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Ill use the expression 'contemporary dance history' to talk about figures,
choreographic productions or related facts occurred in western culture between
the 1950s and the present time.
So, the expression 'contemporary dance history' will serve here mainly as a
chronological reference. A discussion about contemporary dance features of the
following figures or pieces might come in other pages.
We could say that both ballet and modern dance are ancestors of contemporary
dance. Ballet creates the general concert dance frame work and technical
knowledge used or refused by contemporary dance. Modern dance is at the
same time its anti-reference and kind of mother in law.
So, theres a contemporary dance history before the 1950s: that one of ballet
and modern dance, which somehow serves society to make emerge
contemporary dance.
One reading tip before starting: if youre looking for a specific choreographer or
dance company that does not appear below, you might want to browse over
our contemporary dance companies page. Happily, nowadays most dance groups
have great websites, where you can know a lot about them and even have a
glimpse of their creative work in dance pictures or videos.
In 1953, he creates a group in the Black Mountain College (North Carolina) that
allows him to develop a method full of new artistic postulates. He innovates from
almost all of the possible perspectives: choreographic, compositional, technical-
interpretative, musical, philosophical and others.
Musical perspective:
Technical-interpretative perspective:
-Ability to dance with great speed and changing of rhythm and directions in an
unpredictable way.
Philosophical perspective:
-Never the two same events: not about fixing, but about reflecting flexibility of
life.
-Creative freedom.
-ZEN influence: non obstructive quality of things, they can coexist in nature
without interfering with each other.
Others:
Among the artists who start gathering with this new spirit (or join the group in
time) are Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer, Judith Dunn, David Gordon,
Trisha Brown, Steve Paxton, Deborah et Alex Hay, Elaine Summers, Lucinda
Childs and Meredith Monk.
They do one first concert in the Judson Memorial Church (New York) in 1962.
After a time of stability there, the Judson Church Dance Theater is
consolidated. In 1970, it is followed by the gathering of an improvisation group
called Grand union.
-Questioning of modern dance principles and history (in the early times), and
recovering of its heritages and acquisitions (later).
-Search for the degree zero of movement: exploration of daily life movement as
a sufficient aesthetical experience and denial of the importance of technical
virtuosity.
-Intention of approaching dance (arts) to life and big audiences (dance in the
streets, performers that are not dancers).
-Search of a lack of expression by the dancer.
-Identification of social and ideological marks in the body and its movement.
-Importance of improvisation.
-Artists (dancers) react against the consumer society, the wars held by the
U.S.A., the art market and the elitism of its conventional places.
Some of the choreographers that started their careers during the 60s, in the
middle of this ideological ambience, continue their researches independently.
Butoh:
Around 1959, Japan sees the birth of a new gestural language, anchored in the
complex cultural experience of the country at the time. Contemporary dance
history commonly associates the motivation for this arising with the social
devastation and misery left by the world second war. Though, it has been
recorded that it also appears as a reaction against the contemporary dance
scene in Japan, which Tatsumi Hijikata (considered the founder of butoh) felt
was based on the one hand on imitating the West, and on the other on imitating
the Noh (major form of classical Japanese musical drama).
Hijikata critiques the current state of dance as being superficial and develops his
expressive way, giving it the name of dance of the darkness. In a search for an
individual or collective memory, butoh find its essential subjects and
components: death, eroticism, sex and mobilization of archaic pulsations.
After Hijikata and Kazuo no (considered as a founder of butoh as well), a series
of renowned figures are found in contemporary dance history: Ushio Amagatsu
(director of the famous group Sankai Juku), Ko Murobushi, and Carlotta Ikeda,
among others.
-Fetal positions.
-No set style: There are as many types of butoh as there are butoh
choreographers. (Hijikata).
- Its technique uses some acquisitions from the traditional Japanese knowledge,
like the control of energy, which translates into an insistent rhythm (close to N
Theater) and strong expressivity.
Butoh is first rejected in Japan. The first piece by Hijikata, in 1959, creates a
scandal and he is socially banned. Later, he is greatly received in the western
world (especially in Europe in the 70s).
Butoh finally gains a big success in Japan in the 80s, thanks to an artistic trend
that is interested in the search for a national identity. By the 90s, the new
generations connect Japanese butoh with cultural references spread world wide.
Nowadays it is a dance preformed all over the world and mentioned in almost
every contemporary dance history record.
The work of Pina Bausch is close related to contemporary dance but is most
commonly known as a modality of postmodern or contemporary ballet (from the
dance perspective and not the theatrical one)). This is possibly because she uses
classical, virtuous dancers, but goes far away from the classical ballet
performing conventions. At the same time, even if her pieces include theatrical
gestures and voice, she refuses the theatrical procedure of constructing
characters.
According to contemporary dance history, these are some of the features of her
work:
-Recurrent subject: the human loss within social systems that are stereotypical
and hypocrite.
Pina Bausch is also known for having developed her own compositional method.
She searches the choreographic material using the strategy of asking questions
to the dancers (about childhood memories or buried stories). By this, she pushes
dancers to exteriorize their selves through an introspective work.
Awarded some of the greatest prizes and honors world-wide, Pina Bausch is
recognized by contemporary dance history as one of the most significant
choreographers of the end of the XX century.
While at the origins of modern and contemporary dance, ballet appears often
either as a model to refuse or as a foreign field, the second half of the XX
century sees classical and contemporary dance into a position of reciprocal
interest.
From the point of view of some contemporary dance cases, ballet will be an
allied that serves mostly for the technical development of performers.
From the perspective of ballet, contemporary dance ideas will mean the access
to huge creative and experimental issues, as much as the possibility to
experience technical alternatives.
Rudolph Nureyev (1938 1993): an archetypical classical figure who will not
hesitate to work with modern and contemporary dancers and that becomes a
great incentive for the classical community to start trespassing barriers.
Jir Kylin (1947, Czech Republic) and Hans van Manen (1932, Netherlands):
together they cause the explosion of the Netherlands School in the 80s,
incorporating modern ideas to ballet vocabulary and elaborating an own style.
The Netherlands Dance Theater becomes the working place of some of the most
renowned international choreographers like Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Nacho
Duato.
William Forsythe (1955, U.S.A.): highly determines the 90s with his style,
searching for the dancers technical limits and breaking the conventions of the
representation. He would say: Classical vocabulary will never be old. Its the
way to use it what makes it get old. So, I use it to tell current stories.
The figures that could be considered as part of this trend are a lot and it would
be more than inappropriate to make generalizations about their works. I believe
each one of them deserves an own page, so Ill be constructing and providing
those at our site in time.
For the moment, here's a list of some of the choreographers that havent been
mentioned yet and that are commonly found in contemporary dance history:
Maurice Bjart, Keneth Mac Millan, Robert Joffrey, John Neumeier, , Mats
Ek, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Mark Morris, Jean Cristophe Maillot, Maguy
Marin, Angelin Preljocaj, Dominique Bagouet, Wim Vandekeybus, Matthew
Bourne
Thats why our contemporary dance history tale finishes here. Look in the future
for the linked pages that will provide the specific information about each one of
the artists.
Related threads:
Abstraction: when applied to dance, this word refers to choreography that does
not have a narrative character. In other words, an abstract dance does not tell a
story, nor is related to symbolic contents or any kind of associations with
feelings, ideas or other elements than movement itself. A dance can be
considered as abstract if it is seen through the frame of pure movement and/or
its components (like space, time, body and so forth).
Arch: position in which the whole or upper body is extended, creating the form
of an arch.
Beat: the beat is the basic unity used to measure time in both the
choreographic and musical language. It is the pulse that occurs repeatedly with
a certain frequency. When dancing, beats are what we count like five, six,
seven, eight! (bet you know this). Five, six, seven, eight are the last four beats
of a choreographic phrase of eight beats. Visit our page for contemporary dance
music to listen to some examples and expand your understanding.
Body placement: this is an expression that we use in dance to talk about the
way in which we carry our body (our selves), including the positioning and
alignment of big bones (like the pelvis or spine), limbs and head as well as the
micro organizations of muscles that are responsible for their positioning. Usually,
every dance genre or style has its own body placement, which facilitates its
technical execution and makes up the particular style.
Canon: dancers use this word with the same meaning as musicians. It defines a
compositional structure in which one same choreographic fragment is executed
by several dancers who space it out in time (usually with regular intervals).
Rudolph Laban identified four main types of canon used in dance: the regular
canon (dancers start and end one after another), the starting canon (only the
beginning of the fragment is stepped), the ending canon (only the end of the
fragment is stepped), the simultaneous canon (dancers start at the same time
but each one starts the fragment at a different point).
Clarity of line: the word line is most commonly used among ballet dancers. It
refers to an ideal shape that is created with the body while dancing, especially in
certain positions like arabesques or between legs and arms. The clarity or quality
of the line would be the degree of accuracy with which the shape achieved by a
dancer gets close to that ideal.
Correct alignment: placing the body (mainly bones and muscles) in such a way
that they are physiologically correct. This means that when moving under such
an alignment, the dancer will not hurt her/him self and there will be a more
efficient expenditure of energy as a consequence. For example, when falling
from a jump, knees should point in the same direction of feet. The better that
alignment is, the safer the jump is. Read the definition for 'body placement'
above to expand.
Counterpoint: this is a musical term used to talk about dance as well. When
referring to music, it expresses the harmonic interdependence or relationship
between two melodic lines whose rhythm and contour are different. When
referring to dance, it expresses the same but in choreographic terms: two (or
more) choreographic fragments with different use of space, time and/or body
are executed together and make part of a choreographic unity.
Dance Theatre: this expression is used to refer to a stage genre that combines
aesthetic features or methods that belong both to dance and to theatre.
Choreography, use of voice and text, creation of dramatic situations, dance
improvisation or any practice that belongs to those two aesthetic languages are
combined and used freely according to each specific artistic project.
Dynamic (s): when used as a dance term it expresses the way in which shape
of movement is executed (see effort qualities too). From the point of view of
Rudolph Laban efforts theory, there would be four main factors that make up
the dynamics of movement: space (direct or indirect), time (sustained or
sudden), weight (light or strong) and flow (free or bound). The combination of
these 8 possible ways of executing any movement would create the variations in
its dynamic. Laban gave a name to 8 basic actions that would result from these
combinations, to give an example of the difference between dynamics: punching,
floating, pressing, flicking, gliding, slashing, dabbing and wringing. Outside
Labans theory, dynamics would also refer to movement qualities associated with
expressive, affective or other physical components.
Effort actions: Rudolph Laban stated that the different combinations of the
effort qualities produce eight basic ways of moving, called basic actions: to press,
to flick, to wring, to dab, to slash, to glide, to punch and to float.
Form: this is a word that is most commonly used to refer to movement (dance)
from an abstract point of view. The form of movement, also called the shape,
would include its occupation of space, timings, body uses and such kind of
elements that do not express other contents than movement itself. In this sense,
the form could be understood as opposed to the content, the qualities, dynamics
or any expressive and communicative feature that makes up movement.
Genre: this word is used to classify and differentiate types of dance in the
broader way. For example, contemporary dance, classical western dance (ballet),
and folk dances are three genres of dance.
Grounded: it is said of a dancer that has a good sense of gravity, i.e. efficient
use of her/his bodys weight.
High level: this is a dance term taken from Rudolph Labans division of space.
It is used to talk about movements executed in positions like standing, tiptoeing
or jumping (see Low Level and Middle Level too).
Inversion: one of the strategies used in the compositional method that makes
variations of a leitmotiv. Inverting the leitmotiv would mean to execute it from
the end to the beginning of the movement, like rewinding a videotape. For
example, if the leitmotiv is a step forward, applying inversion will convert it into
a step backwards.
Kinsphere: (or kinesphere) imaginary space that surrounds the human body. It
has a spherical shape and its size is determined by the maximum space reached
by limbs in any possible direction.
Legato: this is a word borrowed from musical language, but it is used in dance
with the same meaning. It expresses a quality of movement in which flow
doesnt stop, but the feeling is always continuous and fluent.
Levels: this word is used to refer to one aspect of the division of space
introduced by Rudolph Laban. Laban established three main levels, both for the
scenic space and for movement within the kinespheric space. For definitions of
the high, middle and low level of the scenic space, read the correspondent
definitions in this same page. Within the kinesphere, levels are combined with
the 9 basic directions and refer to the orientation towards which movement is
executed. It is different to the levels in scenic space, which refer to the specific
space occupied by the body.
Lighting: this is the art of designing and arranging the lights for a show.
Designing the lights is usually done together with the choreographer. Afterwards,
theres the work of putting equipments in place and ordering the electrical
system for everything to work. This last task is made by technicians or electrical
engineers.
Low level: this is an expression taken from Rudolph Labans division of space.
It is used to talk about movements executed in positions like lying or
movements like cringing and rolling on the floor (see High Level and Middle
Level too).
Lunge: this is a word that comes from the language of aerobics and it is used
by some dancers to name a movement in which you transfer the weight forward,
and put half of it (or more) on one leg that advances and bends; the leg behind
may stay extended or may bend too. It is like going to a wide fourth position (as
we call it in dance), with legs in parallel or in a turnout position. Some classical
dancers name it tomb.
Middle level: this is an expression taken from Rudolph Labans division of space.
It is used to talk about movements like crawling on four legs or executed from
positions like kneeling or sitting (see High Level and Low Level too).
Mirroring: exercising method that may be used by dancers but that is most
commonly used by actors or in the training field for drama. It consists of a bodily
activity for two, in which one person moves and the other follows as if s/he was
a mirror. This strategy is used to develop concentration, communication,
cooperation and creative skills.
Motif: this is a word that is most commonly used within the dance composition
speech. It refers to a small choreographic unit (a gesture, movement or phrase)
that is the main reference from which a bigger choreography (or dance piece) is
built and composed.
Motif development: is a procedure of a dance composition method that
consists of transforming a basic choreographic motif to create a larger or whole
piece of dance. Variations of the motif are done through strategies like repetition,
inversion, rhythmical modifications, amplification, minimization, ornamentation,
deconstruction and all imaginable compositional tools.
Opposition: this is a word that is mainly used during our technical trainings.
The opposition of the movement of one part of the body to another serves the
dancer in several ways. Opposing facilitates grater extensions, maintaining
placement, balance or controlling weight. For example when raising an arm, the
shoulder should go down. The direction of their movements creates an
opposition (upwards and downwards at the same time) in order to maintain a
right placement of the upper trunk (unless another specific placement of the
trunk is wanted).
Pas de chat: this expression means cats step in French and is part of the
vocabulary of ballet. To execute a pas de chat you usually start from the fifth
position of the feet and jump sideways with one leg going first. That leg is bent
and the knee guides the jump. Being in the air, you quickly raise the second leg
up so both legs form a diamond shape while jumping. Then you land on the
same leg you started with and bring the other leg down in front of the first leg to
the fifth position again.
Projection: when talking about executing a dance, it refers to the skill of bodily
expression and communication.
Retir: this is a term from the vocabulary of western classical dance (ballet). It
refers to a position of one leg, which is bent so that the point of the foot is close
to the knee of the supporting leg. In ballet, it is executed with an outward
rotation of the leg. It is very common in pirouettes or as a transitional position.
Retrograde: Other than the usual meaning of this adjective, this word is used
by choreographers or dancers to talk about the action of executing choreography
inversely, from the end to the beginning (like a rewinding video).
Rhythm: in dance, this word has the same meaning as in music. Though, it is
used to refer to different things. When choreographers say to dancers stick to
the rhythm, they are usually talking about the tempo, which is the speed at
which the beat is counted. The rhythm can also be the particular form of
gathering the beat, together with a certain character or dynamic that give name
to a type of dance (for example the waltz, the march, etc.). In the widest sense,
the rhythm is the way in which the temporal factor of movement is organized,
including beat, tempo, measure, accents and dynamics. When talking about
movement dramaturgy, rhythm is also used to refer to the effect produced in a
choreographic piece by the combination or arrangement of formal elements, as
length of scenes, intensity, timing, or recurrent themes, to create movement,
tension, emotional value and progression in the development of the dance.
Score: written text that records the movement of one or several dancers. There
are currently various systems used for writing dance scores. The following are
some of the most popular: Labanotation, Benesh notation or Cont notation. The
'score' may also refer to the series of guidelines created by a choreographer that
are followed by the dancers to perform a show. This is a common compositional
method used mainly by postmodern or contemporary choreographers.
Somatic trend: term used to gather movement techniques like Release, BMC,
Pilates, Feldenkrais, Alexander, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Ideokinesis or Eutony
(visit our page about dance techniques to expand).
Space: for contemporary dance, space is one of the main factors that make up
the shape of movement (together with time, body and weight). These categories
were first introduced in modern dance theoretical foundations by Rudolph Laban
at the beginning of the XXth century, and have been spread world wide as
working tools, both for creative and technical purposes. Laban established three
main different ways to understand space: the kinespheric space, the scenic
space and execution of direct or indirect space from the point of view of his
effort theory.
Style: this word is used to refer to the specific way in which a dancer, a
company or a school executes a dance genre. For example, David Zambrano has
a different style of interpreting contemporary dance than Steve Paxton; the
Italian ballet school has a different style of executing classical dance than the
French ballet school.
Sustained: the use of this word in the dance field usually refers to its meaning
inside the frame of Rudolph Labans effort-shape theory. Sustained is an effort
quality that can be applied to the execution of the main factor TIME (see the
definition of Dynamics above to expand). One way of understanding this quality
of effort is to think that Labans motion factor of time can be executed with an
intuitive readiness for decision making, either suddenly or with sustainment.
Technical skills: these are the abilities (in terms of physical and physiological
knowledge) to execute dance movements precisely, with their correct dynamics
and shapes. For example, having control over the vertical axe of the body,
knowing how to turn the head while spotting and correct placement of the trunk
are technical skills used for turning.
Technique: this is a word used in dance to talk about specific ways of training,
preparing or learning dancing skills. Examples of dance techniques are the
release dance technique, ballet (as a training method) or the Martha Grahams
dance technique, among many others. Technique is the popular name to talk
about the different training types though in the dance research field it is
considered to be more appropriate to talk about practices or methods, as the
word technique seems to presuppose a reduced idea of what the human body is
(like if it was just a mechanical entity). Read our specific page for contemporary
dance techniques to expand.
Tempo: (or bpm: beats per minute) this is a word borrowed from musical
language, but it is used in dance with the same meaning. It expresses the
frequency of the beat of any rhythmic pattern, in numbers. For example Tempo=
60 or Tempo = 120. This means that there are 60 or 120 beats in a minute
respectively (the higher the number, the fastest the tempo). Tempo is measured
by a tool called metronome.
Tilt: starting from a standing position, to lean or incline the upper body (from
the hips up) towards any direction. It is usually accompanied by the lifting of one
leg really high up.
Time: for contemporary dance, time is one of the main factors that make up the
shape of movement (together with space, body and weight). These categories
were first introduced in modern dance theoretical foundations by Rudolph Laban
at the beginning of the XXth century, and have been spread world wide as
working tools, both for creative and technical purposes. Laban established two
main different ways to understand time: as a rhythmical component (exactly the
same way as it works for music) and as an effort component, in which case it
would be sudden or sustained.
Triplet: name given to a way of walking that is executed in three counts: one in
demi pli and two and three in relev (it is sung by the teacher like this: pli,
relev, relev and repeat). It can be executed with different rotations of the
legs, arm combinations, turns and so forth. The triplet is most common among
modern dance techniques like the one of Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Jos
Limn or even Lester Horton.
Turnout: a position of the legs in which the feet are pointing outwards. It is an
external rotation of the limb that is executed with the whole leg, including the
hip. The turnout, also called the en dehors in French, has been used and
developed within the ballet technique mostly, but is also used by many other
dancing genres.
Unison: when a group of dancers perform the same choreography at the same
time. It opposes to other forms of group timings like the canon, the counterpoint,
the dialogue mode and so forth. The word is also used by musicians with the
same meaning.
Variation: this word is mostly used by ballet dancers and refers to a dance
excerpt for a soloist, which makes part of a bigger ballet. The word is also used
in an informal way to name short dances or choreographies that are part of a
dancing class or of a compositional process.
Weight: among the field of dance, weight is one of the main factors that make
up the shape of movement (together with space, body and time). These
categories were first introduced in modern dance theoretical foundations by
Rudolph Laban at the beginning of the XXth century, and have been spread
world wide as working tools, both for creative and technical purposes. In Labans
system, weight can be understood in two different ways: as its usual meaning,
but referring to the gravitational relationship of the human body towards earth
and as an effort component, in which case it would be light or strong.
Imagine water spraying out of the top of your head and arching backward
Or
Arch up over a brick wall behind you to teach port de bras back
Imagine yourself breaking through the top of the water in a lake or pool
when opening the arms to 2nd from 5th position.
Draw each circle on the floor larger than the one before to achieve a
lengthened leg in rond de jambe par terre
Allow your leg to go over a speed bump and not into a pothole - to help with
the movement of the leg from 2nd postion en lair to an arabesque position and from
arabesque to 2nd position.
Let your knee open the door to achieve a turned out retir or pass.
Envision a telephone pole in front of you & wrap your arms around it to
help with holding a balance with the arms in first position.
Drill a hole down through the floor to help teach strength of the standing leg and
alignment in turns.
Here are some of the most popular dance categories and types:
Ballroom Dances
These dances started appearing first in Italy, during the early years of Renaissance.
Popularity of this kind of entertainment quickly swept over the Europe, United States
and the World. Although many other simpler and more easily preformed types of
dances caused the ballroom dances to lose some of their influence, modern
worldwide dancing audience started resurrecting these immortal dances in ever
increasing pace.
Waltz - This graceful and slow two person dance was first introduced in mid-
19th century and was greatly popularized by the music of the famous
composer Johann Strauss. Today this dance represents gold standard and
the most famous dance of the ballrooms around the world.
Viennese Waltz - Original form of waltz, first performed at the Italian courts is
today remembered as Viennese Waltz. It differs from the much more famous
"English Slow Waltz" by having much faster 180 beats per minute and was
the first who introduced "closed hold" between performers.
Tango - Originally created in the Argentinean region of Rio de la Plata, this
dance is today known by many of its variations (Argentine tango, Uruguayan
tango, Finish Tango and two types of Ballroom tangos - standard and
American) and the fascinating sensual and energetic style.
Cha-Cha-Cha - This incredibly rhythmic dance created in Latin America
managed to meld together both the slow and very energetic movements,
making it an instant hit among the dancers around the world.
Rumba - Popularity of this Cuban dance came from its focus on sensual hip
movements of dance partners. Since its creation in 1930s many types of
Rumba were created, most notably Cuban Rumba (with the style of the
African slaves which created it), Catalan Rumba (with Spanish flavor),
Flamenco Rumba and African Rumba.
Samba - Samba is a famous dance and musical genre that originated form
the coast of Africa and land of Brazil. Today infectious rhythm of Samba is
regarded as the national dance of Brazil, and its famous Brazilian Carnival
gathers millions Samba dance fans every year.
Mambo - This Cuban dance that accompanies the music of the same name
was introduced in 1930s, and quickly managed to gain popularity with the
exploits of famous musicians and dancers such as Perez Prado, Benny Mor,
Tongolele, Adalberto Martnez, Rosa Carmina and Lilia Prado.
Quickstep
Jive
Bolero
Professional dancing was first introduced in the early years of Italian Renaissance
when music, dance, arts and poetry started to rise in popularity after the millennia of
medieval stagnation. Refined by the efforts of the France and Russia, ballet became
the premier technical concert dance. Hailed as one of the most revered and most
complicated dance of all time, ballet continued its rise to worldwide domination. In
the modern times, many other professional dances came to be, such as
Contemporary dance, Modern Dance, Concert dance, but none of them managed to
surpass the complexity, physical strain, and heritage of ballet.
Ballet
Contemporary dance
Concert Dance
Modern Dance
Tap Dance
Modern Dances
Advancements in music technology brought the birth of many new types of dances.
Introduction of electronic and rock music brought the era of House, Punk, Rave and
Disco dance. Faraway country of India did not cared much for those styles, and in
accordance to the deeply seeded religious beliefs, they incorporated dance of their
gods to everyday life and was and profitable Bollywood movie scene.
House dance
Punk dance
Rave dance
Disco dance
Bollywood dance
Dancing style of Hip-Hop evolved from the music style that was first introduced
during 1970s. Powered by the great popularity, exposure in media, movies and
television programs, hip-hop dances found a great foothold in United States, France,
United Kingdom and South Korea. A very similar style called Funk was also created
during 1970s, and is today regarded as one of the most influential pieces of Hip-hop
dance styles.
Breakdance (Breaking)
Bounce
Electric boogaloo
Street Jazz
Jookin'
Locking
Popping