Breakdancing, also known as b-boying, started in the late 1970s in the South Bronx of New York City. The first breakdancers drew from several sources. DJ Afrika Bambaataa credits James Brown’s “Good Foot” with the inspiration for many of the moves: "He was flipping his legs from side to side, and doing things with his hands.” "It was a big dance, everybody was doing the Good Foot, and you was playing all the James Brown records... and then you expand on it¹." Other moves came from martial arts, such as Capoiera (itself having orgins from enslaved Africans in Brazil). Some older African American traditions that may have influenced breakdancing include the lindy-hop, the Charleston, the cakewalk, the jitterbug, double dutch, and black fraternity and sorority stepping². These also have some distant African origins.

At right: A Capoiera performance in Brazil

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