House Dance
One of my goals for this blog is learning about all the different styles that fall under the umbrella of hip hop dance. While I’ve jumped right into the practical side of things by attending local classes, to fully respect the culture it’s also important for me to do some research and learn the theory. To begin I’m super keen to delve into the history of house dance.
My first encounter with house was through a young dancer named Kazane based in Saitama, Japan. Footage of one of her classes appeared on my twitter feed and I was instantly captivated by her smooth but rhythmic movements. At the time I was ignorant enough to lump her choreography under the typical hip hop genre, however after further inspection of her Instagram account I came to understand what she specialised in was known as house dance. Check out one of her recent viral twitter uploads where she choregraphed to ‘Ego’ by j-hope.
Now a quick glance in to the history of the style. House dance first appeared in the late 70’s and early 80’s and it rapidly became a trend in the underground clubs of Chicago and New York. Just like every form of dance, house was influenced by many existing styles. This list includes African dance, tap, Latin dance and even martial arts, all of which combined to create this unique type of movement. Having originated from the peoples love of house music, the dance style is all about self-expression, freedom, improvisation, rhythm and musicality.
There are 3 main foundations of house dance. The first is ‘Jacking’ which is a grooving, rocking motion that can be incorporated within all house movements. The next is ‘Footwork’, this is pretty self-explanatory and is where the tap and Latin Dance influences come in to play. The last foundation is ‘Lofting’ which is a series of fluid floor work. The following video is a classic demonstration of how each of the listed techniques and combined and integrated into a house dancer’s movements to create the iconic look and feel of house dance.
Below you can watch my attempt at the house piece by Kazane included earlier in this post. While not quite as smooth as the original choreographer, I’m determined to get a better grasp on house dance. Not to mention Kazane reposted my video on her Instagram story! Which is incredibly encouraging, I’m glad I’m off to a good start.
