Learn those hip hop moves from Legends

T-Mag Wednesday 23/August/2017 18:07 PM
By: Times News Service
Learn those hip hop moves from Legends

If you thought that hip hop is just people in loose over-sized T-shirts and a cap freaking out to raps, then you are definitely mistaken. The story of this dance form dates back to the late 60s and has gone through an era of evolution and transformation to what it has become today.

Originating from the famous New York borough Bronx, it started as breaking that gained popularity when a number of Hollywood films were either made on it or showed dancers doing some crazy steps and stunts to funk, rock, and rap music. The dance form portrayed people’s lifestyle, culture, and the fads of the moment and came to be known as a street dance style.

Slowly with change in people’s tastes and music, the super upbeat and fast-paced breaking slowed down a notch to become a dance form that more and more people started performing. Hip hop freestyle emerged as a form of dance that was more suited to the popular music of the 80s.

**media[722682]**

Hip hop isn’t a tame social dance. It is all about making a point and expressing various emotions through dance. It can be done aggressively or calmly yet strongly and evoke the feelings among the audiences. Today, there are a number of variations that come under the umbrella of hip hop.

You would have seen people performing hand stands and headstands and other such stunts in tune with the music that is being played. Well, this athletic street style is called B-boying/B-girling.

It stands for break-boying or break-girling and originally began among Puerto Rican an African American youth in the 70s. B-boy requires strength, foot work, speed, endurance, and a great deal of flexibility. There are an array of complex poses and steps including the windmill, backspin, drops, and lots more that usually makes the audience’s jaw drop every time the dance is performed by a group of street dancers.

In Oman, the Legends Crew, that was started by a group of Omani boys who have been taking their hobby-turned-passion into a profession, provides hip hop lessons to a total of 25 students in Mawaleh. He, along with 10 other instructors, both male and female, are self-taught and have taken a keen interest in imparting their skills to all those who are interested.

The crew has done numerous shows in Oman and other GCC countries and have gained recognition for their talent. B-boying, B-girling, krumping, locking, and popping are predominantly taught and a special Afro-dance for women has also been included in their list of dance forms due to public demand.
[email protected]