Formulating a Breakdancing Routine

Breakdancing is highly improvisatory. A b-boy or b-girl has a certain vocabulary of moves, but how he or she strings those moves together into a sentence is entirely dependent on how he or she feels at any given moment. Breakdancing is as much about developing your own style and voice as it is about perfecting acrobatic tricks.

While you decide which moves to bust out and when, there is a loose overall structure to a breakdancing routine. When you watch someone take their turn on the floor, you'll typically see the following:

• Toprock: Any combination of rhythmic steps performed in a standing position. This is used both as a warm-up and as a means of displaying a dancer's style.
• Downrock: Footwork performed on the floor using both the hands and feet for support. The most basic move in a downrock is the 6-step.
• Power Moves: The most physically demanding and acrobatic breakdancing moves. Power moves include windmills, swipes and flares.
• Climatic Move: The punctuation mark on the sentence. The climatic move is typically a freeze or a suicide. Most freezes are a posed variation on a handstand. A suicide is a dramatic fall to the floor that looks uncontrolled.

Toprocking
The toprock is any combination of moves done standing up. While there is a standard toprock movement, you'll see everything from modified Charlestons to fancy spins incorporated into a dancer's standing routine. Toprocking is used both as a means of warming up and as an expression of a dancer's style.

The following describes one of the most basic toprock movements:

• Start with your legs shoulder-width apart.
• Cross your right leg in front of your body. Jump onto the right foot. (Put all your weight on it. Your left foot should be lifted with no weight on it.)
• Come back to your starting position.
• Cross your left leg in front of your body. Jump onto the left foot. (Put all your weight on it. Your right foot should be lifted with no weight on it.)
• Come back to your starting position.
• Repeat.

Throughout the movement, your upper body should stay centered over your hips. It shouldn't lean into the step. Your arms should be loose and can open up as you step forward.