R&B and hip hop dancing

Pengwuino

I was thinking maybe i should put this in the skepticism and debunking forum as currently the only explanation in my mind is extraterrestrials... but why do r&b and hip hop dancers dance the way they do? Its like theres no rhyme or reason to it and it seems to have some sort of heroine-like addiction associated with it to young girls and my nephew. So what is the story? People say "there expressing themselves" but i want the real explanation :P

hypatia

I went to a jazz club in the 70's and saw the same thing. I thought it was a kind of mass hysteria, or perhaps they were "bewitched"?

Bladibla

You are being extremely dogmatic here. I don't listen to R&B music, but they, with equal validity, can say the same thing about the music you listen to.

Its all a matter of perspective.

Paul Wilson

As Bladibla said, it's an opinionated arguement, not one with a right or wrong.

hypatia

I thought how silly I must of looked doing the Jerk and the Twist. And i do recall being quite mesmerized by the music..hmmm I can still get that way with the right music...

katelynndevere

Is there actually a point to this post?

scarecrow

^For real though.

That's just your opinion pengwuino.........but I can see what you're saying, it does look weird, but some dances are real nice. I've seen someone do this dance they call the gangsta walk.......that is the only "hip-hop" dance I see that is decent.

BicycleTree

I think some of you are missing the point. The question is why people feel the need to act in those seemingly strange ways to begin with. Do people just like acting weird in groups? I think it may have something to do with tribal instincts and defining yourself as part of a tribe with its own customs.

scarecrow

"Acting weird in groups": To some it is weird but to those in the group it is not.

Again this falls back to perspective.

BicycleTree

No, it doesn't fall back to perspective. When the dancers act the way they do, they must choose each action that they perform. Why do they choose these particular actions (dance moves) then? It is "weird" in that there is no immediately apparent reason for them acting in that way. To explain why they act that way, we must find more abstract ideas, perhaps tribal instincts. Saying "well, it's normal to them" is no explanation.

Bladibla

...

I'm afraid it IS a matter prespective.

Again, the same could be said for what we do. Lets take classical music for example: What makes us listen to these particular genre of music? Why not R&B, or rock, or rap or whatever?
It is 'weird' in that they listen to classical music in that there is no immediate apparent reason for them to be acting that way.

Tribal instincts? Its Human instinct, and guess what? we are ALL human.

BicycleTree

This is true.

Once again, you do not need to argue that hip-hop dancers are not alone in acting in weird ways. This is not relevant to why they act that way.

Obviously if it is instinct then it is human instinct. I believe, more specifically, that the instinct involved is the tribal instinct.

selfAdjoint

My last 3 CD buys were, in order,
1.Brahms 3d symphony, by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Claudio Abbado.
2.Sonny Fortune self produced jazz CD, "Continuum" bought after attending his wonderful set with Rashied Ali at the Luna Cafe in de Pere Wisconsin..
3.Jimi Hendrix remix CD, just today.

Am I weird, or what?

bjon-07

They dance they way they do because they are drunk;).....hehe I know this from personal experience.

Bladibla

Yes, they are not alone in their 'weird' acting ways. If we know this, what the point whether its relevant or not to their acting ways? We are going to have our 'Whys' as well as them, whether it be 'good' or 'bad'. So there is absolute no point.

And can i just ask what on earth you mean by tribal instincts? Nearly all countries, from America to UK, no matter how 'civilised' they look, have had normadic 'tribes' some time in their history. So again, i ask, is ther any point to this?

BicycleTree

Bladibla, I can't figure out what you intended to say in your first paragraph.

I, too, believe that the tribal instinct applies to all humans. Here I am postulating that the main cause of the way hip-hop dancers act is the tribal instinct, which, yes, they share with all humans.

What's the point of this inquiry? Well, we do not have a solid explanation for why hip-hop dancers act the way they do. Finding that explanation is the point. It's a puzzle in human psychology.

bjon-07

What exactly about the hip-hop do you find werid?