3/26/2013

History of Popping

In the 1960’s during the music revolution with all the changes in the music business a dance called “The Robot” was created from dancers influenced from watching movies with Robots. This dance was made famous from a dancer named Bill “The Robot” Williams of the Lockers crew. It was a part of the dance called Locking at the time.
In the mid 70’s in Fresno California a young dancer named Sam Solomon created a dance called Electric Boogaloo. Today this dance is called Boug Style Popping and was perfected from him and his brother Pete (Later on known as Popping Pete) and later on moves were added from the rest of the members of Sam’s crew (The Electric Boogaloos). Sam thought that he had created a new style of Locking from watching the Lockers on a T.V show called Soul Train and inspired by Bill “The Robot”.  He even named his 1st crew “Electric Boogaloo Lockers”.
The name Boogaloo actually means dance and Sam heard his uncle one day saying “Yeah Boy! Do that Boogaloo!” After that Sam was known as Boogaloo Sam and the crew as Electric Boogaloos. Boogaloo is characterized by fluidity use of every part of the body, rolling the hips, knees and head. The style is a combination of “The Robot” and the smooth isolations of mime.
popping john

Popping was created by dancers wanting to look tough like gangsters in Los Angeles and Oakland when they danced. Popping is characterized by jerky movements resulting from flexing the muscles at parts of the body. When dancers Popped they would mutter “Pop, Pop” every time they flexed so it became known as Popping. Hitting is a term used when flexing the muscles harder and sudden as if trying to scare somebody. At the same time dancers watching the waves down at the beach and imitating them with there body movements were creating a dance called Waving.  Electro was an effect they gave to Waving when they moved the waves through the body as if they caught some electricity. Inspired by the game Tetris, the Tetris system was created having the arms and hand movement fall in places like the bricks in the game. Later on Tetris connected with the King Tut system that reminded Egyptian dancing like in the hieroglyphics and influenced by cartoons like Looney Toons forming the system called Tutting. Toy-man system of moves was inspired by play mobile figures and action figures that were out on the market having the body imitate the toy figure moves. Sliding and Gliding give the illusion that the dancer’s feet are floating on the surface and sometimes looks like ice skating. Scarecrow is a part of Popping that reminds exactly what its name implies dancing with the arms out like a scarecrow. Air Posing is an exaggeration of breathing in and out making shapes at the same time. Crazy Legs created by Popping Pete has the legs moving at a different direction from the body and finally look like they re-attach themselves to the direction that the body is going. Strutting has the body breaking one movement towards a spot to many smaller movements and with the Strobing effect it makes it look like there is a strobe light on the dancer at the time. Spiderman is a style imitating the movements of the legendary comic hero when he is going up a building attached on the wall like a spider.

Related styles { Kinds }

 Animation

Animatronics

Boogaloo 

Bopping 

Crazy legs 

Dime stopping

Floating,gliding and sliding

Miming

Puppet

Robot/botting

Scarecrow 

Strobing 

Struttin

Ticking

Toyman

Tutting/King Tut

Waving

Isolation 


Best Poppper Ever

All these dances, styles and systems combined with Electric Boogaloo otherwise known as Boug Style Popping under the term “Popping”. The Electric Boogaloos made Popping famous all over the world starting from the T.V show Soul Train following the Lockers footsteps and taking it into stage performance shows all over the globe.

24 comments:

  1. Robert Murraine is best popper ever

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  2. Was Sam ever even considered the best? I know the question sounds silly but, its still a valid one. Who can answer it objectively with no bias? Who did Sam have to go through to be seen as the best, creator or not. Who did Sam battle on record besides Robot Dane, which is pretty much a wash since he was a former member in my opinion.

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    Replies
    1. Good question.. One would just assume so, but I get what you mean.

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    2. Good question.. One would just assume so, but I get what you mean.

      Delete
  3. No popper can ever be considered the best because one of true and hard fact...Change is constant...i.e. See poppers like Robert Muraine then Hoan and then Kite...All of them are legends in popping but do all three do the same thing...Some would say yes, because obviously all three are poppers then one would say no because do all three do the same thing. NO...Kite boogaloos...hoan animates..waves whereas in my opinion Robert has a very abstract style...and hence, the real question arises....What is pop[ping ? and how do you judge...Get my point..

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  4. Robert n pacmam are not poppers by ogs standards because they don't get down they only do tricks and throw down...where as hoan.hozin...greenteck..frantick and money b are real poppers coz they do both....

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  5. what is the technic for popping improve?

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  6. I feel like there's a stigma about the ballet, opera, etc. for people my age. Hopefully, we can all get them to come around.






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  7. Can you also add a note about the "animation" style that people like Bluprint (Bluprint01) on youtube are pretty good at? Is it a subgenre of popping?

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  8. this is associated very determinate article to inform about deep Dance Style Knowledge. thanks for update that post.







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  9. Great History of Popping Pearls In the 1960’s during the music revolution with all the changes in the music business a dance called “The Robot” was created from dancers influenced from watching movies with Robots.

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  11. Boogaloo Sam did a great work to event this Dance Popping

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  12. What thing sam soloman take from the locking style to create a popping style

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  13. Wow! I am very happy to read this. Actually Fantastic. Glowdiators, one of the best led dance group in India is ready to help you with innovative dance forms for promoting your brand . The Glowdiators based at Delhi and moving in all parts of the country with their amazing led Tron dance performances. Some of the expert dancers since 2007 in the country thought to do something different and formed "The Glowdiators" in the urge to do something different in the art of creative and performing dance.

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  14. What is history of popping? Actually.

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