Funkstylerz UK: Breakdance, Funkstyles & Hip-Hop Dance Company

This page is a brief introduction and break down of the dance styles from the funk and hip hop eras.

The word 'funkstyles' refers to the dance styles which were created during the funk era on the West Coast of America. The term was coined by the 'Electric Boogaloos' to pay tribute to its roots in funk culture and to separate it from the umbrella of hip hop. The funkstyle dances are popping, boogaloo and locking.

popping
Popping is a style created by 'Boogaloo' Sam Solomon of the 'Electric Boogaloos' during the early 70s funk movement in California. It's influences lie heavily in mime and robot dance and involves the flexing of your muscles and the snap of your legs to the beat of the music.

boogaloo
Boogaloo is another style that was created by Sam in the 1970s after he had become inspired from watching the 'Original Lockers'. Boogaloo style involves fluid movements, angles, isolations and rolls of your body (head, shoulders, hips and knees) combined to create a complex foundation of dance vocabulary.

locking
Locking is a dance created by Don 'Campbellock' Campbell by chance whilst attempting to learn some of the club dances of the time (late sixties). It involves momentary pauses or 'locks' combined with funk steps, points, claps, wrist rolls, acrobatics and comedy. Don Campbell went on to form the legendary dance group, 'The Lockers'.

The rise of the hip hop culture in the late 70s on the East Coast of America also gave rise to a new generation of dancers who danced to the hip hop and break beats. The first hip hop dancers were bboys (break boys, bronx boys). However, during the 80s, when the hip hop lifestyle started to become surrounded by media coverage and commercial use (MTV etc.), the streetdance craze blew up worldwide. During this time much of the streetdances, from both the funk and hip hop cultures, became watered down or combined with other dances for use on music videos and such. This led to a 'new school' or 'new style' fusion of styles which became very popular in the early 90s and beyond on the televsion and in the clubs.

bboying
The term bboy (break boy) was created by Kool Herc (the godfather of hip hop culture) because the break was the session of a song that the bboys would dance to. Bboying as a dance consists of many aspects. The stand up dances of bboys are the toprock and uprock. The dance on the floor is known as the downrock and consists of footwork, transitions on the floor, poses, freezes and powermoves. Some well known first generation bboys (mid 70s) include the Nigga Twins and the Zulu Kings.

new school
The roots of the new school hip hop style lie heavily in the streetdances that came before it. It could be described as a freestyle in which the dancers combine or recycle moves from some of the original streetdance styles and mix it with their own personal flava. The best new style dancers will tend to be the ones that have the best understanding, ability and creativity of all the styles mentioned above. Some recognised pioneers of new style dance are the Mop Tops and Brian Green.