Hip-Hop Dance vs Ballet: What Young Dancers Really Need
by Kiner Enterprises Inc. (Danceruniverse.com)
There’s definitely been a huge change over the past ten years as Hip-Hop dance entered mainstream America, and caused a frenzy!
Once dance studios started offering Hip-Hop dance classes, things really began to change! There developed a different mindset on the part of many young dancers nationwide as Hip-Hop became the “thing to do”, and other core dance disciplines like ballet, modern, and jazz, became less important. I’ve never understood how a young dancer can take a Jazz or Lyrical dance class, without first taking Ballet. Not to mention, dance students nowadays who only want to take Hip-Hop, and nothing else. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against students who only want to take Hip-Hop, and may even aspire to become a Hip-Hop dancer one day, but I find that many of these students lack a certain level of discipline. A level of discipline that is taught and instilled through core disciplines like Ballet (and others). I believe that Ballet is the foundation for many types of dance. It is where you learn about your body, how to stand, how to move, how to hold your body, how to control it, how to strengthen it, how to sustain it, and how to push it beyond its limits…
However, many students use Hip-Hop as a cop out, another way to avoid having to work too hard, follow too many rules or guidelines, and feel free to be lazy. It’s hard to be lazy in Ballet, it’s not as hard to be lazy in Hip-Hop…..
Hip-Hop dance is a very strong, powerful, expressive, complex, and creative art form. The essence of Hip-hop comes from the streets of New York, the hustle, the struggle, a very aggressive way of expressing the different experiences of life. It’s never been about being lazy, being mediocre, or comfortable. It’s always been about experimentation, energy, battling, challenging yourself, and trying to be the best…..
I do believe that we as dance teachers have a responsibility to really educate our students, and instill the values and respect for dance as an art form that existed when we were kids. We must teach them to truly understand the amount of hard work, discipline, and dedication it takes to become a professional dancer of any sort, be it Hip-Hop, Ballet, Ballroom, etc. The title of Dancer, is one that is earned, not given.
i am only a pre teen and everybody says i am great at hip hop dancing so i want to be discovered for it.please give me some advice or some thing to help me out thank you,
allison 11 yrs old
You say ballet is where you learn about your body, how to stand, how to move, how to hold your body, how to control it, how to strengthen it, how to sustain it, and how to push it beyond its limits… BUT you also learn that in Hip Hop. I’m not talking about mainstream Hip Hop where you see ass shaking in music videos but REAL Hip Hop. For example, bboying, popping, locking, etc. You learn how to control your muscles, how to move, how to push yourself to the limit, etc. with the art of Hip Hop. Bboying takes a LOT of discipline and flavor, and same goes for popping. You cannot bboy or pop if you don’t know how to control your body.
In dance studios, you may see students taking Hip Hop as a way to avoid having to work hard, but that’s on the instructor also. You should teach your students how to isolate & how to control muscles in particular parts of their body. There may not be any rules or guidelines physically written, but if you think about it, there really is. How do you become a true bboy if you don’t know foundation? How do you become a true popper if you don’t know foundation? How do you become a ballerina if you don’t know foundation? How do you really become anything if you don’t know foundation?
You say it’s hard to be lazy in Ballet & not as hard to be lazy in Hip Hop, but anybody can be lazy if they don’t put their mind to it. I took ballet class and because I wasn’t interested in it or motivated, I did my stuff lazily. So don’t say that Hip Hop is a way for students to avoid having to work too hard because Hip Hop requires a LOT of work if taught correctly and if you have motivated students. Teaching Hip Hop without teaching the foundation isn’t teaching Hip Hop at all but teaching “dance moves” to mainstream “Hip Hop” music.
I agree completely with jessica. I respect dance as a whole no matter what form it is. I also have no interest in the more classical forms of dance such as ballet ballroom etc… I am currently a dstudent at northwest school of the arts and i myself take ballet, modern, and jazz, but i am a popping bboy asd well as hip hop choreographer. There isn’t anything that you cant be lazy in. For a while i was lazy in my ballet but i have gained a new respect for the form itself rather then just the dancers who love it. Just as i work on pointing my feet and my pas de bras…i sit and stare in the mirror to make sure every part of my body is isolated as i wave or i make sure i execute with my six step with the propper technique, Isolations are just as hard as arobesques. I learned the importance of discipline and hard work without ballet. I believe the go hand and hand just as my new found semnse of ballance from ballet helps me with freezes, my leg strength from breaking helps me soar through the air when doing leaps or barrels. If you ask me the 2 styles can go hand in hand, mixing together to create something beautiful just like penut butter and jelly.
Brian Washburn 16 years old