Street dance is an umbrella term used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios at more everyday spaces such as streets, school yards and nightclubs.
Arch 197 is Chiswick's new Street Dance home - with great facilities and qualified and highly experienced instructors people of all ages can get the skills they need to enjoy this vibrant dance form.
Today, street dance is commonly used specifically for the many hip hop dances and funk dance styles that began appearing in the United States in the 1970s, and are still alive and evolving within the hip hop culture of today.
Many street dance styles were formed as an answer to needs among youths of various urban areas, such as the lack of affordable dance studios. Street dance encourage individuality and originality, and that dancers interpret the existing moves freely and even invent new ones to create a personal style of their own.
Generally, a street dance is based on a unique style or feel that are expressed through the dance, usually tied to a certain genre of music. As new moves evolve based on this feel, the dance is under constant development, and if the feel starts to change it might give birth to a completely new dance form.
Break dance
Break dancing was part of the Bronx graffiti art and rapping culture. It aims to develop control and co-ordination to perform acrobatic and athletic feats either solo, with a partner, or in a group to demonstrate superiority over rival gangs. Dancers spin the body on the head, back, and hands, performing aerial dives and fast footwork.
Links to other Dance styles:
Adult Ballet
Childrens Ballet
Belly Dance
Balkan Gypsy
Irish Dancing
Latin Ballroom
Movement to Music
Kojo Akuffo
Josh Francois
Hi my name is Joshua Francois and I am a young street dancer from West London. I started dancing at the age of 14 after seeing a poster in my high school hallway advertising classes. The thing that inspired me to go was music videos from Michael Jackson and Missy Elliot and so on, this grew from going to a class, to being asked to perform in a local show where another dance group asked me to join them. I learnt almost everything I know from this group and together we won numerous competitions such as the U.D.O World Championships in 2006.
When I left high school I went to do a B-Tech first diploma in dance and drama. Whilst there I learnt the basics of various styles of dance that I wouldn't have been comfortable doing, this taught me to come outside of my box in which I dance and in the way I live. After that short year I went to 6th form to take Business Studies as it would accompany my dance knowledge and ambition. During This period of education most of my dance performances took place at large venues such as the Barbican Centre, Victoria Apollo, Wembley Arena, Richmond Theatre and the Hackney Empire.
I have always been into dancing, from a very young age I was idolising the dancers in music videos and even mimicking their choreography just for personal satisfaction. At the age of 15 alongside Joshua, I attended a dance class advertised on my school notice board, ever since then my passion for street dance has grown greatly and I have made the transition from Dancer to Dancer/Choreographer.
