The dance-pop genre, a style of music with a distinct pop song structure, upbeat grooves and catchy beats. Popular artists include Madonna, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue and Mariah Carey.
This article discusses the evolution of K-Pop dance and its presence in social media, specifically the phenomenon of dance fandom as a way to express oneself and idolize the idols they emulate. Through front-driven choreography, gestures of the face and body and decorative elements, K-pop cover dance offers a specific aesthetic for fans to use in navigating their identity through the practice.
A variety of illusionary styles and techniques are often mixed with popping to create a more varied show, such as roboting, waving, tutting and strobing. These can be considered part of popping when used as an umbrella term, or may be seen as separate styles that are related to and distinct from breaking and locking, with which they are sometimes confused.
Generally speaking, dancing in the style of popping involves rhythmic angulations of the torso and limbs, often referred to as “hitting,” with sharp contrasts between robotic or stiff poses and fluid movements such as the robot, boogaloo or electric boogaloo. Poses also make heavy use of angles and mime style movements, with faces and bodies expressing an array of emotions.
Despite these sharp contrasts, popping is mostly performed standing up, and it is a form of hip hop dance that shares its kinetic genealogy with the funk styles of breaking, locking and electric boogaloo. It is commonly assumed that all these funk styles belong under the umbrella of breakdancing, due in part to Hollywood’s Breaksploitation films featuring actual popping dancers like Pop N’ Taco and Michael Boogaloo Shrimp, but breaking originated in the Bronx while popping, boogaloo and electric boogaloo emerged in Fresno, California.
