Hip hop is an important style of dance – it’s fun, which makes it perfect for a new dancer, but once you get to a certain level, the style and technique provides a challenge for experienced dancers.
Charleston Dance Center brought Landon Monroe on staff in 2016 to shake up our hip hop classes and choreography.
“Not that long ago, we were known as ‘the hip hop studio.’ We won national hip hop competitions,” Ms. Lindsey explains. “We hired Landon because we want to improve our hip hop program so we’re a more diverse studio. Our goal is for everyone to have a place here.”
Enroll in a hip hop class at Charleston Dance Center.
What to Expect
Landon is teaching all different styles of hip hop from feminine to house and popping and locking.
“I’d like to say I’m a well-rounded. In my older classes, I teach girly hip-hop one week and thug hip-hop the next. We’ve worked on waving and how to isolate bodies. They’re learning new techniques so they can decide what suits them best.”
Younger dancers are also being exposed to different techniques. For the 2017 Year End Performance, each class’ choreography focuses on a different style. Pre-Hip Hop and Hip Hop I will be performing a more feminine style… and the boys will have their own section demonstrating the more masculine side of hip hop. Hip Hop II will perform more house-style choreography.
At Hall of Fame Dance Challenge Charlotte, Landon won a choreography award for “Misdemeanor,” a feminine hip hop dance performed by Just Dance! junior and senior companies. “Misdemeanor” was also the highest scoring teen line, a Grand Slam winner and a Hall of Fame inductee.
Getting Started
Landon’s passion for hip hop comes from his own dance training.
“I started dancing with a hip hop class at age 10 and it introduced me to other styles of dance. I did recreational hip hop for two years and then competed in hip hop, then competed in all styles of dance from age 13-18.”
Hip hop starts to get more serious around age 11 or 12… at that point, if you don’t have the skills, it starts to show. Boys typically gravitate to hip hop before girls do, but it’s a fun, upbeat class for everyone. Plus, what students learn in class helps them when there is dancing at a birthday party – they can apply what they’ve learned.
Landon says, “I really like the more feminine style of hip hop. There’s more freedom. Male hip hop requires certain techniques and I really like the freedom of being able to do whatever I want.”