What is Polyswagg?
Polyswagg, a term coined and popularized by Paris Goebel and The Royal Family Dance Crew from New Zealand, describes a signature style of choreography that fuses elements of hip hop dance, Polynesian movement, and Goebel’s own distinct interpretation of musicality, power, and attitude. Polyswagg is characterized by strong chest isolations, grounded movement, dramatic facial expressions, and a fearless stage presence.
What Is a Street Dance Style?
Street dance styles are dance forms that originated outside traditional dance studios, most often developing in urban spaces such as streets, clubs, schoolyards, and community centers. Hallmark street dance styles include breaking, hip hop (party dances and freestyle), popping, locking, house, waacking, krump, and vogue. These styles:
- Emerge from community/freestyle environments (not choreography classrooms),
- Are tied to specific historical, social, and often marginalized communities (African-American, Latinx, LGBTQ+),
- Have their own “foundations” (specific codified sets of moves/steps)
- Prioritize improvisation, battle, cypher, and cypher-based knowledge transmission,
- Are recognized and codified globally as part of the “street dance” lexicon.
Polyswagg: Lineage & Culture
Polyswagg is deeply associated with choreography, especially as presented by The Royal Family in competitive and commercial dance spaces. While it is rooted in hip hop—influenced by street styles and Polynesian cultural movement—Polyswagg is most often learned as set routines, not freestyle. It has found a global audience in competitions (like HHI) and music videos, not through battles, underground jams, or cyphers.
Origin:
Polyswagg did not emerge from the street, club, or underground jam communities. Instead, it developed within the context of competitive crew choreography and commercial entertainment.
Transmission:
It is typically taught and learned as choreography, not as a social or cypher-based improvisational tradition. The core features (chest, attitude, facial performance) are part of Paris Goebel’s artistry, rather than community-developed movement vocabularies.
Foundation & Vocabulary:
While Polyswagg uses moves from street styles (notably hip hop), it does not have a codified unique “foundation” or set of steps recognized across the wider street dance world as a standalone freestyle vocabulary.
Cultural Context:
Polyswagg authentically expresses Polynesian identity, but its ecosystem is more closely related to the global “choreography scene,” not the battle/jam/cypher tradition of street dance.
Battles & Freestyle:
Polyswagg is not used or recognized in street dance battles, freestyle cyphers, or club culture in the way that waacking, breaking, or popping are.
Conclusion
Polyswagg is not considered a street dance style in the historical or foundational sense. It is a hybrid, choreography-driven dance approach that fuses street styles and Polynesian culture but is rooted in performance, not freestyle or battle culture.
However, Polyswagg is a powerful creative expression and a vital identity marker for New Zealand and Pacific dance—its global recognition speaks to the impact of choreographic innovation. It belongs in the conversation about the evolution of hip hop and commercial dance, but it does not fit the definitions or criteria of a true street dance style as established by the dance world’s pioneers and community standards.
Summary:
Polyswagg is choreography inspired by street and Polynesian dance cultures, not a street dance style in the foundational, cypher-based, codified sense.