House

House dance has captured the imagination of many people over the last few years. As an art form the dance grew up alongside hip-hop, before soaring into global popularity. In the last five years House dance has proliferated worldwide to a massive and global audience.

House dance is generally performed to the same genre of music, House. House music is electronically produced, and carries a rhythm of 118 to 130 beats per minute. The four-on-the-floor beat, which is produced by a bass drum hit on every quarter-note of the song, is another characteristic of House music that has been in place since its inception in the 1980s.

House music began during the same time as the electronic drum machine, which enabled a new, heavier, raw sound to be introduced in the music. In House music, a great sound system is essential. Recently, sub-genres of House have begun, which incorporate more vocals and other low-tech instruments.

There are three main movements in House dancing: jacking, footwork, and lofting. When jacking, the dancer completes a quick back-and-forth motion of the upper body that matches the four-on-the-floor bass drum. House dancing footwork is complex; the dancer uses a form of tap dancing to perform the motions. Lofting, which was added to House when it migrated to New York, adds an acrobatic element to the dance. Although sometimes compared to break dance, the floor work involved with lofting is about smooth, flowing motions and dancing through the beat, rather than on the beat.

While house dance originated as a solo dance form, recently a subgenre called the hustle, which allows for couples, has emerged. The hustle was named from the similarly-named 1970s disco craze, and many of the same movements apply to both dances.

Originating in the African-American and Latino gay club scene in Chicago in the 1980s, House quickly spread to a broader scoped audience when it migrated to New York City. Even though it has been around for over 20 years, its popularity has become much more prominent since the new millennium began.

In 2007, a House competition was held in France where over 6,000 people attended. Participants traveled from as far as Japan, South Africa, London, Sweden, Germany, and many other countries. The widespread popularity of the dance overseas has made it a staple in the European nightclub scene.

In 2007, an annual House dance festival began in New York City as a four-day event encompassing competitions, showcases, and film screenings all representing the House dancing culture and lifestyle. The House culture has spread from its New York headquarters to become widespread among the global youth culture. In fact, House has become more popular outside of the United States than ever before.

[youtube src="nFmmo2Paz_g"/]