ENTER THE
FIRE-POPPING & BOOGALOO
STYLE

​The Great Sun Ablaze
Warming all under its Light
Fire Burning for All ​

0. FOUNDATIONS

Did you learn your foundations yet? Click the image to get access to the free tutorials of Foundations and Fundamentals if you would like to get grounded in these concepts before continuing. ​

​1. FIRE-POPPING & BOOGALOO: INTRODUCTION

Enter the Fire-Popping Style – the original un-altered dance forms of popping that utilize the continuous “hitting” technique. The dance form itself uses very angular and lose type of angle forms with the groove inspired by electro-funk music of the 70's and 80's era.
Boogaloo is a very funky and groovy dance, also born out of the funk music that has its own sets of sub styles.  It is known for its classic moves such as the boogaloo roll that dance the legs to look boneless and very loose. Popping and Boogaloo, fused with strong hitting technique, can be very fire-like, strong, intense, powerful, and even aggressive.  The boogaloo style is very spirited, joyful, based on feeling, and much like the essence of funk music itself.

The Origins of Popping and Boogaloo style is said to originate on the californian wescoast which blossomed may variations.  The Bay area is said to the oldest, and executes many of its own unique lineage of Bay Area styles such as Strutting, The Filmore, Saccin', ect. In the middle of California was born the Fresno Boogaloo which is the most prominent style of popping today. It was pioneered by a group called The Electric Boogaloos with its own unique sub styles brought to around the world.  In the south was born the Los Angeles Pop-Lock style, which is the most, raw, street, and diverse of the 3. It has its roots in gang culture and inspired a lot by G-Funk music and gang dance styles such as the "C-Walk" and Gang Signs.
The Hitting technique itself has older origins and was found to be practiced in ancient times by hidden martial art cultures of the east. We see it most prominent in the internal kung fu martial arts , specifically Chen Style Tai chi, Bagua Zhang, and Hsing – I.  Even some of the arm angles in the martial art forms are similar to some angles in Popping/Boogaloo.  These ancient, and still to this day martial artists used the hitting technique to summon internal power to increase their attack, sending vibrations of energy not just to their opponent but to beyond. 

Popping and Boogaloo are associated with the Fire element because of its power, explosiveness, and high spirited feeling of dance.  When a popper has a powerful Hit, you can feel the explosive power radiating from their body like tiny explosions.  Also their body begins to heat up and they can even heat up the envronment.  It takes a ton of power, discipline, focus, strength, and energy to have good hits, much like the characteristics of fire itself.  As the arm and leg movements of Kung fu are used to strike and defend, so too do the angles of popping and boogaloo give a similar effect, especially in battle culture. ​​

2. FIRE-POPPING: HITTING

Hitting is what gives the "Pop" in the word Popping. It is the most crucial and fundamental of techniques within the traditional popping style. Hitting is what creates the Pop like effect in the body by utilizing the quick contraction and release of various muscles in the body, usually done continuously by accentuating the clap of a beat. In this tutorial I share with you the 4 most important Hits of the body along with drills and exercises to help you start mastering this most crucial technique. ​

3. FIRE-POPPING: POPPING ANGLES

Popping Angles are the basic movement vocabularies of the dance itself. These specific angles and poses are what have been traditionaly done since the beginning of the Popping Dance style. By executing these forms in your dance you are paying homage to the traditions and lineage of the entire Popping Culture. In this tutorial I share with you a combination that is packed with some of the most basic popping angles to help you understand the way in which we move and the essence of the style. ​

4. FIRE-POPPING: BOOGALOO FOUNDATIONS

Boogaloo is the funkiest of all the dance styles within this system. It is the most "feeling" and groove based of each of the styles. It is also one of the most popular styles within the Popping Culture as a result of the Electric Boogaloo's who helped spread this style world-wide. In this tutorial I share with you 3 of the most fundamental moves within Boogaloo such as: The Walk-Out, Twist-O-Flex, and the Boogaloo Roll. ​

5. FIRE-POPPING & BOOGALOO: CONCLUSION

Now that you have learned some of the basic moves in Popping and Boogaloo, I leave you with some lasting words of advice and wisdom to keep you moving forward with this style. ​

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