Uprock

Uprock or "Rocking" as it was originally referred to, is an urban dance that is a soulful and competitive street dance and is performed in synchronization to the beats and rhythms of Soul, Rock and Funk music, but was mostly danced to a specific and exclusive collection of songs that contained a hard driving beat. An example of such a song is the uprock classic "It's Just Begun" by noted jazz musician Jimmy Castor. The dance consists of foot shuffles, spins, turns, freestyle movements, and more characteristically, a four point sudden body movements called "jerks". Although women participated in this style of dance, it was usually danced by two men facing each other. The underlying philosophy of uprocking was to undermine your "opponent" with hand gestures called "burns". One would "burn" his (or her) opponent with a variety of these hand gestures that would mimic an action that would be considered detrimental to the dancer's adversary. Two examples of typical and fundamental burns are the bow and arrow, and the shotgun. The "winner" of these mock battles was usually the individual who was able to choreograph and execute his or her burns creatively and even artistically to the rhythm and syncopation of the music. A sophisticated and rhythmic form of rock, paper, scissors, one would have to dance thoughtfully as to not step forward and inadvertently get his head "sledge hammered". Although it is common knowledge that uprocking is supposed to be a mock battle, those who are less professional sometimes get carried away with the dance resulting in real violence.

History and Overview

Uprock was founded in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn circa 1968 by two men: "Rubberband Man" and "Apache". A precursor and significant influence to this form of dance was gang culture. Throughout the very late 60s and mid-70s, Brooklyn was home to many street gangs. Rubberband Man and Apache were all too familiar with this violent way of life as they grew up in the Bushwick area. They often hung around with known Bushwick gang such as the "Devil's Rebels", and the "Latin Tops", along with other local Brooklyn gangs. Although they socialized within a dangerous circle of friends, getting into trouble was not their ultimate goal. They loved to dance and wanted to channel their energy and skill more creatively. Rubberband Man and Apache would dance on the street corners while listening to the radio. Honing their skills and showing off a style that would evolve into rocking.

As rocking/uprocking developed, body movements called "jerks" and hand gestures called "burns" (as defined above in this article), would be added to emulate a fight against an opposing dancer. Being skillful in this new dance form, Apache would get the better of his opponents by skillfully utilizing burns. Rubberband Man and Apache continued to invent new movements and gestures to create a unique and original street dance. Many gang members began to perform this dance. It became commonplace to see gang members hanging out in corners dancing against each other. Rocking/uprocking became a competitive dance that caught on very quickly.

By the early 70's uprocking shed it's stigma and was no longer considered a "gang" dance. It evolved and became a local dance performed by many adolescent men. It was not uncommon to see this form of dance at block parties, teen dances, and many other festive gatherings. A core group of individuals living in Bushwick became well known for their uprocking abilities. A Bushwick area dance promoter known as Crazy Rob is purported to have organized the first uprock contests. Competition was fierce and Brooklyn became a breeding ground for intense dance contests (commonly referred to as battles).

Unfortunately, fierce competition did not go without difficulties. Though many battles would end peacefully, several others did not. Sadly, one of the founders of this dance style lost his life in a "battle" that ended in violence. As the story is told, Rubberband Man participated in a dance battle in which the opposing dancer's girlfriend was put up as the prize. Rubberband won the contest, claimed his prize, and as he was walking out of the dance club escorted by his opponent's girlfriend, the jealous man shot Rubberband.

By the late 70's uprock was established as a bonafide form of dance and this is when dozens of dancing crews formed in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Two of the better known groups of dancers were "Touch Of Rock" and "Dynasty." One was not required to be part of any particular group in order to dance or compete and there were many individuals who were considered independent. Also, not all uprockers focused on "battling" and instead perfected what were then known as "routines" wherein two dancers would perform a designed repertoire of movements that matched or coincided with each others steps. Some uprock competitions prizes were earmarked for "best routine." Two such independent dancers that became well known for "routine-ing" were known as simply Sammy and Papo. Uprock was taken seriously by some of its participants and supporters as it was an integral part of socializing. Prize money, women, bragging rights were all coveted and to the better and popular dancers went the spoils. Mimicking gang mentality where a member from one gang would successfully take the "colors" (jacket with gang insignia) from a member of a rival gang, dancers would sometimes compete for their respective shirts. Similar to gang idiosyncracy, this was considered a particularly severe humiliation, thus, it was considered one of the highest stakes in a battle. If you lost your shirt, you would sometimes lose your nickname and/or your crew's name, but mostly, one would just lose their shirt (no pun intended.)

Most era related fads come and go and uprocking was no exception. At first, the popularity of rocking was challenged by the well known disco dance called the Hustle. Some talented rockers preferred the gracefulness of dancing with women that the Hustle provided, as opposed to the adversarial and sometimes dangerous climate of competing against another male dancer. By the mid-80 and into the 90's uprock began to fade into history. At the same time, another competitive form of urban dance called breakdancing all but replaced uprocking. As many uprockers became grown men with adult responsibilities, it seemed that the culture of uprock would become a distant memory, but it has not.

In 1980, a large uprock competition in Brooklyn had taken place with the first prize title defined as "King Uprock". Many individuals who engaged in uprock dancing arrived to compete in this one significant contest. The title was won by Ralph Casanova of Brooklyn, New York and the title of the contest became Mr. Casanova's moniker and the name stuck. Although there are many greatly skilled dancers that may be considered just as talented if not more, it is not Mr. Casanova's dancing abilities that are at issue. His contributions to the Culture of Uprock have proven to be paramount and invaluable. His hard work and dedication to this expressionist dance form is credited for preserving the knowledge of uprock to this day.

The Dance Itself

The dance involves two opposing dancers, or teams dancing alternatively or simultaneously performing a choreographed "battle" throughout the duration of a complete song. Although some of the moves uprockers execute emulate fighting, physical contact is never allowed. As stated above, physical contact is usually a sign of inexperience and/or dysfunctional behavior. If an uprocker is experienced he or she will not make any contact in order to "burn" his or her opponent. Uprocking's current rules of engagement penalizes any dancer who actually touches the opponent, even if contact was made unintentionally.

Experienced uprockers are uausally familiar with the songs that they dance to and use the lyrics and sounds of the music to out-do their opponent. The music is the guideline for when to execute a jerk, burn, or freestyle. Therefore, knowledge of the music is beneficial in order to execute an effective dance battle. He or she uses the music's lyrics or sounds in his or her favor in order to create the physical narration of the mock battle that manifests.

It becomes monotonous if not redundant should a rocker utilize burn after burn while dancing. Really good dancers tend to maintain uprocking as an art form and not just an all out burnfest. There should be a constant give and take of burns and jerks in order to give each opponent the space to burn the other, but also exhibit various dance moves. This understanding is what makes watching good uprockers all the more interesting. In all actuality, it is the knowledge of the music and the styling of dance that favors one dancer over another. Creativity and execution of the moves in accordance to the music being played was, (and hopefully still is), the way an excellent rocker is judged.

Opposing dancers can also face off in a line formation called the "Apache Line". In contrast to the circle formation in breakdancing, the Apache line allows multiple opposing dancers or crews to face each other and execute their burns. Back in the 1970s it was a fascinating display to watch. Each uprocker must keep in his/her line formation while battling. One form of Apache line competition utilized rotation positioning. In other words, dancers would battle until either he is tapped to step out by another rocker, or the opponent has been worn down.

These days, in the initiation of a new rocker who intends on joining a particular crew, an Apache line is created. Borrowing again from gang culture social protocol, the new uprocker must battle each member on the Apache line. The new rocker must dance down the center of the Apache Line and battle each rocker while maintaining a discipline in the use of jerks, burns and freestyle for which he is then evaluated.

Etymology

No one is sure where the term "rocking" came from or why this form of dance was named using this word. It may have been that because of the dance's inherent nature of conflict, the colloquialism of "rocking" as in "rocking" the opponent was used. An example would be in describing a triumphant boxer or fighter by saying, "He rocked that dude."

Another school of thought is that it was called "Rock" because early on rockers danced mainly to a specific range of rock and roll songs that fell into a category that would be more accurately categorized as a hybrid of rock/funk. Examples of songs that fell into this genre would be "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor, and the live version of "Sex Machine" by James Brown. These and many other songs were not quite soul nor rock and roll, yet, they provided the kind of hard driving beat that fueled the uprock style of dance.

A dance hall flyer announcing a "Rock Contest", would confuse some who were not familiar with the term rocking as it related to this specific form of dance. Individuals would show up at an organized party event expecting a rock concert having mistaken the event as a "rock & roll dance". After about a decade since it's inception, "Rocking" became known as "Uprocking". It was the same dance with a different name.

ee also

* Breakdance

References

* [http://www.spartanic.ch/ The Spartanic Rockers: Uprocking]
* [http://hometown.aol.com/WEPAMAN/uprock.html United Brooklyn Uprockers] History