You've heard the words. Popping and Locking. You've seen it on dance reality shows and you're probably picturing somebody doing it right now. But do you know how it started?
Today we're going to look at popping. For those that don't know, popping is a dance where basically different parts of the body jerk in time to the beat, giving the 'popper' the look of a funky dancing robot (or Ironman). This technique is done by the 'popper' contracting and then relaxing their muscles in time to the beat.
Where did it start? Popping kicked off in the late 60's in California, and more specifically Northern California, in San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond. The style was not known as 'Popping' back then, but was still recognisable as the foundation of the style that we see today.
'Popping' became more nationally known in the mid-70's, when a dancer going by the name of Boogaloo Sam coined the term 'Popping' and put his own unique spin on the already popular style. Sam started up the 'Electric Boogaloos' crew in 1978, the same year they appeared on the popular tv show 'Soul Train', giving the dance a much needed boost in profile.
After the Electric Boogaloos took it mainstream, different types of popping appeared in other parts of the US, most of which are still key elements of popping technique today - waving, animation, tuttin, scarecrow and strobing.
Around about this time, Breaking started blowing up in New York, and it was this point that Boogaloo Sam's success started to dissapate. New Yorkers called their style of Popping 'Electric Boogie' and added it in as a Breakdance move, which didn't sit well with the Popping purists.
In the early 80's Breakdance (and subsequently popping) were featured in a bunch of successful movies like 'Flashdance' and 'Breakin', and had massive commercial success, with of course lead to its popularity dying off almost as quickly as it came.
As with most Breakdance styles, Popping was looked upon through the late 80's and 90's as a novelty, with the robot a staple dance move at any retro party. It wasn't until the Breakdance revival spread worldwide through the 90's and 00's, that people began to appreciate the talent and skill involved in doing popping well.
Today, through the strong networks of Poppers and Popping crews worldwide and the proliferation of popping on TV shows such as America's Best Dance Crew, Popping remains a technically challenging and endlessly fascinating dance style.
Next week... History of Locking
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