A guide to better understanding self-taught dance practices

How can we name, document and pass on dances rooted in hip-hop and underground cultures without reducing them or erasing their histories? FAIR-E Collective / CCN de Rennes et de Bretagne is publishing a semantic guide dedicated to popping, locking, hip-hop, w*acking, house dance, electro, dancehall, krump and voguing.

Designed both for people discovering these practices and for those who teach, programme, support or research them, the guide brings together historical and cultural background, a glossary, and resources for professional and institutional contexts.

These forms of knowledge have long existed within the communities that make these dances live, through practice, sessions, cyphers, balls and clubs. Yet they often remain oral, scattered and difficult to access for those who are new to these cultures. The guide therefore seeks to make some of this knowledge accessible and shareable, without claiming to establish definitive definitions.

Conceived as a tool for shared understanding rather than a prescriptive glossary, it encourages further research, invites readers to question the words they use, and recognises practice-based knowledge as a valuable resource in its own right.

The guide is released under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA licence and can be freely shared and adapted, subject to the terms of the licence.