08/31/2026
Dear dance teachers & choreographers ✍️
This must be said (again & again):
When did it become okay to be irresponsible educators within the dance world?
How is Hip Hop one of the most popular categories in a dance studio, and yet the instructor can't even freestyle for 32 counts?
Why do we still call it Hip Hop, if you're not talking about the Culture?
It's just an observation 🧐🗣💬
1. Let's start with the HISTORY & ORIGINS of Hip Hop Culture in every class.
Foundation doesn't just mean being able to do 6 step, Fresno, Bart Simpson. It means to bring your own understanding and interpretation of the music, dance & Culture out onto the dancefloor.
If you don't know where Hip Hop came from, how can you instill confidence in your students to move forward?
2. Bounce - Rock & Groove
This concept here alone can help unlock so much in your students but I see so many just jumping to teach their hypest piece of choreography.
Choreo is not a dance form/style.
Learning someone else's dance is NOT the same as learning HOW to dance.
Stop making Hip Hop dance exclusively performative (and overly s*xual).
3. Hip Hop music came out of Disco, Funk, Soul, Jazz and Rhythm & Blues.
So the dance reflected the instrumentation and the feeling of the artists.
Don't simply push the most popular track onto your students, just because you're not familiar with the roots & origins of Hip Hop music.
Dancing to the instrumentals (drum breaks) should be essential vs memorizing lyrics to your solo track.
4. Can your Hip Hop dance teacher freestyle?
Do they know what a jam/battle/cypher looks and feels like?
Having danced on stage with a popular artist may give you some credibility, but it's meaningless if you're not able to exchange with others via freestyle in a cypher.
We have to stop idolizing "celebrity" like figures in the dance world and start looking closely at what is being passed down to the next generation as tradition.
5. What do YOU think of when you hear Hip Hop?
This question should be asked to every student walking into a hip hop dance class.
If you're unclear of where you stand as a student of this Culture, why did you take the job?
Dear dance teachers... just because you're a teacher, it doesn't mean you stop being a student.
