I decided to bump this thread. I feel I have something to add in hip hop dancing and battles which hasn’t been covered much.
Background
At the time I started to learn how to dance was the time when You Got Served, Stomp the Yard, America’s Best Dance Crew and all the hip hop dance movies were really starting. How I learned was looked up Youtube videos of actual professional hip hop dancers and groups. Danced in front a mirror and also sometimes recorded myself. My friend also learned how to dance with me so we could provide feedback to each other. It took us about one summer to get good. I lived in a small Midwestern city of around only 50,000 people but many larger cities within a 1 hour drive.
Field Test (Dance "Battles")
At this point my friend and I were pretty good. We decided to go to dance clubs that played mostly hip hop music just to see how good we were. One problem was we were under 21 so we could only go to nights when they 18 year olds in but we made due. From all these movies being out, everyone that had a little bit of moves thought they could be in one of those movies and would show off in these clubs. Then first night we did this, a group of guys were doing this. All we did was approach them and asked if they wanted to “battle”.
The Actual Battle
We cleared people out of the way and made a large circle for everybody to watch just like the movies. The difference is in real life pretty much everyone would dance one at a time. One person from your crew goes then one from there’s. We wait for a good song to start the battle. Sometimes battles would last 1 minute. Other times they would last 15. One guy from their crew goes. Better than an average dancer but had no business doing it in front of that many people watching. Their whole crew is like that. We end up beating them pretty handily. We were still needed to improve though because we danced nervous, didn’t transition between moves great.
Results
We knew no one there. Guys came up and asked where we learned to dance and congratulated us. All the girls wanted to get a chance to dance with us and hang out with after the club. We did not have to do a single approach all the women flooded to us. They instantly assumed we could fuck because we could dance. Plus in a hip hop dance club, if you can beat everybody in a “battle” you are now kings in that venue. My friend and I became monsters at dance “battles”. We would toy with the opposition, learned to play the crowd. We had it made and locked down one particular place.
Our reputation had spread to the point where people would drive 2 hours to come and “battle” us. We rarely ever lost. Win Percentage=95+%. If we did lose we would come back with a vengeance and regain our reputation. People would actually steal our moves and use them against us.
How We Would Win
We would win because we would incorporate all different sub-styles of hip hop dancing and other dancing into ours so we were versatile. If they were better than us at a sub style we would use it less and use the ones we were much stronger than them in.
Styles We Incorporated
Popping
This would include moves like making your arms, legs and body do a wave or any "popping" of any body parts.
Tutting
Use of your arms and hands in different angles made in a dancing motion. Named after King Tut because it looks similar to the Egyptian dance but just made to look good. Perfect for Tuthmosis.
Jitting
A Detroit style dance with a lot of feet movement.
Krumping
An explosive style that almost looks your fighting. You swing your arms and legs violently, jump around a lot. Looks very out of control and easy but is difficult and exhausting.
Robot
This is self-explanatory. People give the robot a lot of shit but that’s because most people don’t do it well. If one correctly it can look very good and original.
Michael Jackson
I loved to use some of MJ’s moves but just adding a twist of my own. Sliding my feet, spins movements with the head, and the commitment to the moves; I always made sure to take notes of how he danced.
Personal Twist
Another key would be to always put your own twist on these dancing styles by combining some moves of both or just creating your own moves.
Overall Pros and Cons
Pros
1.Social proof through the roof
2.Places Locked Down
3.Local Celebrity Status
4.Girls would Approach You and Want to Hangout, party, fuck etc.
5.Girls would think you could fuck before you said a word to them
6.Can transition to other dancing styles easily
7.Thrill of Competition
8.Great workout
Cons
1.Expected to dance every time you go out even if you don’t want to
2.Can Burn out easily from all the “battles”
Summary
From Hip hop “battle” dancing I got a lot of lays, social proof, local celebrity status and the ability to bridge into other dancing. I also got burned out from all the weekly dance battles after about 3 years. I still get asked to dance all the time even though it’s been over 5 years since I stopped doing the battles. I still dance individually once in a while and all the pros still come back. Being a good dancer never goes out of style.
Background
At the time I started to learn how to dance was the time when You Got Served, Stomp the Yard, America’s Best Dance Crew and all the hip hop dance movies were really starting. How I learned was looked up Youtube videos of actual professional hip hop dancers and groups. Danced in front a mirror and also sometimes recorded myself. My friend also learned how to dance with me so we could provide feedback to each other. It took us about one summer to get good. I lived in a small Midwestern city of around only 50,000 people but many larger cities within a 1 hour drive.
Field Test (Dance "Battles")
At this point my friend and I were pretty good. We decided to go to dance clubs that played mostly hip hop music just to see how good we were. One problem was we were under 21 so we could only go to nights when they 18 year olds in but we made due. From all these movies being out, everyone that had a little bit of moves thought they could be in one of those movies and would show off in these clubs. Then first night we did this, a group of guys were doing this. All we did was approach them and asked if they wanted to “battle”.
The Actual Battle
We cleared people out of the way and made a large circle for everybody to watch just like the movies. The difference is in real life pretty much everyone would dance one at a time. One person from your crew goes then one from there’s. We wait for a good song to start the battle. Sometimes battles would last 1 minute. Other times they would last 15. One guy from their crew goes. Better than an average dancer but had no business doing it in front of that many people watching. Their whole crew is like that. We end up beating them pretty handily. We were still needed to improve though because we danced nervous, didn’t transition between moves great.
Results
We knew no one there. Guys came up and asked where we learned to dance and congratulated us. All the girls wanted to get a chance to dance with us and hang out with after the club. We did not have to do a single approach all the women flooded to us. They instantly assumed we could fuck because we could dance. Plus in a hip hop dance club, if you can beat everybody in a “battle” you are now kings in that venue. My friend and I became monsters at dance “battles”. We would toy with the opposition, learned to play the crowd. We had it made and locked down one particular place.
Our reputation had spread to the point where people would drive 2 hours to come and “battle” us. We rarely ever lost. Win Percentage=95+%. If we did lose we would come back with a vengeance and regain our reputation. People would actually steal our moves and use them against us.
How We Would Win
We would win because we would incorporate all different sub-styles of hip hop dancing and other dancing into ours so we were versatile. If they were better than us at a sub style we would use it less and use the ones we were much stronger than them in.
Styles We Incorporated
Popping
This would include moves like making your arms, legs and body do a wave or any "popping" of any body parts.
Tutting
Use of your arms and hands in different angles made in a dancing motion. Named after King Tut because it looks similar to the Egyptian dance but just made to look good. Perfect for Tuthmosis.
Jitting
A Detroit style dance with a lot of feet movement.
Krumping
An explosive style that almost looks your fighting. You swing your arms and legs violently, jump around a lot. Looks very out of control and easy but is difficult and exhausting.
Robot
This is self-explanatory. People give the robot a lot of shit but that’s because most people don’t do it well. If one correctly it can look very good and original.
Michael Jackson
I loved to use some of MJ’s moves but just adding a twist of my own. Sliding my feet, spins movements with the head, and the commitment to the moves; I always made sure to take notes of how he danced.
Personal Twist
Another key would be to always put your own twist on these dancing styles by combining some moves of both or just creating your own moves.
Overall Pros and Cons
Pros
1.Social proof through the roof
2.Places Locked Down
3.Local Celebrity Status
4.Girls would Approach You and Want to Hangout, party, fuck etc.
5.Girls would think you could fuck before you said a word to them
6.Can transition to other dancing styles easily
7.Thrill of Competition
8.Great workout
Cons
1.Expected to dance every time you go out even if you don’t want to
2.Can Burn out easily from all the “battles”
Summary
From Hip hop “battle” dancing I got a lot of lays, social proof, local celebrity status and the ability to bridge into other dancing. I also got burned out from all the weekly dance battles after about 3 years. I still get asked to dance all the time even though it’s been over 5 years since I stopped doing the battles. I still dance individually once in a while and all the pros still come back. Being a good dancer never goes out of style.