Pop and lock?
Confused by the terms popping and locking in belly dance? Read on!
What are Pops and Locks?
The terms “pop” and “lock” are not belly dance terms. American belly dancers originally borrowed these terms from the US funk street dance styles known as “popping” and “locking”.
Popping is a dance style that uses the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer's body, referred to as a pop. This is done continuously to the rhythm of a song in combination with various movements and poses.
Locking is based on the concept of locking movements, which means to freeze from a fast movement, hold your position, then continue on at the same speed as before. When done continuously this can create a freeze frame or strobing effect.
Why use terminology from other dance styles?
Belly dance terminology is not set, so it is not uncommon for those with a wider dance background to “borrow” terms from corresponding techniques in other dance styles. In this instance, it also adds the “cool” factor – street dance is very trendy so describing belly dance technique in street dance terminology will help appeal to a young, hip audience!
How do we use these terms in belly dance?
In belly dance, the term “lock” can be used to refer to a sharp accent move and “pop” can be used to describe movements where there is a quick "up/down" or "in/out" movement, such as a tummy pop or chest drop, resulting in a sharper, accented version of the usual belly dance movement.
Should we use these terms in belly dance?
It may be appropriate to use these terms for tribal and fusion styles of belly dance, especially where hip hop or street elements have been fused with belly dance movements.
However applying these terms to Egyptian style works less well. In Egyptian belly dance we may stop during movement, or hold a pose, but the effect of this is rather different to the “freeze frame” effect of locking.
And while we use movements that can be described as “pops”, the end effect is quite different from “popping” as a dance style, where pops are often used continuously. In belly dance hits and accents are usually used relatively sparingly, as a dynamic counterpoint to our flowing movements.
For Egyptian style then, it would be perhaps clearer to refer to accents and poses. But ultimately it is down to different teachers to use a vocabulary that is appropriate for their style and their students. The key thing is to be clear and consistent in our usage.