©lincoln bryden, how to teach streetdance – the ultimate...

©Lincoln Bryden, How to Teach Streetdance – The Ultimate Guide E Course, November 2009

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How To Teach Streetdance – The Ultimate Guide Written by Lincoln Bryden

Lincoln Bryden November 2009. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this manual.


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Streetdance – a history

Hip Hop is a cultural movement that began in the early 1970’s among the mostly African American and Latino communities in the Bronx - New York City. During the 1980’s, aspects of the culture began spreading into the mainstream population of the USA and by the 1990s, hip hop culture had spread throughout the world.

The movement is said to have begun with the work of DJ Kool Herc, while competing DJ Afrika Bambaataa. Most accounts suggest that Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record, so that he could access a 15-second break (rhythmic instrumental segment) in the middle of the track to create his own sound, using the turntable as a musical instrument. By mixing back and forth between the 15 second break in two copies he was able to double, triple, or indefinitely extend the break. In so doing, Herc effectively deconstructed and reconstructed so-called found sound.

The four main aspects, or "elements", of hip hop culture are

1. MCing (rapping) 2. DJing 3. Graffiti 4. B-boying (known to the mainstream as breakdancing)

Some consider beatboxing the fifth element of hip hop; ohers might add hip hop fashion, hip hop slang, double dutching (an urban form of rope skipping, demonstrated in Malcolm Maclaren video to the song “double dutch” in the early 80’s), or other elements as important facets of hip hop.

In mainstream spheres, the term "hip hop" typically refers only to hip hop music (or rap music), the music produced by the MCing and DJing aspects of hip hop culture.

Influences

The various factors that influenced hip hop culture are complex and numerous All of these influences can provide valuable stimuli for your streetdance choreography. Although the majority of influences can be traced to African culture, the multicultural society of New York City resulted in diverse musical influences finding their way into hip hop music.

For example Hip Hop music has origins in the black church via the call and response of the preacher. The preacher calls out: 'Church can I get an Amen,' and the church responds: “Amen”. Today when a rap artist yells out 'Give me a ho ho,' the audience shouts back 'ho ho.'

One of the many influences for both hip hop culture and music is the Jamaican style called dub, which arose as a sub-genre of Reggae in the


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1960s. Dub music saw producers such as King Tubby creating instrumental versions of popular reggae records for the purpose of clubs and Sound systems; they had discovered that dancers often responded better to the extended, isolated beats of the records, often featuring intense percussion and heavy bass lines. Soon, the MCs that saw them become popular performers in their own right. In 1967, Jamaican immigrants brought dub to New York City and began playing it at parties in community centers, roller rinks and on the streets.

The "deejays" became cult figures, fighting duels that were based on turntable skills. In 1977, the Bronx was divided in three main spheres of influence: Africa Bambaata in the southeast, DJ Kool Herc in the west, and Grandmaster Flash in the center. They also corresponded to spheres of influences of different "gangs". Africa Bambatta was the leader of the Zulu Nation, which was at the time the largest gang in New York. It was on the death of one of his family members that he decided to start the movement of gangs venting their anger via dance battles, rather than fighting.

Breakdancing

Breakdancing, also known as B-boying or B-girling by its practitioners and followers, is a dynamic style of dance. The term "breakdancer" originates from the dancers at DJ Kool Herc's parties, who saved their best dance moves for the break section of the song. Breaking is one of the major elements of hip hop culture, commonly associated with, but distinct from, "popping," "locking," "hitting," "ticking," "boogaloo," and other funk styles that evolved independently during the late 20th century.

"Hip-hop" as a form of dance is becoming more popular. Hip hop dance comes from breakdancing, but does not consist wholly of breakdancing moves. Unlike most other forms of dance, which are often at least moderately structured, hip hop dance has few (if any) limitations on positions or steps.

Top Rocking

Some of the earliest dancing by b-boy pioneers was done upright, a form which became known as "top rockin'." The structure and form of top rockin' has infused dance forms and influences from Brooklyn uprocking, tap, lindi hop, James Brown's "good foot," salsa, Afro-Cuban and various African and Native American dances.

Footwork and Freezes

As a result of the highly competitive nature of these dances, it wasn't long before top rockers extended their repertoire to the ground with "footwork" and "freezes." For instance, one dancer might start top rocking then drop to the ground, suddenly going into leg shuffles then a freeze before coming to his feet. His opponent might have to do twice as much floor work or a better


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freeze to win the battle. The fancy leg movements done on the ground, supported by the arms, were eventually defined as "footwork" or "floor rocking." In time, an impressive vocabulary of footwork, ground moves and freezes developed, including the dancers most dynamic steps and moves.

Top rockin' was not replaced with floor rocking; it was added to the dance and both were key points in the dance's execution. Many times one could tell who had flavor and finesse just by their top rockin' before the drop and floor rock. The transition between top and floor rockin' was also important and became known as the "drop". Some of these drops were called: front swipes, back swipes, dips and corkscrews. The smoother the drop, the better.

Locking

The west coast was also engaged in a cultural movement throughout the 1970s. This scene was nourished by soul, R&B and funk music at outdoor functions and discotheques.

In Los Angeles, California, Don Campbell, also known as Don Cambellock, originated the dance form "locking." Trying to imitate a local dance called the "funky chicken," Don Campbell added an effect of locking of the joints of his arms and body, which became known as his signature dance

The "lock" is a specific movement which glues together combinations of steps and moves similar to a freeze or a sudden pause. Combinations can consist of a series of points done by extending the arms and pointing in different directions. Dancers combined fancy step patterns with the legs and moves done in various sequences.

Popping

Originally, "popping" was a term used to describe a sudden muscle contraction executed with the triceps, forearms, neck, chest and legs. These contractions accented the dancer's movement causing a quick, jolting effect.

New school hip-hop

New school dance is a form of hip-hop dance which is different from breaking. Back in the days, old-school music had fast beats which matched breaking move. Hip-hop music is always changing. As the music changed, people realized that breaking doesn't fit with the many of new school hip-hop music. That's how new-school dance started out. Around 1986, which is the early days of new school dance, the moves were very simple. Steps called Wap, Running man, Roger Rabbit, and Robocop were popular steps in this era. These were exactly what everybody can do.


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New styles come from everywhere. People take moves from martial arts, reggae, locking, and even 70s soul train steps. Even now up to the modern day classical hip hop moves have been fused with other dance styles to provide a more complete and vast range of dance material to choose from.

So it is evident that hip hop as a movement has many different implications on streetdance in terms of its background, style, type of clothing, and for some lifestyle. Each of these elements can provide us with stimulus to choreograph our dances.


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Choreography tools introduction

Streetdance as with all dances begins with a variety of movement. This movement can be broken down into its smallest parts, and then with the addition of streetdance style, be put together with other movements to create a routine.

In order to analyse movement, we must identify what the body is doing and describe our observations;

In dance there are 5 main actions. These are;

1. Gesture 2. Jumping 3. Travelling 4. Turning 5. Stillness

Gesture

A gesture is a movement that does not involve weight transference. Gestures are usually performed with the upper body, but it is possible to perform them with different parts of the body.

Gestures are a part of our everyday life and can be used to great effect in our dances. For example: Shaking the head to say “No”.

Quick task

Write a list of at least 10 gestures that you are familiar with.

Draw Written description


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Choose 8 of these gestures and see if you can put them together to form a movement pattern, or MOTIF.

Jump

This is a move that defies gravity and lifts the body off the floor. There are 5 basic jumps, that are determined by the number of feet a dancer has on the floor when they take off and land from a jump. The 5 jumps are;

1. Two feet to two feet 2. Two feet to one foot 3. One foot to the same foot 4. One foot to the other foot 5. One foot to two feet

Quick task

Practice the 5 jumps. Try to put a sequence of 8 jumps together into a routine. Try to incorporate the hip hop style within these routines.

Travelling

Travelling is any movement that takes us from A to B. One example could be walking but there are many other possibilities.

List 10 different types of travelling;

1.


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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Devise a motif (movement pattern) using 8 different travelling actions.

Turning

A turn is a rotating movement performed with the whole of the body resulting in a change of front. Examples of these are cartwheels, pirouette, and somersault.

We are also able to rotate some body parts, but this action is known as twisting, as opposed to turning. This type of movement is very characteristic of streetdance.

Make a list of whole body turns.


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Now with one of the sequences that you have composed earlier with travelling or jumping, or gesturing, see how you can add the action of turning.

Stillness

Stillness is a very useful tool when constructing choreography. It has many uses within a dance and has previously been highlighted as a key component of a b-boy’s dancing armoury. Within the realms of choreography, stillness ie a held position can be used to;

1. Highlight an important moment within a dance 2. Indicate the end of a dance 3. Complete a movement phrase 4. Start a dance sequence

Exercise

1. Devise 2 held positions. Each held position is to last 8 counts 2. Now devise a 32 count routine with no pauses in. Perform this routine 3. Now perform the routine incorporating the 2 held positions 4. Review the effect of having the held position within the routines

Summary

By incorporating these movement actions alone within your dances, routines can become rich in their visual effect, as opposed to being boring and monotonous. These movements are the basis of all choreography let alone streetdance, and can be further developed and shaped by elements known as devices.


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Devices

Motifs, you remember are a movement or sequence of movements in a particular style of a dance. These movements can then be repeated, or manipulated in a variety of ways. Below is a list of the more common ways in which such motifs can be developed.

1. Repetition – repeat exactly the same 2. Retrograde – perform the motif backwards 3. Size – do the routine as small as you can/as big as you can 4. Rhythm – vary the rhythm not the tempo 5. Quality – vary the movement quality ie sharp/wavy/ soft/ heavy 6. Instrumentation – perform the movement with a different part of the

body, eg a foot combination could be performed as a hand combination 7. Background – let the rest of the body to something different while

producing the motif. Sit instead of stand, or twist the rest of your body while you perform the motif.

8. Staging – perform at a different point in the room 9. Change plane/levels – change the motif to a different plane;

saggital/frontal/ transverse. Change the level of the dance, eg from high to low, or from low to high

10. Fragmentation – use only part of the motif, or use several parts of it but not the whole thing.

Motif development is a way of producing a lot from a little, whilst avoiding too much repetition

The best way to remember these variations, or devices is to practice them. So with a routine that you already have made, or seen, use each of the devices listed above to change how the routine looks.

Cannons

The device of cannon involves 2 or more dancers dancing one or more motifs at different times. There are different types of cannon;

A simple cannon – A dancer performs an entire motif and then keeps still whilst another dancer performs the same motif etc

A simultaneous cannon – this involves dancers doing the same motif at the same time but starting at different points in the phrase. Eg dancer/group 1 dance counts 1 – 8, dancer/group 2 may start at count 6, then dancing 6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5 and another dancer/group may start at count 4

A cumulative cannon – Each dancer joins in with the lead dancer at various stages of the motif, but everyone finishes at the same time


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Take a short movement phrase. In small groups try the various cannons, noting what you feel as the most effective.


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Streetdance Style

Every dance has its own style or body language; ballet is graceful, the lambada is sexy etc. Take a few minutes to write down what you think the body language for hip hop or streetdance is;

1.

2.

3.

4.

5

Now when you take part in the practical elements of the course try to keep in mind these body language elements. Try not to just do the dance steps, but try to perform the steps with the elements that you have highlighted above. Remember one of the main elements of hip hop and hip hop dance was the ability to let dancers express themselves from within, and not just produce steps or movement

Basic streedance tips

Along with the body language elements that you have identified above, there are certain tips that will help you achieve your style, and also transmit this to your students. These are;

� Isolating your movements � Keep your body moving � Keep your centre of gravity � Keep your body low

Learn how to isolate your movements

Learn how to isolate your body parts when moving. From the hips, to the arms, to the shoulders, it's all about being able to control them. This will later enable you to keep your moves controlled and more effective.

Keep your body moving

Except when you are required to perform isolated moves, learn how to keep your body moving in time with the movement so you don't look like a stick figure mannequin!


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Keep your centre of gravity

Unless the move is leaning, learn how to keep your centre of gravity and keep everything balanced. For example, if your shoulder leans left, your bottom should go 'right' so everything is 'balanced'.

Stay low

Hip hop dance is all about bending your knees slightly and keeping low to the ground.

Base dance steps

In old skool pure hip hop, there were many moves that had their own names. This was particularly true of the b-boying, locking and popping moves that all had particular names. Examples of the many moves are;

1. The 6 step 2. Chair freezes 3. Electric boogaloo 4. Backspin 5. Ninja Freeze 6. Waving 7. Back slide 8. Side glide 9. Robot

All of the above and many more take hours upon hours of practice to perfect, which is beyond the scope of this course, and goes more into the study of old skool hip hop dance. If you wanted to find out more or study a particular group of steps, I would suggest that you find a dance class which specialised in that style, so that you could devote more time to it

The best way to look at base moves for streetdance is to look at base moves for aerobics. Therefore we will look at;

1. Marches 2. Lunges 3. Step touches 4. Knees 5. Isolations 6. Arm combinations

But before we look at any of this we will look at the beat of music that is used within streetdance music, as it is a fundamental element to the style of the dance.


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The down beat

This is when all movements are accentuated downwards on the beat. This has a heavy feel about it, and there is almost a “full stop” element at the end of each movement.

Exercise

With feet together, listen to an r’n’b song, and attempt to bend the knees, and bounce so that every time you hear the beat, your body movement is down. Do this for 8 bounces

1. Then take the right leg out and again bounce for 8 beats. 2. Bring the right leg in so that feet are together and bounce for 8 beats 3. Take the left leg out to the side and bounce for 8 beats 4. Then Bring the feet together and bounce for 8 beats

Repeat steps 1 – 4 but only bouncing for 4 beats, then only for 2 beats and then eventually for one beat on each bounce.

This exercise may feel strange at first but is a good way to get an appreciation of the type of movement necessary for this dance.

The up beat

A variation of the above is to accentuate the upward movement on each beat.

Exercise

Repeat the above exercise but instead of bouncing so that you go down on each beat, you actually come up on each beat. Try to finish each movement so that there is almost a “full stop” at the end of each move. Think about how this exercise differs from the previous.

Now let’s look at the base moves in more detail. Some variations are given but it is encouraged that you try to find more so that you have more material.

Marches

Whereas the normal marches have a heel toe action, streetdance is more of a toe heel, again to accentuate the down beat in the music.

Variation 1;. highlighting every even count of a song. Ie every 2nd, 4th, 6th etc beat, you sink down a bit further.

Variation 2; Playing with rhythm option 1. For example you could march on count 1-2, then hold counts 3-4, then march on counts 5-6, then hold counts 7-8


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Variation 3; Playing with rhythm option 2. You could increase the amount of moves in a given time frame so that you are performing ball changes. Therefore the counts would be 1&2&3&4&5&6&7&8. These ball changes could then travel forwards, sideways or backwards.

Variation 4; Starting with a right leg lead, your right leg could go forwards then back as the left leg stays in place, ie a mambo, then this mambo could then be turned into a pivot turn ,where you perform a 360 degree turn.

Step touches

Step right leg out to the side, bring feet together, then take the left leg out to the side and then bring the feet together. Again highlighting the down beat of the movement. Rather than keeping the hips facing front, they face the direction that you move. For example if you step to the right, your hips face right and if you move to the left, your hips move left

Variation 1; lift the knee up on each and count. So you have 1&2&3&4.

Variation 2; speed up the move and play with the rhythm, for example single, single, double

Variation 3; instead of bringing the feet together on counts 2 and 4, you would tap the feet behind.

Variation 4; the same as variation but instead of tapping the feet behind, you would tap the feet in front.

Lunges

From a neutral position, take the right leg out to the side, bring that leg back to the centre, then take the left leg out to the side, then bring the feet together.

Variation 1; playing with rhythm you have single single double, repeat other side

Variation 2; playing with rhythm again, instead of the double you could pause on 7 and 8

Variation 3; the lunges could change to tap forwards, which in turn could turn into kicks, which in turn could change into kick ball changes.

Variation 4; the lunges could lunge backwards, which then could change to twists

Variation 5; the lunges could become high impact “hip hop jacks” where instead of bringing the legs together as in normal jacks


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knees

Lifting one knee up, placing back on the floor and then lifting the other. Try to bend the other leg and lean forward/bend down, while you lift the knee, so that although the individual movement is going upwards, whole body movement is going down.

Variation 1; bringing the knees slightly across the mid line, so that it looks look you want to go to the toilet! (Very good imagery)

Variation 2; as above but using rhythm to create a single, single, double effect

Variation 3; instead of lifting the leg bent in front, you can take it straight out to the side.

Arm combinations

We have already seen how gestures are movements down, usually with the upper body. Arm combinations are really a new skool concept, with the exception of locking. With the advent of video dancing it has become necessary to make dance routines more visually appealing, and therefore arm combinations are seen in most streetdance routines.

Arm combinations can be symmetrical ie both right and left are doing the same thing, or asymmetrical where right and left are doing different things. Obviously the latter would be more challenging, especially if you add a foot combination as well! But they can be fun and easy to make up. Also in relation to children they can help develop motor skills and enhance a particular theme of a dance.

Try the following exercise.

What type of 8 count combination would you comprise for the following themes?

• The King Tut dance style was inspired by ancient Greek Hieroglyphics. Devise an 8 count in this style

• A martial arts theme.

• Playing a sport

Now match one of the above arm combinations with the following rhythms;

• 1&2,3&4,5&6,7&8

• &1&2,3,4&5&6,7,8

• 1,2&3&4&5,6,7&8


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Teaching Skills

Teaching skills are the cornerstone of any successful class. It enables your participants to learn your choreography in a smooth, stress free manner. Involved in this terms there are various aspects that should be discussed; namely

1. Cueing skills

2. Breakdown Skills

Cueing Skills

These are skills that allow us to direct our students, and cue them onto the next movement in your class. Included in here are:

Pre cueing/prephrasing

Physically cueing the next movement while the class is performing the current movement. An example of this would be teaching 8 front taps and then as the group are completing their 8th tap to the front, you visually preview the next move which could be a tap to the side. This could be used in a warm up when you are getting your group motivated

Verbal Cues

Clear verbal instructions are obviously important to maintain interest while teaching the various progressions of your class. Try the following exercise In pairs one person stands behind the other, both facing the same way. The person behind is the instructor, and has to give movement instructions to the person standing in front. The person in front is not allowed to turn around to visually see the movements. Good luck!

Right Footing:

The process of changing from Mirror image (facing your group) to Participant image (with your group), to hybrid (a combination of the 2). This is an important skill to enable participants to clearly understand directional changes and foot patterns. In dance classes this is really important as you may find that participants find it easier when you are facing the same direction as them, but from a communication point of view, or if you are teaching an arm combination, then you may have to face your group.


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Breakdown Skills Breakdown skills are the methods used to breakdown your act 4 of swan lake, and gradually add the levels of complexity so that your full masterpiece can be appreciated and learned with minimal stress.

Although there are many ways to achieve this, here are the most common, learning curves:

Add on, or linear teaching This is simply where you teach one move, and then another, without going back from the top. This could be used in a warm up and is great to introduce people into the streetdance style or for dance drills

The Link Method

Here, you add on separate sequences of moves Sequence A move A Move B Add A+B together Sequence B move C Move D Add C+D together then link that with sequence A

Repetition Reduction/Reverse Pyramid

This is where you start with a high number of repetitions of a movement, and then reduce them to achieve your final result. For example : 4 side lunges right and left leg, reduced to 2, then single side lunges.

Layering

This is where you as an instructor have established a base pattern, and then you would layer on another progression. For example after establishing a march to the right, then march on the spot base pattern , you could then layer changes to the march on the spot. Then you could layer on rhythm changes to the march to the side, followed by layering on a turning change for extra effect!

Half time teaching;

As the name suggests the combination/movement is performed at half tempo to allow the participants to get the move. This a popular method for teaching


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movements when routines are learnt with music in the background. Sometimes however teaching a combination in this way does not convey the actual real time rhythm. In these instances the following may be a better option

Staggered time;

This is where a movement, for example. An arm pattern is performed at actual time, but with pauses at certain points to allow participants to learn a bit at a time.

Notes;


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Class structure

These structure of a streetdance class really depends on your objectives as an instructor. If your aim is to teach the whole group choreography then the structure could be as follows;

Warm up component:

• Mobility exercises for the joints

• Pulse raising activities to warm the muscles and increase heart rate;

• Skill rehearsal

• Preparatory stretching to lengthen the muscles. All the above to be done in a streetdance style, with streetdance movements Main component:

• Gradually introduce streetdance choreography using a variety of teaching methods, either with the music on, or off

• Continue to build the choreography until the routine is learnt

• Performance of the routine Cool down component:

• Pulse lowering activities, maybe performing the routine at a lowered intensity

• Post workout stretches (developmental and maintenance),

There are advantages and disadvantages to keeping the music playing throughout your class. The obvious advantage is that it can increase motivation of the students, and keep them focused on the style of the dance. Disadvantages could be that it is easier to talk the group through difficult steps, moves or combinations with the music off, and then teach put the music on. This particular model could be varied. For example if you wanted more of a group input to the routine, then you could have the following;


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Warm up component:

• As above. Main component

• Introduce a range of lower body and upper body moves to the group

• In pairs, get each group to devise and 8 count each

• The pairs would link to another group. They would then teach them their 16 count, whilst learning the other group’s 16 count. So there would be 32 counts in total

• If the groups were able they could use the different devices to enhance their routines

• Each group would perform their routines Cool down component:

• Same as above

A variation of this could be that the teacher teach a block of 32 counts as well as giving a library of moves. Then when it came to the performance part of the class, the groups would then perform the given 32 count block and then add their own creation to it. This has the benefits of developing recall, creativity and teamwork. If your goal was to develop cardiovascular fitness, more care needs to be taken in terms of the material that you teach and the manner that you teach it. As the beats per minute of hip hop/ r’n’b music is slow, the traditional learning curves that you see in aerobic classes would not be as easily achieved. However you could achieve an interval training effect by mixing performance of each stage, with teaching the next stage half time; For example;

Warm up component:

• As above Main component (cardiovascular):


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• Teach 1st 8 count half time, or staggered time

• Perform 8 count, in real time, a number of times to elevate the heart rate

• Teach 2nd 8 count

• Perform 2nd 8 count real time

• Teach 1st and 2nd 8 count half time, or staggered time

• Perform 1st and 2nd 8 count in real time, again a few times to elelvate the heart rate

• Teach 3rd 8 count half time

• And so on until your routine is complete Cool down component:

• As above

The key consideration here is that the choreography has to be a lot easier so that too much time is not taken with the teaching of the routine, and that momentum of the routine is maintained. Also consideration needs to be taken of the age group of the individuals. For example children of a younger age range may not have the concentration levels need for this type of class. Therefore activities may need to be varied a lot more to maintain interest. From experience this type of class is suitable for a small sample of children, maybe those of the higher age ranges, that would also have the necessary skill and concentration levels. Summary There are many ways to structure your streetdance class. The overall aim has got to be that the participants feel that they have achieved something at the end of the session, regardless of the method. Streetdance by its nature is an energetic dynamic dance and therefore any of the structures listed above will result in some sort of training effect.

Hip Hop Music


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Most streetdance classes will be taught to hip hop, r’n’b, house, garage, reggae or other music derived from this medium. It is therefore important to see firstly how this music is structured, its characteristics, and how to work with it, ie how to use it as a stimulus to create choreography. Most streetdance music has a bpm of 97 – 106. You can see from this that it is slow in comparison to other types of music. However this does allow for a lot of off beats to be used in choreography. If you were selecting a particular song to work with you would have to “map” it out, ie work with the individual phrases to see what would be the verse and what would be the chorus and what would be the bridge Exercise Listen to a current hip hop/ r’n’b song and map out the different verses and choruses in the space provided. This is very useful for providing a basis for choreography, and will be discussed in more detail later. If you were going to use a cd from one of the many fitness suppliers eg Pure Energy, Solid Sound, Multitrax, Interactive, then a lot of the work is done for you as the odd beats are taken out and everything is in even 32 count phrases. This is great if you were to teach a class with music on at all times, as you would not have to worry about the beat of the music in the background.


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One important thing to bear in mind is that by the very nature of hip hop and r’n’b, some of the lyrics may be of an “adult” nature to say the least, so please choose carefully when playing music in your classes. There are still plenty of options as most songs have radio edits with expletives taken out. Also the fitness music companies do make sure that there are no swearing or unsuitable language on their songs. But the golden rule would be; listen before you play in a class. As stated at the beginning of this section, the music is a great stimulus to create dance. We can do this in a number of ways. By listening to the intricate beats within each phrase we can use this as a starting point to create our choreography. Exercise; Listen to a piece of music and try to notate the different rhythms that there are. Use this to create 16 counts of choreography We can also use the lyrics to stimulate us to create movement. For example we can create gestures to convey words in a song, in terms of their literal meaning, or the emotion that the words are trying to convey Exercise; Listen to a song and write down what you think are the key words. Use these words to create 16 counts of choreography.


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We can also use any sound effects to stimulate us to create movement. We can interpret the movements to be sharp, soft, heavy, light etc. Exercise; Listen to one of the performance tracks, that starts with “Are You Ready?” followed by the footsteps. Write down what they mean to you and then try to devise a movement sequence that reflects the different sounds. In reality choreographing to streetdance music, and indeed any music will include a combination of all of the above elements of the music; rhythm, lyrics, emotion and any sound effects. Remember that streetdance came about through a societies need to express themselves throughout the various elements of hip hop; mc ing, graffiti, djing and dancing. Therefore when we are teaching or creating movement we should not be getting people to just learn steps, but to convey certain emotions within the dance. So you could mix a complex co-ordinated motif, with a easier motif which is designed to convey an emotion eg, anger, sadness happiness, cheekiness etc.


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About the Author

Lincoln has his own business, Total Fitness, and has a BSc degree in Recreation Management and Sports Science. He has been involved in the fitness industry for 20 years and has presented fitness and aerobic sessions in over 35 different countries, including Italy, Spain, Holland, Germany France, Hong Kong, and Mexico. Linx has toured the UK presenting his unique stylised sessions, and is the creator of 20 fitness videos. In between organising his own fitness and dance days, he had his own TV Slot on the popular Big Breakfast TV Show, teaching streetdance fitness. He currently works as a lecturer at London Leisure College, and was the first instructor in the UK to gain the CYQ Level 3 Advanced Studio instructor award, as well as the original writer for the YMCA Streetdance for Kids course.

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