The once sought-after dance forms like waltz, salsa, cha-cha and jive have today taken a backseat. Instead, hip-hop, a street dance style that mainly includes a wide range of styles such as breaking, popping, locking and krumping is the latest on the floorboards.

“Forms of break dance have been around in India since the late 1960s. But b-boying and krumping are the newest variations that have come to India,” says Aanchal Gupta, founder-director of Arts in Motion Studio, Sion.

High-impact, energetic dances are a safe way to vent one’s feelings and frustrations and is also a form of letting out aggression. B-boying started in New York in the late 70s as a form to avoid wars in full armour but to use dance instead. “It is exposure to world music and world dance through means such as television and Internet that has popularised this dance form,” says Simon Talukdar of Style Kings Dance Studio, Carter Road. He recently conducted a b-boying workshop called The Big Bounce at Malhar (St Xavier’s College cultural fest), which had around 40 students attending it, by far the best attendance. “It looks difficult, but it is an easy-to-learn form of dance.”

Before b-boying, it was krumping that came to the city and became popular among the masses, as it became a popular means of achieving fitness. “A part of the Hip-hop Revolution, krumping pattern brings a thrill with rhythmic bobbling and chest-pop moves. High variation, individuality and movement are the foundations of the Krump or bobble-bounce,” says Melvin Louis, Krumping instructor at Arts in Motion.

Popping and locking, another off shoot of hip-hop, was popularised by Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Closer home, we had Harman Baweja in Love Story 2050 and Hrithik Roshan in Krazzy 4 making it a rage. And now the large number of competitive dance shows on television is also encouraging this form of dance. Bakhtiyar Irani, who performed popping and locking on a reality dance show Zara Nachke Dikha on Star One, said during the show, “When performing on stage, there is always an attempt to show people a variety of dances. The urge to be competitive and to learn has made Indians adapt various styles over years. And popping and locking is the latest entrant.”