Hip hop dance choreography DVDs are easily available as the hip hop phenomenon has spread throughout the world. Most cities have dance studios that offer classes from professional instructors of varying levels of experience, and almost any urban center has a "jam" where dancers learn, perfect, and develop new moves. These are by far the best ways to learn to dance hip hop; a DVD or online video will not be able to observe the aspiring dancer's technique and make corrections.
On the other hand, a DVD will never get tired of demonstrating the moves, can demonstrate them in slow motion, and will only charge for the lesson once. This is why it's worth a look online to find the right DVD for your hip hop choreography needs.
Choosing the Right Hip Hop Dance Chorecography DVDs
With so many styles of hip hop dance it can be daunting to try and pick out the right DVD for your needs. Here are some of the factors to consider:
- Skill Level - What is your current level of experience with hip hop? Getting a DVD that is too advanced will be frustrating because of the level of assumed knowledge, and there is no way to ask the instructor to slow down or explain things. Conversely, buying a DVD that is too simplistic will be a frustrating waste of money. It can be hard to tell exactly what level of dance ability is taught on a particular DVD, and that is why going on the internet first and finding reviews (and hopefully preview videos) of hip hop choreography DVDs is a good idea.
- Dance Genre - There are many types of dance that fall under the umbrella of hip hop, and it's a good idea to know what kind you're interested in learning before you make the purchase. Are you looking for breakin'? Floorwork? Crumping? Clowning? Becoming familiar with the styles and knowing how to ask for what you want is vital to selecting the right DVD.
- Current and Legit - Since it's so easy to create DVDs in the age of digital media, anyone could created, produce and market a DVD without necessarily having the actual knowledge and experience to make it useful. Also, hip hop dance has been around for over thirty years, and the styles have changed dramatically. Unless you are interested in learning a "classic" form of the dance, it would be a good idea to check when a DVD was produced.
Finding Reviews of Hip Hop DVDs
One of the sources of DVDs of any kinds is Amazon.com, and one of the nicer features of it is the ability of consumers to post reviews of the products. Checking the rating of a DVD and clicking on the reviews lets you see what the reactions are by people who actually have watched and tried to learn from a DVD. It is kind of a shotgun approach, though, and there is no guarantee that the reviewers are qualified, unbiased, or that there is even a review at all.A better source would be a website such as Hip-Hop-Dance.net. This has a comprehensive list of good hip-hop videos reviewed by a professional and unbiased dancer, complete with a "star rating" system ranging from "disappointing" to "hot stuff." Aside from having links to buy the DVDs reviewed, he also has links to two very important resources:
- Active Videos is not a very impressive website in terms of design, but has a wide selection of hip hop videos ranging from exercise to street moves.
- CypherStyles.com is probably the most comprehensive source of hip hop dance videos of all kinds. Rivalling Amazon, it has over 400 titles in the library and best of all has a well-designed and user-friendly website that makes it easy to order the right DVD quickly.
Other Resources
It is worth mentioning that hip hop dance choreography is found on more than just instructional DVDs. With the resurgence of the dance movie musical, there are many moves and sequences that can be learned from just watching popular movies in the theater and then buying the DVD when it is released.The ability to watch, learn, and replicate dance moves on DVD helps preserve the culture of hip hop for generations of dancers to come.
