Guide: What are the Best Surfaces to Hip Hop Dance On?

Dancing Surfaces Guide

If your doing primarily standing dance styles like Hip Hop Dance, Club Dance, House Dance, Rave dance, Krumping, Popping or Locking, you can usually get away with dancing almost anywhere because your shoes protect you from sharp surfaces. Even though you can dance on anything, you can dance better on the BBoy recommended surfaces below, you'll get better spins and for any floor work (dance moves on the floor) the floor will do wonders for your moves, health and feet. Different surfaces have a completely different feel for dancing and since battles are usually held on BBoy Recommended Surfaces you'll want to master dancing on them.

I know alot of pioneering BBoys who used to always get down on the concrete and now live with serious joint problems and have to do hours of yoga and muscle rehab every week to keep the pain down. It doesn't make you a "Raw BBoy" to have arthritis, bad knees, a headspin baldspot and back problems when your 29. If your walking through the streets and you want to bust moves on the sidewalk be my guest, plenty of BBoys make good money performing for audiences on street corners. Problems don't usually happen overnight, but week after week and year after year of hitting hard rough surfaces with power moves and freezes are murder on your joints.

Just try to make sure your main training spot is somewhere with a BBoy Recommended Smooth Surface and your body will thank you. You can focus on getting better at moves instead of getting better at first aid.

Surfaces that are jagged or rough like concrete or asphalt will rip up your hands, back and head if you try to break it down on then. Plenty of BBoys and BGirls bust moves on pavement and wear their battle scars with pride, but if you don't like pain I don't recommend it. Do what you like...this guide is specifically tips on how to avoid pain and best protect yourself. No surface will complete eliminate the chance of injury but these tips will minimize it.

BBoy Recommended Smooth Surfaces | Great for Spinning | Easy on your Hands, Head, Back and Body

Cardboard (A BBoy Classic, Preferably at least 2-3 layers thick for cushioning, taped down to hard wood or cement)
Hard Wood
Laminate
Linoleum
Gym Mat
Tile
Grass (Okay for most freezes and floorwork, bad for spins because you'll get covered in grass and dirt)

Bad for BBoys Rough Surfaces | Bad for Spinning | Rough on your Hands, Head, Back and Body

Gravel
Cement
Brick
Wood Chips
Steel
Stone
Concrete

Sticking to dancing on BBoy Recommended Surfaces will make your dancing more fun, double your bodies working life as a dancer and minimize your chances of injury and discomfort. Please let me know if you have any other questions at customerservice@cypherstyles.com and I'll be happy to help you out,

STYLE IS POWER TM

Respect,
BBoy GRIZ aka Barry Rabkin
President,
CypherStyles.com, Inc.