Element One Club Info

Welcome to the Element 1 website. We are a University of Michigan club that promotes the art of bboying/bgirling (breakdancing) and the various funk styles (popping and locking) through teaching, performing, and holding events.

Refer to the history section to learn more about the club.

To learn more about our club and experience what we do, come to one of the sessions and see for yourself.

Below is a little Background

B-Boying/B-Girling aka "Break Dancing"

B-Boying/B-Girling is the proper term for the dance commonly known as and incorrectly termed "Break Dancing." The "B" in B-Boy and B-girl is short for "break." The "break" describes the part of a song where everything except for the beat cuts out, and not the likelihood of injuring yourself dancing when not knowing what you are doing. It is an element of hip hop like emceeing, dj-ing, and graffiti. The music genres that created this dance were FUNK and SOUL.

This dance first originated in the Bronx of New York City around the late 1970's. The several components of the dance were invented at different times and by various people.

First off and most importantly, it is an art form via the medium of dance which is performed to the beat of the music. It is not a combination of flashy moves, nor purely a show of gymnastic-like skill. This dance consists of top rock - the dance that is done before doing things on the ground, footwork - the intricate movements of your legs around your body when on the ground, freezes - the suspension of the body in the air with your arms or head, and power moves - the spinning moves on the ground or in the air that require momentum.

Funk Styles

The Funk Styles is the proper term that encompasses popping and locking because these dances were first done to funk music.

Popping was created by Boogaloo Sam in the 70's on the West Coast. The dance started because he would "pop" or tense all muscles in his arms, head, chest, and legs on every beat. This is now known as "hitting," and it is the most important part of the dance. As the dance progressed, more sub categories were created like waving - the illusion of a wave passing through the body, tutting - movements that look like Egyptian poses in hieroglyphics and using your arms/legs to make right angles, and ticking - deliberate and paced tensing of the body to create the illusion of slow motion.

Locking was originated by Don Cambellock before the invention of popping. It began with him trying to do the funky chicken, but ended up as a totally new dance style since he couldn't. It consists of locking - the moving and pausing of the arms with the elbows bent, Uncle Sam Point - pointing with the fingers of one or both hands, and various other hand/arm movements and leg movements. Popping and locking are two very differently distinct dances.