwork.<\/p><p>They both do \u201cUrban Dance\u201d and teach at \u201cUrban Dance\u201d workshops in \u201cUrban Dance\u201d styles \u2013 but their actual<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>dance styles<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>are totally different, because they have different dance backgrounds, as well as different personalities, life experiences, tastes in music \u2013 all the things that contribute to the choreography process.<\/p><p>Many Urban dancers do draw from freestyle Hip Hop, Breaking, and street \/ funk styles to influence their choreography, which is one reason people associate \u201cUrban\u201d with Hip Hop.<\/p><p>And that\u2019s also why it gets so confusing trying to explain what style \u201cUrban Dance\u201d is, and why it\u2019s not<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>really<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>Hip Hop.<\/p><h2>But sigh, \u201cUrban\u201d isn\u2019t a perfect label, either<\/h2><p>\u201cUrban Dance&#8221; is, whether it&#8217;s &#8220;right&#8221; or not, what we came to call this choreography scene.<\/p><p>It sounds and feels nice, and it is a few degrees better than calling it \u201cHip Hop,\u201d but it\u2019s not as accurate in its literal sense, either.<\/p><blockquote>&#8220;Urban Dance\u201d is more of a mindset, because the choreography can be made up of anything and everything you want. It\u2019s like freestyle Hip Hop \u2013 you can pull from multiple dance forms to create something new.But the literal word \u201cUrban\u201d denotes black origin. It\u2019s another way of saying \u201cghetto\u201d but without the negative connotation. That\u2019s where the misinformation becomes a problem \u2013 Hip Hop IS ghetto; it\u2019s always been the voice of ghetto oppression. To use \u201cUrban\u201d is to allude to that, without actually being ghetto.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Buddha Stretch<\/p><h2>THEN WHAT THE HECK DOES ALL THIS MEAN?<\/h2><p>When I talked to Stretch, I kept asking questions regarding the differences between dance styles. But he challenged me think differently, to look at the similarities and connections, instead.<\/p><blockquote>The lineage of dances is so interesting\u2026If you explore humanity and DNA, you start to understand that ethnicity and race are just labels we made up to try to understand things we don\u2019t understand. Japanese, African, European\u2026 Underneath those words, we\u2019re basically the same \u2013 same tools, same DNA.If you look at dance from that standpoint, you stop thinking about it as Popping, Locking, Ballet, Jazz. You just see it as dance. And that\u2019s a hell of a lot more interesting for everybody.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Buddha Stretch<\/p><p>I like it. Movement is movement, whether you freestyle or do choreography, in whatever style.<\/p><p>Because the important part isn\u2019t so much the moves, but the people who made them.<\/p><blockquote>In order to understand, over-stand, or inner-stand the dance you have to understand the people, and to understand the people you have to appreciate culture.<\/blockquote><p>\u2013 Moncell Durden<\/p><p>What Moncell said spoke volumes to me as well; the Urban Dance scene is<span>\u00a0<\/span><em>its<\/em><span>\u00a0<\/span>own culture with its own events, nuances, inside jokes, rituals, personalities, and values.<\/p><p>Urban Dance and Hip Hop may not be the same \u2013 heck, it\u2019s arguable that it should even be called Urban Dance.<\/p><p>But whatever you call it, it\u2019s a pretty cool thing in itself<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why You Shouldn&#8217;t Call Urban Dance &#8220;Hip Hop&#8221; What\u2019s the difference between Urban Dance and Hip Hop? Are they the same thing? How do they relate?? Our inbox is full of questions asking about the differences between certain styles, why this style is called this, if one style is in another style\u2019s \u201cumbrella,\u201d and so [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beginner-hip-hop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-scaled.jpg","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/pexels-cottonbro-4571275-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false]},"categories_names":{"3":{"name":"Beginner Hip Hop","link":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/category\/beginner-hip-hop\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions\/190"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dexterdanceschool.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}