Foundation: B-Boys, B-Girls, and Hip-Hop Culture in New York

B-boying is a form of Afro-diasporic competitive dance that developed in the Bronx, NY in the early 1970s. Widely - though incorrectly - known as breakdancing, it is often dismissed as a form of urban acrobatics set to music. In reality, however, b-boying is a deeply traditional and
profoundly expressive art form that has been passed down from teacher to student for almost four decades. Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York offers the first serious study of b-boying as both unique dance form and a manifestation of the most fundamental principles of hip-hop
culture. Drawing on anthropological and historical research, interviews and personal experience as a student of the dance, Joseph Schloss presents a nuanced picture of b-boying and its social context. From the dance's distinctive musical repertoire and traditional educational approaches to its
complex stylistic principles and secret battle strategies, Foundation illuminates a previously unexamined thread in the complex tapestry that is contemporary hip-hop.


Author: Joseph G. Schloss
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 03/05/2009
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780195334067

About the Author

Joseph Schloss is Visiting Scholar and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at New York University. He is the author of Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop, which won the 2005 Book Award from the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. His writing has appeared in URB, Vibe, The Seattle Weekly, The Flavor, and the anthologies Classic Material and Total Chaos.

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