AAF (African American English): A dialect of American English with distinct phonological and syntactic features, discussed in the context of its appropriation in rap music.
Appropriation (of Rap/Culture): The act of taking elements from a culture, especially a minority culture, and using them for one's own, often commercial, purposes without proper understanding, credit, or respect for the original context.
Auxiliaries (AAE): A grammatical feature in African American English, referring to the use of helping verbs. AAE often uses a single auxiliary form for both singular and plural subjects, can contract, reduce, or use zero forms, and may have contracted negations.
Baby Freeze: A foundational breaking move where the dancer freezes in a specific pose, often supported by their hands and head. Credited as a component created by B-boy Spy.
Biting: In street dance, copying someone else's unique moves, combos, or concepts "to the letter" without credit. It is distinct from being inspired and is generally frowned upon.
B-boy/B-girl: Terms used to refer to male and female practitioners of breaking. The "B" stands for "break," indicating they dance to the "break" (breakdown) of a song. These are the correct terms, as opposed to "breakdancer" or "breakdancing" which were media-coined.
Breaking (B-boying/B-girling): A style of street dance that originated in the Bronx, NYC, in the 1970s. It is characterized by dynamic moves, often involving floor work, power moves, and freezes, and is typically performed in cyphers.
Call Out: A direct challenge in street dance battles, used to test skills, settle rankings, address perceived "biting," or handle disputes. The nature of call-outs varies by style.
Campbellocking (Locking): An original street dance style created by Don Campbell, characterized by sudden freezes or "locks" combined with fast, distinct movements. John Bernado is a practitioner.
Choreography (Choreo): A set, memorized routine or sequence of dance steps, contrasted with freestyle.
Crew/Fam: A group or team of street dancers who train, perform, and often compete together. In Krump, "fam" refers to family-like groups led by "big homies."
Crump: An expressive and aggressive street dance style that originated in Los Angeles in the 2000s, characterized by free, expressive, and often raw emotion, frequently incorporating call-outs and performed in cyphers.
Cypher (The Circle): The central gathering point in street dance, typically a circle formed by dancers and observers, where dancers enter to showcase their skills, test themselves, and share energy. It is considered sacred, and specific etiquette rules apply.
Devoicing (AAE): A phonological feature in African American English where voiced consonants (b, d, g) at the end of words are pronounced as their voiceless counterparts (p, t, k).
Dime Stops: Sharp, abrupt stops in a dance, often a characteristic of popping and other percussive styles.
Ego: In street dance, refers to a dancer's self-perception and confidence. It can be healthy when it drives improvement and acknowledges community, but unhealthy when it leads to selfishness, arrogance, or a refusal to learn.
Execution: The quality and precision with which dance moves are performed. One of the criteria judges look for in battles.
Expropriation: The act of taking something from another, often without permission or compensation. In the context of rap, it refers to the originators of rap and their musical output.
Flare: A power move in breaking where the dancer rotates their body around their hands in a continuous, circular motion, resembling a propeller.
Floor-Hogging: A negative practice in street dance battles where a dancer stays in the circle for too long, not allowing others a turn. It is considered disrespectful.
Flow Motion: A dance crew or style associated with Gabriel Nito, who teaches Hip Hop, Breaking, and House.
Footwork: In breaking, foundational movements performed on the floor, often involving intricate steps and transitions (e.g., six-step).
Foundation: The fundamental, classic moves and techniques of a specific street dance style. Knowing the foundation is essential for authenticity and originality.
Freestyle: Impromptu dancing, making up moves and reacting to the music in the moment, without pre-planned choreography.
Freeze: A static, held pose in breaking, often requiring significant strength and balance.
Genitive Marking -s (AAE): A grammatical feature in African American English where the possessive '-s' is often not expressed (e.g., "mama house" instead of "mama's house").
Golds: A tier or rank in a competitive gaming context (e.g., Valorant) used metaphorically by Manny Okan when discussing future aspirations.
Groove: The rhythmic and expressive quality of a dancer's movement, often unique to their personality and feel for the music.
Hardness (Hip Hop Gender Performance): A masculine performance trait in hip hop culture, characterized by strength, assertiveness, and the repression of feminine traits.
Heavenly Pops: Seidah Tuaoi's current b-boy name, changed from "Demon Pops," inspired by a back-bending pop move she did in a battle.
Hip Hop Freestyle: A specific style of hip hop dancing that emphasizes improvisation and personal expression, often incorporating elements from various street dance forms.
House: A street dance style that originated in underground clubs in Chicago and NYC, characterized by fluid, rhythmic movements, often performed collaboratively.
I'ma (AAE): A contracted form of "I am going to" or "I am about to" in African American English.
ID Crew (ID Co.): A dance crew that focuses on various movement styles, including isolations, popping, and dancehall, providing a space for dancers to learn new movements and grow.
IUR: A dance group or collective, possibly international, that Seidah Tuaoi was invited to join, signifying a significant personal achievement and validation of her skills.
Jack (in House): A foundational movement in House dance, involving a rhythmic, undulating movement of the torso.
Jerks (Rocking): A milder version of rocking moves, often imitated by B-boys as a 1-2-3-and-4 movement. True rocking involves grabbing and breaking an opponent's hips.
Junior Street Beast: One of Ken Vaega's names in Krump, representing a specific character mindset: disrespectful, street-oriented, and confident in being "better."
Krump Fams: Family-like crews in the Krump community, often led by "big homies." Members are allowed to use signature moves from their fam as a stamp of identity.
Lab: To practice and develop new dance moves or concepts, often referring to a dedicated session for experimentation.
Levin: A small town in New Zealand, Jay Kapene's hometown, where he first encountered breaking.
Lightsaber: Ken Vaega's name given to him when he first started Krump, representing a defensive, protective, and advanced character mindset.
Liquid Amber (Hip Hop): A term used to describe the fluidity and evolving nature of Hip Hop, possibly referencing its dynamic and adaptable characteristics.
Locking: See Campbellocking.
Loose Change: A hip-hop freestyle battle event created by John Vaifale, designed to provide a guaranteed platform for hip-hop freestyle dancers, as opposed to all-style battles where hip-hop music might not be consistently featured.
Mana: A concept in Māori culture referring to spiritual power, authority, prestige, or respect. Used in the context of unwritten rules in street dance passing down legacy.
MCing: One of the four original elements of Hip Hop culture, referring to the act of rapping or performing vocal rhymes.
Minstrelsy: A form of entertainment in the 19th century involving white performers in blackface, often caricaturing African Americans. Referenced in the context of the historical appropriation of Black culture.
Musicality: The ability of a dancer to react to the beat, rhythm, and layers of instruments in the music. A key criterion for judges in battles.
New Zealand Krump: The Krump scene in New Zealand, influenced by international pioneers like Tight Eyez, but noted as being "a little isolated" compared to European or American scenes due to geographical distance and less exposure.
OG (Original Gangster): In street dance, refers to pioneers or highly respected senior figures who have been involved in the culture since its early days and deeply understand its roots and values.
Popping: A street dance style characterized by sudden tensing and relaxing of muscles to create a jerking movement, often done in rhythm with the music.
Postvocalic Position (AAE): In phonology, referring to a consonant sound that occurs after a vowel. In AAE, 'r' and 'l' in this position may be vocalized or not pronounced at all.
Power Moves: Dynamic and acrobatic breaking moves that often involve continuous rotation and require significant strength and control (e.g., flares, windmills).
Prelims: Preliminary rounds in a dance competition where dancers showcase their skills to qualify for later stages.
Projekt Team: A dance crew or collective that John Vaifale and other prominent dancers are affiliated with, known for their focus on community and mutual improvement.
Rapper's Delight: A seminal song by The Sugarhill Gang, released in 1979, which marked the "landfall of rap on the international music scene" and its subsequent discovery by the music industry.
Rockers: Early practitioners of rocking, a dance style.
Rocking: A dance style that involves grabbing an opponent and "breaking them on the hips," a more aggressive form than the "jerks" often imitated by B-boys.
Royal Family: A commercial dance crew mentioned in a case study as an example of "what not to do" in street dance, criticized for reusing routines, lacking foundation, and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Scoobot (in Locking): A foundational movement in locking, often used as an example of a universal vocabulary move that is not considered "biting."
Seven-to-Smoke: A type of specialty battle format where one dancer tries to defeat seven opponents consecutively.
Signature Moves: Unique moves, combos, or transitions that a dancer is famous for or that are characteristic of their individual style or crew.
Six-Step Footwork: A foundational footwork movement in breaking, credited as a component created by B-boy Spy.
Sonority (AAE): A phonological feature where the "closeness" of consonants in a cluster on a sonority scale can lead to reduction if they are too similar.
Soul Train Line: A classic dance TV show where many waackers, lockers, and poppers first gained national fame. Prelims for these styles often run in a "Soul Train line" or cypher format.
Street Cred: Credibility or respect earned within the street dance community, typically gained through showing up, learning, sharing, and supporting others.
Street Dance: An umbrella term for dance styles that originated outside of formal studios, in communities, clubs, and parties, as forms of self-expression and to resist oppression (e.g., hip hop, krump, waacking, breaking, locking, house, vogue).
Style Bender: A prominent figure in the New Zealand street dance scene, alongside Ken, who helped break the mentality that New Zealand dancers couldn't achieve international success.
Suffix -ing (AAE): A phonological feature in African American English where the "-ing" suffix is often pronounced as "-in" (e.g., "walkin," "talkin").
Swagfest: An event mentioned by Jay Kapene as a turning point that helped foster a healthier competition scene, possibly by bringing together different dance genres and fair judging.
Swipes: A power move in breaking, credited as a component created by B-boy Spy.
Syntax (AAE): The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences. AAE has unique syntactic characteristics, such as auxiliary usage and verbal -s patterns.
Th Sound (AAE): A phonological feature in African American English where the "th" sound is often articulated as 't/d' or 'f/v' depending on the environment.
Tikanga: A concept in Māori culture referring to customs, practices, and ways of doing things that are culturally appropriate. Used in the context of unwritten rules in street dance.
Top Rock: Upright foundational movements in breaking, performed before going down to the floor. Spy was recognized for his "Latino flavor of top rocking."
Verbal -s (AAE): A grammatical feature in African American English where the "-s" ending for third-person singular present tense verbs may be absent or used in different contexts (e.g., for narrative present or habitual meaning).
Vocalization of r and l (AAE): A phonological feature in African American English where consonants 'r' and 'l' in postvocalic positions are not always pronounced as liquids, sometimes becoming unstressed vowel sounds or being omitted entirely.
Vogue/Ballroom: A street dance style originating from Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ communities in NYC ballroom scenes, featuring runway categories and dramatic self-expression.
Waacking: A street dance style that originated in clubs, characterized by quick, fluid arm movements and posing, often done to disco music.
Whale's Tooth: A culturally significant gift received by Myke Davis Hoeft, a necklace carved from a whale's tooth with a Māori carving, holding deep personal and sentimental meaning.
Windmills: A power move in breaking where the dancer spins on their upper back, rotating their legs in a circular motion.