How to Breakdance

Guide Note: Calling all would-be b-boys and b-girls. Executing the virtuosic breakdancing moves you see in clubs and on TV isn’t as tough as you think so long as you’re willing to practice, practice, practice.

How to Breakdance will introduce you to some basic breakdancing moves and a few advanced ones. Just be sure to take it slow, and save the headspins for the pros.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

  • Breakdancing is a form of highly-athletic hip hop street dance that originated in the South Bronx in the early 1970s. Scholars will argue that its roots run much deeper. You'll see b-boy and b-girl poses and cyphers in everything from West African dance to Brazilian capoeira. No matter where it originated, there's no arguing about what breakdancing is today—one of the most exciting forms of dance there is. You'll see it in clubs, on television, at concerts, in dance studios and on streets around the world.
  • While some of breakdancing's more athletic moves may require Herculean upper body strength, there's plenty of room for beginners. Breakdancing is as much about feeling the music and style as it is about aerial flips and daredevil drops to the floor. How to Breakdance will introduce you to some of the more basic elements of a breaking routine. Get a couple under your belt, and you'll be ready to hit the dance floor.

Preparing to Breakdance

  • Breakdancing is an athletic form of dance. While anyone can get their toprock on, it’s not advisable to practice any "power moves" without a teacher's supervision or a willingness to go very, very slowly. If you're out of shape, don't try a 6-step right out of the gate. Build your upper body strength, get into the rhythm of the music and perfect your standing routine before you make friends with the floor.
  • Here are a few things to keep in mind as you begin your breakdance education:
Some breakdancing moves require upper body strength. (Creative Commons Photo by Kris Krüg)
Some breakdancing moves require upper body strength. (Creative Commons Photo by Kris Krüg)
  1. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. Breakdancing requires a lot of squatting and loose-limbed movements. Be sure you're ready to move without splitting your pants.
  2. Wear protective gear. If you're trying on-the-floor moves for the first time, wear knee and elbow pads to protect your joints.
  3. Practice on a wood floor or mats. You can't breakdance on carpet. You need a slick surface that allows you to glide and spin. (That's why old school breakers laid down cardboard over concrete to dance.)
  4. Warm Up. You need to get your muscles warm and your heart pumping before you begin any serious work-out, and breakdancing is a serious work-out. (Even robot dancers warm up.)
  5. Listen to Hip Hop. Breaking isn't just an isolated form of dance. It's one of the four elements of hip hop and part of a broader culture. You'll appreciate breaking that much more if you understand where it comes from.
  6. Watch breakdancing videos online. Immerse yourself in the dance by watching all the great breakdancing videos on YouTube. Steal moves, work on your own style and find some idols to emulate.
  7. Work out your arms and abs. Most breakdancing power moves and freezes require strong arms and abs. Visit your local gym, and ask for help identifying exercises that will help strengthen your biceps, triceps and abs.
  8. Find a breakdancing class. Breaking has been around long enough that it has become institutionalized to a degree. Most large to medium-sized cities will have dance studios which offer breakdancing classes. It’s never a bad idea to begin a difficult form of dance with a professional teacher.

Elements of a Breakdancing Routine

  • Breakdancing is highly improvisatory. A b-boy or b-girl has a certain vocabulary of moves, but how he or she strings those moves together into a sentence is entirely dependent on how he or she feels at any given moment. Breakdancing is as much about developing your own style and voice as it is about perfecting acrobatic tricks.
(Creative Commons Photo by mK B.)
(Creative Commons Photo by mK B.)
  • While you decide which moves to bust out and when, there is a loose overall structure to a breakdancing routine. When you watch someone take their turn on the floor, you'll typically see the following:
  1. Toprock: Any combination of rhythmic steps performed in a standing position. This is used both as a warm-up and as a means of displaying a dancer's style.
  2. Downrock: Footwork performed on the floor using both the hands and feet for support. The most basic move in a downrock is the 6-step.
  3. Power Moves: The most physically demanding and acrobatic breakdancing moves. Power moves include windmills, swipes and flares.
  4. Climatic Move: The punctuation mark on the sentence. The climatic move is typically a freeze or a suicide. Most freezes are a posed variation on a handstand. A suicide is a dramatic fall to the floor that looks uncontrolled.

Lesson 1: Toprocking

  • The toprock is any combination of moves done standing up. While there is a standard toprock movement, you’ll see everything from modified Charlestons to fancy spins incorporated into a dancer’s standing routine. Toprocking is used both as a means of warming up and as an expression of a dancer's style.
  • The following describes one of the most basic toprock movements:
  1. Start with your legs shoulder-width apart.
  2. Cross your right leg in front of your body. Jump onto the right foot. (Put all your weight on it. Your left foot should be lifted with no weight on it.)
  3. Come back to your starting position.
  4. Cross your left leg in front of your body. Jump onto the left foot. (Put all your weight on it. Your right foot should be lifted with no weight on it.)
  5. Come back to your starting position.
  6. Repeat.
    • Throughout the movement, your upper body should stay centered over your hips. It shouldn't lean into the step. Your arms should be loose and can open up as you step forward.

Toprocking with Lady Jules

Lesson 2: The 6-Step

  • The 6-Step is one of breaking’s essential moves. A funky toprock and a smooth 6-Step is your home base on the dance floor. You can always come back to it.
  1. Start on the floor in a crab position.
    • To get into this position, sit on the floor, plant your feet in front of you, place your hands behind you and lift your hips off the floor. Your weight is now fully supported by your legs and your arms.
  2. Count One: Extend your right leg to the front. It should cross slightly in front of your left leg. Stretch your left arm out above your head.
  3. Count Two: Extend your left leg back. Both your right and left legs are now straight.
  4. Count Three: Take your right leg back. Lower your left hand. You're now in a plank or push-up position.
  5. Count Four: Lift your right hand above your head, and put your left leg through—extending it from the back to the front.
  6. Count Five: Bend your right leg, and place it behind your left knee. Your left knee should bend when you do this.
  7. Count Six: Return to the original crab position.

Tip: To do this move smoothly, most of your weight should be taken by your arms. Stay as light on your feet as possible.


How to 6-Step with Scotty Nguyen

Note: If you can't do a push-up or hold the plank position for more than a few seconds, you should not attempt this move. Build up to it by doing plenty of push-ups and crunches to strengthen your abdominals. You have to be able to hold your hips up throughout the entire move.

Lesson 3: The Baby Freeze

  • A freeze is exactly what it sounds like. The dancer stops and poses before moving on to the next step or ending his or her turn on the dance floor. One of the easiest freezes to do is the baby freeze because you can use your head as well as your arms for support, and you don’t have to lift your legs into a full headstand position. The number one rule with learning a freeze, however, is to take it slow.
  1. Start in squatting position.
  2. Reach both of your hands over to the right side of your body.
  3. Place both of your hands on the floor. (Your hands should be pointing in opposite directions—one to the front, one to the back.)
    • You want to keep your arms as close to your body as possible. Your bended right arm is actually going to push into your side during the freeze, and your bended left arm is going to form a shelf to rest your right knee on during the freeze.
  4. Lean your body (still in the squat position) all the way over your bended arms, and rest your head on the ground. Your right foot should be off the floor with your knee resting on the shelf formed by your left arm.
  5. Lift your left leg up. You are now in the freeze position. Your body weight is being supported by your head and your two bended arms.

The Baby Freeze Lesson with Lady Jules

Lesson 4: The Back Spin

  • The backspin is a breakdancing classic. If you grew up in the early 80s, you may have tried it a few times on your own piece of cardboard. The spin is all about the momentum you gain by whipping your legs into the spin and slowly drawing them in towards your body.
  1. Sit on the floor.
  2. Open your legs out in front of you as though you're getting ready to stretch or do a center split.
  3. Swing your right leg with as much power as you can over your left leg.
    • This whipping motion of the right leg is what gives you the momentum to start your spin.
  4. As your right leg comes around, go down to your back.
    • Don't spin on your lower back. Spin closer to the area between your shoulder blades. You want to keep your hips lifted off the floor.
  5. The left leg catches up and comes together with the right leg. As you start to spin, draw your legs and arms slowly in.

The Backspin Lesson with Lady Jules

Other Breakdancing Moves

  • Ready for more breakdancing moves? There are literally hundreds of tricks, variations and routines to be discovered. You’ll find dozens of instructional videos online, and there may even be breakdancing classes at a dance studio near you.
  • The best way to discover new moves, however, is by dancing with others. Find a club or mess around with your friends. Try incorporating movements from other parts of your life into your breaking routine. Some of most memorable moves you'll see on the dance floor or in competitions were borrowed from the martial arts, gymnastics and movies like The Matrix.
  • In the meantime, here are links to instructional videos of a few classic power moves and freezes:

Breakin' and Poppin' with Alfonso Ribeiro

Resources for How to Breakdance

Breakdancing Inspiration: Movies and Videos

How to Breakdance Videos

Related Searches

Breakdance | How to Do The 6-Step | How to Do a Baby Freeze | How to Do a Backspin | History of Hip Hop | How to Dance in a Nightclub | How to Waltz | So You Think You Can Dance



Have any great tips on How to Breakdance? Post your thoughts to the discussion board or email them to Julia: Julia at mahalo dot com.