Aesthetics Of Hip Hop

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Hip hop is a modern day American dance form that originated from a combination of African-American or more specifically Afro diasporic, and Latino cultural influences. Hip hop obtains many commonalities with the aesthetics of African dance. These aesthetics include polycentrism, and ephebism being incredibly evident in hip hop styles, and the curvilinear aspect being observed as well. However at the same time hip hop has americanized aspects that set it apart from african dance. An important americanized aspect is the concept of competition which is observed in hip hop battles, creating a different sense of community and purpose of the dance. African aesthetics traveled across the globe due to the african slave trade and africans being taken to the Caribbean. This then traveled to New Orleans and resulted in Jazz and later the development of hip hop. As discussed in Osumare’s article The Africanist Aesthetic in Global Hip Hop: Power Moves, hip hop did not originate solely from African-American influences but rather Afro-diasporic influences, “owing contributions to Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx”. In addition, hip hop grew as an outlet for youth to deal with marginalization and social issues, including police brutality occurring in the Bronx. It developed as a way to …show more content…

This aesthetic is described as one’s vitality and youth when dancing. Ephebism “encompasses attributes such as power, vitality, flexibility, drive and attack” which are all very important in hip hop dance. This sense of youthfulness can be observed in the hip hop battle between J Boogie and the LES Twins in the dancers wild facial emotions at 3:15 in the video. One can also observe ephebism in the Hip Hop 2017 dance battle in all the dancers facial expressions and movements. Ephebism is extremely evident at 13 minutes in the video in not only the main dancer but the other individuals on stage being involved in the

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