Jumpstyle

You have probably heard about this type of modern dancing or have seen it, but do you know its story, how to dance it or about its popularity?

Jumpstyle is a developed form of oldschool, hardcore dance from the beginning of the 90s. The Jumpstyle appeared like a musical genre in Belgium and Holland during 1997 and it was played in discos by the oldschool boys. Initially, it wasn´t very popular and it didn´t have great success, however, through the next years jumpstyle began to be danced by a group of boys called “The Jumpers” in Holland, and its sophisticated and elegant style was rapidly adopted in the country over next two years. In 2006, with the first contests in Holland, France, Spain and Russia popularised the dance and it travelled from Holland to all of Europe. Jumpstyle is nowadays “conquering” North America and Australia.

You can find Jumpstyle in your own city too, there are little groups of boys called “Jumpers”, who can be seen near your house, in your high-school (I have seen people in my high-school who are thirteen years old dancing), or in your city´s square. Sometimes in Facebook you receive an invitation for an event to take part in a big concentration of jumpstyle in a huge city. These concentrations take place in mostly the biggest squares of the cities, nearing up to 10,000 people dancing at the same time.

Although it seems easy, it is a complicated dance and you must control your movements in a precise way so as not to fall or to get lost. The first thing you may learn while dancing jumpstyle is to warm up your legs for 10 minutes as it requires a high concentration and flexibility of your legs. I´m sure you are thinking that arms are not necessary… you are wrong. When you are dancing jumpstyle the coordination of movements between the opposite arm from the leg you are moving makes the “magic” in this dance. When you have finished of warning up you can look for Patrick Jumpen's website and learn how to dance it with tutorial videos.

I am now practising to dance Jumpstyle, and it is really difficult! Would you like to dance jumpstyle? Here you are two videos I like!