You probably go through Youtube to find hip hop dance tutorials – like many others, including me as well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely a good way to learn what your body can do in hip hop dances. However, it would waste too much of your time trying to imitate those moves.
Moreover, you’ll be lacking your own style. Good hip hop dancers have their own unique signature moves. By the time you finish reading this, you should be able to really differentiate hip hop dance from other forms of dancing.
You need to know the fundamentals of hip hop dance. And after knowing it, you can come up with your own style of dancing. Knowing the basics of hip hop dancing also boosts your ability to learn moves from the experts. This is definitely one of the best shortcuts to learn hip hop dancing.
One of the most basic concept of hip hop dancing is doing really simple moves that define Hip Hop.
Firstly, you need to know that hip hop dances separates / isolates the movements of the upper and lower body. That simply means that both of these main parts of your body must have its own life, it’s own rhythm. Once you get this into your head, you’ll eventually have it built into your body rhythm and be able to build on this dance habit.
With that in mind, remember not to just focus on your footwork like what most beginners would do. You may have skillful footwork and able to dance at fantastic speeds. However, you will lack the showmanship factor and that does not take your dancing to the next level.
Express yourself in your dance. Put your character into it. Don’t be a robot (no pun intended!).
My second advice is – take up space. Hip hop dancing is a street dance. I know many people who are somehow scared of taking up huge amounts of space when dancing. Really put your dance moves out there and let it shine. I can’t stress enough that this is one of the very essence of hip hop dancing. Get people to notice you, and notice your awesome movements.
There are actually five fundamentals to hip hop dancing and for the sake not cramming too much into your head, let me list another one.
Know your music.
Only dance to hip hop beats that you love. Some hip hop songs annoy the hell out of me – or just simply not my style, so i just avoid them. Do not dance to a song just because your friends love it or simply because it’s famous! Love your music. You show your love for the music through your dance moves!