Jazz and Hip-Hop: Understanding these Dance Genres in Professional Cheerleading

Pro cheer dance routines often look like modern choreographies. But there is a long history to it. The high jumps, kicks, twists, turns, splits, and bounces you see performed on the field by the dancers actually come from Hip-Hop and Jazz dance genres.

As an aspiring pro cheerleader, it should be part of your audition preparation to gain a deep understanding of these two dance styles in advance. Because once the application for your dream team opens, you’ll find it easy to learn the choreographies given by the judges.

Without further ado, let’s discuss Jazz and Hip-Hop dancing along with 5 of their common moves.

What Are the Differences Between Jazz and Hip-Hop?

Jazz

The jazz dance genre was popularized back in the 1930s and 40s along with the emergence of ballroom music played by the Afro-American communities. When the swing music genres went out of style, the movement of jazz dances remained and made their way into high school cheerleading. Then, they became the standard dance routines of pro cheer squads.

Jazz dances typically involve precise and isolated foot, arm, and leg movements with twisting and high jumps.

Hip-Hop

Like jazz dances, hip-hop was also born from and popularized by Black Americans of New York in the 1970s. It’s an energetic form of dancing. More energetic than jazz and mostly involves freestyle movements. The most common style of hip-hop is break dancing.

However, the dance genre is also characterized by top rocking, bouncing, popping, and locking. One could say that Hip-Hop takes a lot of inspiration from jazz. But experienced dancers will say that it’s a modern version of the vintage dance genre.

So why are Jazz and Hip-Hop the chosen dance genres of the pro cheerleading scene? The answer is simple: It’s because they entertain crowds through high levels of energy and sexiness.

5 Common Jazz Dance Moves

1. Jazz Square

This jazz move is an essential part of choreographies to help dancers get into the right position after performing the main routine sequence.

2. Chassé

The Chassé is originally a Ballet move. But jazz adopted it so dancers can move forward gracefully. In pro cheerleading, Chassés are often accompanied by a high kick.

3. Jazz Walk

Leaping to move forward can easily exhaust a dancer in the field. This is why in most pro cheer dance routines, jazz walks are alternated with Chassés in the refrain part of choreographies.

4. Ball Change

Pro cheer squads that incorporate a lot of kicks into their dance routines often do these moves with dancers standing side by side. To get into that unified position, ball changes must be done first.

5. Hitch Kick

Speaking of kicking dance routines, the hitch kick is a move that every pro cheer team does. It’s hard to explain why high-hicks are important in pro cheerleading. But if we were to surmise an answer, it would be one word: “Legs”.

5 Common Hip-Hop Dance Moves

1. Pop and Lock

The pop and lock isn’t just a single movement but rather a short routine. It’s commonly performed in the intro of arena dances.

2. The Running Man

Doing a running man may be hard to do on a Tifway 419 Bermudagrass. But it’s one of the favorite routines among pro cheer squad coaches because it goes well with pompoms.

3. The Cabbage Patch

Every choreography must have resting periods so a dancer can catch their breath. The cabbage patch is a great dance move for that purpose.

4. The Butterfly

Some pro cheer teams include a dance segment where squad members perform a freestyle. While a soloist is in the center, everyone else does the butterfly.

5. Scoop Arm Into Hip Sway

GIF source: STEEZYblog

There’s nothing else we can say about this dance move aside from that it fits the pro cheerleading scene.

To learn more about Hip-Hop and Jazz, enroll in a dance class at your local studio. In addition, it’s a great idea to learn techniques online.

Get more tips for dancing here!

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