WHAT…is Commercial Dance?
Dancing to modern music, commercial dance incorporates moves from all genres including jazz, ballet, hip hop, breakdance, popping, krumping and street dance. With commercial dance becoming more popular, it is constantly evolving and broadening to include new moves and styles. Therefore, Commercial dance can be many things but typically it is a strong, sexy, and sharp style of dance.
WHO…do we thank?
As a dance style that originated on the streets it would often be performed at parties, school yards, raves, parks etc. The style was made by those who had no money to attend any studio led dance classes and so they created a new style. This style was often made up as the dancer went along and so the dancer would be freestyling their way through the routine. Therefore, it is hard to thank one individual for commercial dance, it is instead a collaboration of many dancers through the years.
WHERE…was it born?
Commercial has its roots in hip-hop dance, which was the dancing side of the culture that emerged on the streets of America. TV shows such as Soul Train and later Breakin’, Beat Style and Wild Style in the 1980s saw that hip-hop dance become something that everyone was aware of, even if they couldn’t do it themselves!
WHEN…was it first seen?
Commercial dance first came on the scene in the 1950s as a way for dancers to push against the strict boundaries of traditional styles such as ballet and be free to experiment.
WHY…was it created?
Mixing different styles of dance makes commercial dance versatile and eye catching whilst appealing to a larger audience, giving it the ability to be used in music videos, films and even adverts to promote products. You may even have come across the dance troop videos at dance competitions on YouTube, all who are performing commercial dance.
So…what will this class include?
We’ll be learning a new routine each week, incorporating different moves and styles to further your knowledge and ability within commercial dance. But mainly we’ll be having a good laugh and building our self-confidence every class!
Join Tabby on Mondays at 7.15pm to give it a go!