Hip-Hop

Catalog description

This studio practice course will introduce students to hip- hop culture through the classic hip-hop styles of dance. Cumulative technical dance training brings to light the ethos of the street dance culture and how it counteracts and sometimes adopts mainstream media misconceptions. Through the study of classic hip-hop dance styles, students will expand their awareness of connections between various dance forms that pre-date hip-hop while also exploring the dilemma of belonging yet standing apart. Through dialogue, students will begin learning about the history of the original dance styles in their communities and then discuss mainstream factors that helped or harmed the evolution of the community. Occasional guest teachers will offer a class in a club or street style that will help students get a feel for the New York City dance scene of the ’80s, which influenced today’s trends. Students will watch internet footage to aid in understanding the similarities and differences between previous trends and today’s social exchanges in dance. Students will receive dance training at a beginner level done to hip-hop music from past to present. If there are intermediate-level dancers, they will be taught at respective levels in order to make advancements in their grasp of vocabulary. Alexander Technique