Turfing

Last updated

Turfing (or turf dancing) is a form of street dance that originated in Oakland, California, United States, characterized by rhythmic movement combined with waving, floor moves, gliding, flexing and cortortioning. It was developed by youth from West Oakland and organized by dancer Jeriel Bey, who coined the name "turf dancing," or "Turfin" and named his Organization The Architeckz™. Bey named the dance form as an acronym for "Taking Up Room on the Floor." [1] [2] [3] The style was originally known by the terms "having fun with it" or "hitting it", but these names didn't seem marketable. However, another claim for the nomenclature considers the acronym as a backronym and that turf dancing originated as a way to describe dances that different "turfs" (locations or territories) from Oakland performed to represent where they were from (the same as "blocks" or "sets"). The dance form had its earliest influences in the Boogaloo movement of the mid-1960s, but it developed into a distinctive dance style. [4]

Contents

History

The dance form can be traced back to the traditions of the Boogaloo movement in Oakland, California in the 1960s, [4] [2] developing into a separate genre of dance in the 1990s. Along with hyphy music, it came to be seen as distinctively representative of Oakland. [5] The movement rose to prominence in 2002 following Jeriel Bey's establishment of his group, "The Architeckz™."

Turfing is a social critique and recognition of lost African American lives, police brutality, and race relations in Oakland. [6] This form of expression uniquely addresses African American deaths, while using art to create a politicized awareness of brutality against people of color. [7] [8] It is also seen as a means to humanize blackness, spread community, empathy, and peace in the same streets black lives were taken. [9] Apart from being a unique hood dance form, turfing represents a collective movement, and is part of the street culture in the East Bay. [10] [11]

Turf dancing was first displayed on videos from artists such as Baby Bash, Keak Da Sneak, and E-40 by innovative and influential turf dancers (and creators of the turfing Lifestyle) Jeriel Bey. [5] Turf dance had been promoted as a means of dispute resolution within the Oakland community, [5] and in 2005 The Architeckz built on this concept of dance battle by engaging krump dancers from Los Angeles in city-level competition. [1] Friendly rivalries with dancers from New York City and Memphis, Tennessee, [2] have developed as well. The artist E-40 brought international attention to the movement with his 2006 single "Tell Me When to Go". [12] In 2012 Alonzo (Turf) Jones [13] a.k.a. Retro, a turf dancer and skateboarder from California's Bay Area competed on the TV talent competition America's Got Talent (in season 7). [14]

Foundation

The foundation of turf dance is based on a series of dances with different "turfs" in Oakland displayed. Some of these foundation dances are "two step," "brookfield," "auntie," "shaking," "the busta," "cliffhangers," "tsunamis" and "traces". Turf dance also includes "story telling" which is a style based on pantomime "life stories" or "everyday activities". Turfing incorporates other dance style concepts such as tutting, flexing, waving and animation. Turf dance is an improvisational, free-flowing form of dance that is based on the idea of pure cause and effect but focuses on storytelling, the creation of optical illusions, and the display of distinctive personal style. Dance elements include Boogaloo, popping, locking, and miming. [15] Gliding is heavily used in turf dance because it enables the creation of optical illusions. "Going dumb," or completely letting one's emotions loose on the dance floor, is also a distinctive part of the tradition. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popping</span> Street dance style

Popping is a street dance adapted out of the earlier boogaloo cultural movement in Oakland, California. As boogaloo spread, it would be referred to as "robottin'" in Richmond, California; strutting movements in San Francisco and San Jose; and the Strikin' dances of the Oak Park community in Sacramento, which were popular through the mid-1960s to the 1970s.

Boogaloo or bugalú is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly by stateside Puerto Ricans with African American music influences. The style was a fusion of popular African American rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music with mambo and son montuno, with songs in both English and Spanish. The American Bandstand television program introduced the dance and the music to the mainstream American audience. Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It like That" was a famous boogaloo song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krumping</span> Type of street dance

Krumping is a global culture that evolved through African-American street dancing popularized in the United States during the early 2000s, characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement. The people who originated krumping saw the dance as a means for them to escape gang life.

Gilberto Miguel Calderón, known professionally as Joe Cuba, was an American conga drummer of Puerto Rican descent widely regarded as the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Bataan</span> American singer and musician (born 1942)

Bataan Nitollano, also known as Joe Bataan is a Filipino and American Latin soul singer, songwriter and musician best known world-wide and in the Hispanic and Latino music scene as the "King of Latin Soul".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hip-hop dance</span> Street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop

Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made popular by dance crews in the United States. The television show Soul Train and the 1980s films Breakin', Beat Street, and Wild Style showcased these crews and dance styles in their early stages; therefore, giving hip-hop dance mainstream exposure.

The term hyphy is an Oakland, California slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip hop music and the culture associated with the Oakland area. The term was first coined by Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak.

<i>Breakin</i> 1983 film by Joel Silberg

Breakin' is a 1983 American breakdancing-themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a story by Parker, DeBevoise and Gerald Scaife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric boogaloo (dance)</span> Dance style closely related to popping and Boogaloo street dance

Electric boogaloo is a dance style closely related to the earlier Boogaloo street dance performed in Oakland and popping; it combines modern popping techniques and earlier boogaloo forms. It became the signature style of the mid-1970s dance group, the Electric Boogaloos and also performed by the bush. Along with electric boogaloo, they also popularized popping and many of its related styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakdancing</span> Style of street dance

Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx.

Yusuf Bey was an American Black Muslim activist and leader who was a member of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam, an offshoot of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (NOI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Me When to Go</span> 2006 single by E-40 featuring Keak da Sneak

"Tell Me When to Go" is the first single from E-40's BME/Warner Bros. debut, My Ghetto Report Card. Keak da Sneak is also featured on the track. It was produced by Lil Jon, and one of the first singles to kick off the hyphy movement on a national level and popularized the phrase "ghost ride the whip". The song reached number 35 in the U.S. and eventually was certified Platinum by the RIAA on February 2, 2024. The song first premiered online on the MySpace.com homepage and it was the first hip hop single to premiere online before being released.

The Electric Boogaloos are a street dance crew responsible for the spread of popping and electric boogaloo. The name "Boogaloo" came from a song called "Do a Boogaloo" by James Brown, which was also adapted as a Boogaloo street dance done from Oakland, CA. They were founded by Boogaloo Sam in Fresno, California in 1977. Their original name was the Electronic Boogaloo Lockers but "Lockers" was dropped the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland City Hall</span> Government offices in Oakland, California

Oakland City Hall is the seat of government for the city of Oakland, California. The current building was completed in 1914, and replaced a prior building that stood on what is now Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Standing at the height of 320 feet (98 m), it was the first high-rise government building in the United States. At the time it was built, it was also the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. The City Hall is depicted on the city seal of Oakland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of hip-hop dance</span> Aspect of the history of dance

The history of hip-hop dances encompasses the people and events since the late 1960s that have contributed to the development of early hip-hop dance styles, such as uprock, breaking, locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping. African Americans created uprock and breaking in New York City. African Americans in California created locking, roboting, boogaloo, and popping—collectively referred to as the funk styles. All of these dance styles are different stylistically. They share common ground in their street origins and in their improvisational nature of hip hop.

FlexN, also spelled as Flexing, is a style of street dance from Brooklyn, New York that is characterized by rhythmic Brukup/Dancehall performed and incorporated element's like pauzN ,konnectN,GlidN,Getlow,Bonebreaking and hat tricks.Their performance for FlexN has storytelling showmanship,2015-18 FlexN @ Park armory stamped the culture to make FlexN Global.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popin' Pete</span> American dancer and choreographer

Timothy Earl Solomon, known as Popin' Pete, is an American dancer and choreographer who popularized the "popping" dance style and member of the Electric Boogaloos. Pete’s career has spanned over forty years since the emergence of popping dance.

Your Black Muslim Bakery (YBMB) was an American chain of bakeries opened by Yusuf Bey in 1968 in Santa Barbara, California, and relocated to Oakland in 1971. A power broker at the center of a local community, YBMB was held out as a model of African American economic self-sufficiency. However, it was later linked to widespread physical and sexual abuse, welfare fraud, and murder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boogaloo (funk dance)</span> Improvisational American street dance movement

Boogaloo is a freestyle, improvisational street dance, closely related to popping dance and turfing. It's best known for the dance move known as the Robot; it is also related to the later electric boogaloo dance.

In late May and early June 2020, two ambush-style attacks occurred against security personnel and law enforcement officers in California. The attacks left two dead and injured three others.

References

  1. 1 2 Burkey, Shannon (2005-07-26). "Freestylin' Freestylin' Freestylin' The Architeckz aim to". Oakland Tribune . Archived from the original on 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Zamora, Jim Herron (2007-03-10). "Architeckz look to build outlet for Oakland youth / Dance troupe channels emotions through 'turf dancing,' a younger sibling of 1980s break dancing". San Francisco Chronicle. p. B 1. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  3. ↑ Savion-Royant, Yoram (1 May 2008). "Letter Home" (PDF). Berkeley.edu. Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize Project, University of California Berkeley. Retrieved April 24, 2017. TURF stands for Taking Up Room on the Floor
  4. 1 2 Phaneuf, W. (2013 Aug 21) "Turfing Grows Up." Eastbay Express.
  5. 1 2 3 Hix, Lisa (2005-10-16). "Cubland". San Francisco Chronicle . p. D5. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  6. ↑ "Shot and Captured." Tdr-The Drama Review-The Journal of Performance Studies, vol. 58, no. 2, n.d., pp. 99–114.
  7. ↑ "Conscious Quiet as a Mode of Black Visual Culture." Black Camera: The New Series, vol. 8, no. 1, Fall 2016, pp. 146–154.
  8. ↑ Bragin, Naomi Elizabeth. "Black Street Movement: Turf Dance, YAK Films and Politics of Sitation in Oakland, California." Collected Work: Dance and the social city. Published by: Birmingham, AL: Society of Dance History Scholars, 2012. Pages: 51–57.
  9. ↑ Simms, Renee. "Immortal Dance in the Age of Michael Brown." Southwest Review, no. 1, 2017, p. 74.
  10. ↑ "From Streets To Stage, Two Dance Worlds See Harmonization And Chaos." Weekend Edition Saturday, 23 Jan. 2016. Literature Resource Center.
  11. ↑ Sommer, Sally. "Balletic Breakin'." Dance Magazine, vol. 86, no. 1, Jan. 2012, p. 90.
  12. ↑ Stelfox, Dave (2007-11-15). "Why doesn't the UK have hip-hop dance crazes?". The Guardian . Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  13. ↑ "Alonzo 'Turf' Jones Brings the Art of Extreme Hip Hop Contortionism to the Masses on 'America's Got Talent'". Pops Campaign. 2012-06-01. Archived from the original on 2012-06-09. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
  14. ↑ "America's Got Talent Auditions". NBC . 2012-07-02. Archived from the original on 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
  15. ↑ "East Bay Express – Best Of". www.eastbayexpress.com. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  16. ↑ Hesse, Monica (2008-01-20). "There is an escape in dance". The Washington Post. p. M02. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.