House dance hip-hop dance style

House dance itself is a lot older than house music, which arose in the early 1980s upon the end of the disco era during the times of such nightclubs as Chicago's Warehouse, New York's The Loft and Paradise Garage. It is called house dance because it was developed in the clubs rather than on the street. House dance takes from many different dance elements such as the Lindy era, African, Latin, Brazilian, jazz, tap, and even modern. Contrary to popular belief, house dance is not a descendant of hip hop dance. It didn't come out of hip hop culture, it didn't come from the streets, and most of the time it's danced to house or disco music rather than hip hop music. However, many hip-hop dancers have crossed into house dance and brought in their sequence of steps. House is now a popular form of dance throughout the world in which people are now competing (sometimes even for cash prizes).

Characteristics

House dance incorporates movements from many other sources such as Capoeira, tap, jazz, bebop, and salsa. It includes a variety of techniques and sub-styles that include skating, stomping, and shuffling.

One of the primary elements in house dancing is a technique called jacking that came from Chicago and involves moving the torso forward and backward in a rippling motion, as if a wave were passing through it. This movement is repeated and sped up to match the beat of a song. This technique is the most important movement in house dancing because it is the foundation that initiates more complex movements and footwork. All footwork in house dancing is said to initiate from the way the jack moves the center of gravity through space. Other than footwork, jacking, and lofting, house dance has grown to include other related styles such as vogue, waacking, and hustle.

In house dancing there is an emphasis on the subtle rhythms and riffs of the music, and the footwork follows them closely. This is one of the main features that distinguishes house dancing from dancing that was done to disco before house emerged and current dancing that is done to techno as part of the rave culture.

Major contributors to the house dance scene in the US include Brian "Footwork" Green, Marjory Smarth, Caleaf Sellers, Ejoe Wilson, Terry Wright, Shannon Mabra, and Tony McGregor. Many others before them danced at places such as The Warehouse in Chicago, Paradise Garage and The Loft in NYC.