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The Music is the Key to the Dance

Yo! Otis Funkmeyer comin atcha again with another certified banger.

So let’s get it started. When you’re popping, the most important thing to be focused on is the music. The music will tell you how to dance if you let it. All of the styles of popping that we now love–boogaloo, waving, tutting, animation, robot–they were all created because of a song that made someone move in a certain way. No one had ever moved in that way before because no music had ever been created to inspire that movement.

If you allow the music to sink deep inside of you, it will show you how to dance. Movements will literally just come out of you. When you add your technique and foundational movements to the music, you create magic!

Someone who did just that is probably the reason you wanted to start popping in the first place.

Hey guys, I’m Otis Funkmeyer, the professor of popping! I write an article about popping here at WCP every Sunday. I have lots of lessons, articles, DVDs, downloads, and music at my website www.funkmeyers.com!

How the Music Creates the Dance

Almost all social dances were created because a new kind of music was created. A new type of beat made people move their bodies in a new type of way. Popping is no exception. In the 1970s, James Brown was the thing. His type of funk was inspiring dancers all over to groove to his music. This type of music inspired the dance called locking. Locking is ALL ABOUT THE FUNK. It’s just about making a face and laughing and having a good time and shaking it loose, with a point and a lock there and a scoo bot for good measure!

In the mid-70s, technology started to shift. New types of instruments came onto the market. Two of the most important were the electronic bass synthesizer and the electronic drum machine. These instruments made more electric, mechanical sounds. As bands like Parliament began releasing hit songs like “Flashlight” featuring these new instruments, dancers started moving in new ways. More mechanically, like robots.

And a very specific kind of percussive sound, the electronic clap, caused the dancers to start flexing their muscles. It made them shout “POP” or “BANG” or just “UHHH” each time it hit. They were still locking, but more mechanically. They were starting to add a rigidness to their funk. They were beginning to create what we call popping.

The Music Tells You What to Do

These early poppers just allowed the music to tell them what to do. These were not “trained” dancers. These were social dancers, who danced for fun, danced to get girls, danced to go out at night. They were more concerned with having a good time than with doing the dance “correctly.”

Because they were free, the music told them how to move. One song might inspire them to roll their body. Another dancer would see this, copy it, and the next thing you know the first boogaloo dancers have begun creating a style. Another song, with an Egyptian feel, makes people start making 90 degree angles with their hands. Tutting is born. A song with a lot of melody, a windy, light, wavy feel, causes people to sway. Waving and snaking are born.

Relax Into the Music

When many dancers start dancing, they are stiff. I was stiff when I started. I was actually stiff for the first 5 years I was dancing. I was in my head. Trying to do movements correctly. This is part of the learning process. You have to let yourself be a bad dancer before you can be a great dancer!

What can help this process, what helped me, was RELAXING into the music. When I started giving up the need to do things right, movements started coming out of me. All of my training would show up naturally, without me even trying. So relax. ENJOY dancing. Remember that this is fun.

If I had one thing to change about my dance career, it would be that I spent more time dancing for FUN. Just to have a good time. Just to be silly. Just to make my friends laugh. I spent so much time trying to be GOOD. Trying to do things RIGHT. Don’t make the mistake that I made. Because once you are good, you just start having fun anyway. And not having fun while you are bad doesn’t make you any better! In fact, the more you relax and have fun the faster your technique will improve as well.

Feel What the Music is Expressing

So how do you go about doing this? Well, a great way to start is to really LISTEN to music. Can you hear a bassline? Do you even know what a bassline is? Can you hear the difference between kick drums, snares, claps, hi hats, and tom drums? Can you hear both the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar? How about the cowbell? Or the synth in the background that only comes in once every 8 counts.

If what I just wrote sounds like a foreign language to you, that’s ok. Do your homework. Type those words into wikipedia. Google ear training. But most importantly, pull out some headphones and really LISTEN to the music. Just sit there, close your eyes. Let the music unfold. Listen closely to the left ear and the right ear. Often times, different sounds are only played on one side.

When I first started dancing, I didn’t know ANYTHING about music. I couldn’t hear basslines, which are so basic and so important, I can hardly imagine what life was like back then. But I LOVED music. I would lay in bed and put on the headphones and just listen to music. Over and over. It was so exciting when a new sound would appear out of nowhere. A sound that had always been there, but one that I had never heard. It’s like a whole new world opens up before you.

Start Slow, Let the Music Carry You Along

When you get up and actually feel like dancing, which you will, start slow. Most of the best dancers do their best dancing when they start slow. Suga Pop once told me that he knows Poppin Pete is about to have a great solo when he starts slow. When Pete rushes out into ground moves and crazy boogaloo angles, Suga Pop said, that’s usually not when the magic happens. But when he comes out into a slow robot, does a pop here, a pop there, not moving very much, allowing the music to carry him along, sinking deeper and deeper into the music, that’s when Suga Pop starts to get excited. That’s when the magic happens.

Boppin Andre told me the same thing. He said to go really slow when you start. Allow the people to hear what you are hearing. SHOW THEM the kick drum. SHOW THEM the clap. Do it for a while. Not just once or twice. Allow them to see. Present your dance to them. As they catch on, they may start clapping. Now, you are ready to show them a new part of the music. When you dance slowly like this, the audience loves it, because they can follow it. Most of them are NOT dancers and most of them CAN NOT hear music very well. But if you take the time to show them, they will love you.

My last story is from Sweepy. Sweepy had just moved from New York to Los Angeles and had started training with Suga Pop. Suga Pop would sit in a chair in the corner of the room and tell Sweepy to start dancing. Sweepy would feel so nervous that he would go really fast. Suga Pop would always just say to him “Sweeps, the music isn’t going anywhere.” So SLOW DOWN! RELAX! Let the music carry you along!

How This Relates to You

YOU can create a new dance style that millions of people will be doing. YOU have the potential to give a great gift to the world. Your own dance, your own expression.

This is how Don Campbell created locking. Everyone was doing the same old dances and so was he. But at some point, he just started to let loose and feel what the music was telling HIM to do. He opened up to the music and bared his soul. He danced how he was born to dance. Today, almost forty years later, there are millions of people still doing his dance. All because he allowed the music to tell him what to do and he LISTENED.

Learn the technique, learn the music, pay your dues, and then give your gift to the world! It’s what we’re all here to do.

KEEP IT POPPING!
Otis Funkmeyer

12 Comments

tootall says:

September 14, 2009 at 12:23 pm

Excellent blurb, exactly why i started popping.. i watched salah for the first time and was blown away… now that im getting up there i realise more and more its about the song and how its flows through you that creates your style..
Strange Mike says:

September 14, 2009 at 11:17 pm

yo big props man. that was really deep to me. i consider myself a rookie. it’s funny how you say start slow. cuz when im home messin around or practicin i go slow and take my time. but when i do a vid to music i get all nervous and hurry up my moves. i know i got a long way to go, but its peeps like PopNTod and John Doe who even though im no where near their level, they still support me. great article oh and i love your vids for beginners

peace
Strange Mike
Roc4Life says:

September 16, 2009 at 6:20 am

Starting slow and feeling the music is really the way to improve your freestyles. Because before when the music plays i just go WILD and FAST with my Tuts waves pops etc. that people dont get to catch what I do. I really gotta practice sitting on the beat and just to let my moves flow while smiling (or whatever you do) to make my moves more relaxed.
80's Liquid Wavin Chicano 818 says:

September 30, 2009 at 4:19 pm

I have to agree and disagree. If the music is slow then dance slow. But, if the music is fast then dance fast. That’s keeping up to the music. I prefer wavin’ to fast Electro and Techno/Trance/House. Waves are like electricity or energy flowing. Electricity or Energy usually flows fast. I think too many people emphasize slow poppin or wavin but to me that’s just to waste time if you don’t have enough moves or flow. If you can flow fast for a long time then I think you are pretty good. I’ve seen Sir Scorpio flow fast and took up much time. That is a good popper to me. Back in the day, many Wavers were fast and rarely slow. I’m talking from my experience and from what I have observed. I think slow is boring at times. Fast is more exciting. That’s just my opinion.

Keep on Wavin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waves faster than the speed of light ~~~~~~~~~ Imagine that~~~~~~~~
Chris Rodriguez says:

November 9, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Bro i really, greatly appreciate that…the way i started dancing is kinda weird tho…it was about 2 years ago and i was listening to a song and i like started waving my hand…and everyone was like how do u do that it looks like u got no bones…then from there i was doing it to like every song…and saw these poppers incorporate it into their dances…and thats when i fell in love…and ive been dancing ever since…i love it so much that i hate it when ppl use the term pop/lockin…to me there two different dances and shud b respected as such…but that wat u wrote was deep and it got me thinking…to slow down…i always have fun when i dance…but i get lost in da music sometimes…and i jus lose it…haha. I consider myself a rookie/intermidiate…idk…i jus really enjoyed wat u wrote and it gave me a MAJOR boost…

Thank you,
Chris a.k.a xxEPIDEMICxx
Nathan Walker says:

November 14, 2009 at 3:34 pm

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

For most of my life, I’ve just been a pathetic, stereotypical “white boy” who couldn’t move fer shit. Until my middle school had its first dance, that is. The music was deep with a heavy bass. Everyone was grinding, but it just seemed like they were looking to do the “correct” thing. It didn’t feel real to me, but I figured that was because I was so inexperienced. I began to shift my weight back and forth, making a simple effort to keep the beat, and not to look too much like a tool. Gradually, the music started to take control. Soon, the beat was all that mattered. I moved in a way that had never before manifested itself. People noticed, and told me to keep going. So, I decided to try to work some things in that I had seen in popping videos on YouTube. Before I knew it, there was a dance circle around me, and the night was a helluva success.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, anyone can dance. It’s just a matter of flushing your shame down the drain, and to let the beat have its way with you.

Thank you for the post, it really brought me back to the origin of what popping is about. :)
Pierre says:

November 25, 2009 at 9:35 am

Wow. This blurb blew my mind. Thank you!
otis funkmeyer says:

December 30, 2009 at 7:07 pm

thanks for the love and the critiques and all the ideas! there’s a lot more where this came from!!!
Louise says:

January 11, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Great post, Otis!

I am a swing dancer and teacher for about 17 years, and so much of what you say crosses over to any dance style, and is great advice i would pass on to my swing dance students as well.

Sometimes I paraphrase, “Anything worth doing is worth doing badly”. …you’ve got to be willing to look bad first before you look good.

I just came by here trying to learn a little about Popping and locking (we’ve got a locking instructor now at my dance studio), and just loved your article.

Keep it up!
noahcampbellockcampbell says:

February 16, 2010 at 4:24 am

Thnx again ..also rspct for telling about my uncle Don (Campbellock)n the other names..
I hope we meet summ day make fun n jam summ time soon..
Every thing in this post i can relate to..
The stuff about dont forget to make fun because off practise practise practise constant lee thinkin about techniqz n if i am doing it right..
I have a other problem..i make fun & go in my own world with my dance may b to much ..so my question is ..how do i then forget making fun dancing jamming n upgrade my technieks?..as soon as i hear music i go off..
i know it sounds great n it is just like you wrote but what about concentrating n just goiing over my drills n techniqz?

1

thnkx
V1per says:

April 24, 2010 at 12:20 pm

brilliant as ever. i felt lost until i read this post about music. music was something i dont really understand. after reading this i start to hear new beats that ive never heard b4. thank you for guiding me back to the right path.

V1per
FHeNuS says:

June 16, 2010 at 9:34 am

Bro,

I really liked this post. Its was kinda looking at something that i was trying to express but did not have the words to put it. I’ve been trying to learn popping for two days now, LOL, and basically i’ve been whatching a lot of videos on the internet for it. The “feeling” that you mention here, the emotion, the “musical lead” its something SO DAMN important but i think that (at least from what i see, and it was a lot) people don’t really care about it anymore. Specially in the so called battles, most of them were just a show off thing, they were not even paying attention to the music behind. A lot of them were not even looking at the person who they were battling. Dancing its about talking with your body. And if you want a to have a conversation (with the other dancer, with the audience, with the judges) you have to make sentences, not just words. When you make isolated moves you have words, not sentences. If you follow the Music, you will be using the already made “text”. If its a good the music, it will be a collection of “sentences” itself, so you just have to be able to “listen to” that sentences, and transform them with you body. By doing that, anyone that watches you dancing will be able to not just listen to the music, but see it also. And i also think that this “behavior” its again as you well sad, influence of the music being played. Most of the nowadays “Popping songs” that i heard lacked a LOT of FEELING, GROOVE, FUNK that the ones back in the 70s/80s had. And since the music its a bit less emotional, the dancers will also be.

Sorry for my bad english and thanks for wonderfull post, i will be back every week to read them. C ya.