1980s
Evolution of Hip Hop
When hip hop first started it was a performative, but informal, dance culture. B-boys and b-girls (terms introduced by DJ Herc) would be invited to show off their moves by other people on the street, on the basketball court, or wherever the group happened to be. As the moves became more institutionalized (for example, breaking, popping, and locking), and more and more dancers got caught up in the rhythms of the music, more formal dance venues arose. While these performances were more formal, the competitive nature of hip hop remained, as well as the circular nature of the audience surrounding the dancers.
In the 1980s and 90s more clubs featured hip hop DJs, especially in the larger cities, and dancers of all skill levels would hit the dance floor. Both informal and formal competitions often arose. Informal competitions started when a few truly exceptional dancers were noticed on the dance floor; the rest of the people would back off and allow the leaders to duke it out. As these informal competitions became increasingly common and popular, announced competitions became part of a night out at hip hop clubs. Whether they arose organically or they were advertised in advance, this competitive nature helped hip hop retain the "battle" culture that has existed since the beginning. This type of competition can also be seen in other dance forms, perhaps most notably in tap dancing of the early 20th century.
*The Hammer Dance (Mc Hammer)
MC Hammer brought rap music to the mainstream audience with his album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, the biggest-selling rap album of all time.
Born into poverty in Oakland, California, in 1962, MC Hammer began his performing career as a young boy dancing outside the Oakland Coliseum during Oakland A's games. He launched himself into full-fledged stardom with the 1990 release Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, the first recording credited with bringing rap to the mainstream. After a rapid financial downfall, Hammer has rebounded as a musician and businessman.
Rap artist MC Hammer was born Stanley Kirk Burrell in Oakland, California. His father, Lewis Burrell, worked as a warehouse supervisor for several years before gambling took over his life and nearly drove the family to ruin.
Fortunately for his son, Stanley never inherited his father's gambling gene. Instead, his passions lay with music, baseball and dancing. By the age of 11, young Burrell was regularly earning money performing dance routines outside Oakland Coliseum during A's home games.
By chance, he caught the attention of the team's owner, Chuck Finley, and was invited to watch a game from his luxury box. Finley grew fond of the Burrell and eventually hired him as the team's batboy.
Burrell, who played second base in high school, was a talented baseball player as well and later earned himself a tryout with the San Francisco Giants. However, he failed to make the final cut, ending the young ballplayer's hopes of playing in the majors.
Even as he dreamed of playing professional baseball, Burrell never turned his back on music. While working for the A's, he adopted the moniker "MC," for "Master of Ceremonies," and performed at various clubs when the A's traveled out of town. It was also during this time that he acquired the nickname "Hammer," for his resemblance to home-run king Hank "The Hammer" Aaron. *Moonwalk Dance
In 1982, Michael Jackson made history by performing what became known as the "moonwalk dance" before an amazed crowd on the MoTown 25 television show. He was performing his hit Billie Jean, and to this day the distinctive bass sound of that song brings to mind the strangely fluid backwards-walking motion. As Michael himself has said, though, he was far from the first person to use that move.
It might be thought that the "moonwalk" move wasn't even created by humans, as there is a Central American bird called the red-capped manakin that does a similar move in a mating dance. For the purposes of human mating dances, though, the roots of the moonwalk are more diverse.
Michael Jackson has credited a couple of sources for his inspiration for the move: one, children he saw playing dance and two, the famous mime Marcel Marceau who used a variation of the move in his iconic "Walking Against the Wind" routine. It's just as likely, though, that Jackson saw it in a number of other performances: * 1932 Cab Calloway, one of the greatest jazz performers, performed this move during a live-action segment of the cartoon Minnie the Moocher(featuring Betty Boop). * 1943 Tap dancer Bill Bailey included this move in his repertoire. * 1981 Timothy 'Popin Pete' Solomon (part of the "Electric Boogaloos" troupe) performed a moonwalk dance as part of the Talking HeadsCrosseyed And Painless music video. * 1982 On the same show that Jackson would be on, MoTown 25, Jeffrey Daniels danced it during Shalamar's performance of A Night to Remember.
Regardless of where it started, the dance has spread all over the world, including variants such as the "side glide" (a moonwalk to the side) and the "airwalk" (moonwalking without actually moving from place to place. Part of the popularity is just how easy it is to learn.
*Toe-stand
A Michael Jackson move done immediately at the end of either the moonwalk or spin. Simply stand on the very tips of your toes and bend your knees so it looks like you are sitting in air. Can also be done by standing up straight standing on the inner-front part of your feet.
*Leg Kick Line
At a club in Salt Lake City called Confetti's every time Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners came on we would form a straight line shoulder in shoulder, arms over the person next to you, when the music in the last section slowed down. As the music sped back up we would do alternating leg kicks on each beat, first knee kick then leg kick, switch legs, knee kick then leg kick, switch legs. As the music gets faster so does the kicking till, if you were fast enough you could kick all the way though the fast beats, then the group would break up for the end of the song.
*Lambada
It was the last hot dance craze of the 80s, a high-performance version of Dirty Dancing. You just basically straddle your partner's thigh and bump and grind. Sometimes the man spins the woman at lightning-fast speeds. It was - and still is - by far the sexiest dance I've ever known.
*The Headache
It was first performed by Janet Jackson in the video where she is in a big dance studio, she is alone and she shows off the cabbage patch as well. You swing your head back to the right then down and back to the other side, then repeat. Bending your arms and swinging them the same way your head is moving.
*The Ickey Shuffle
Originator Ickey Woods popularized this maneuver as a celebratory touchdown dance during the Cincinnati Bengals 1988 season. Football in right hand, extend right arm, shuffle two steps to right; switch football to left hand, extend left arm, shuffle two steps to left; rinse and repeat.
*The Prep
Very big in 1984, where you're center then step to the right with both feet, pointing up with palms flat and fingers together. Then back to the center pointing both of your hands downwards. Then to the left pointing your hands (palms flat, fingers together) up towards the left, then back. There are many variations to this dance going opposite of your partner reaching out like your mixing dominoes on the table when your centered, and so on.
*YMCA
In 1978, the Village People performed a song called “YMCA”. This group used cheerleading arm position to spell out letters and became largely popular during the 1980s.