![]() Famous Chinese fans of the movie who caught onto the craze during the ’80s include arthouse director Jia Zhangk e, award-winning actor Sun Honglei, and singer Luo Qi (also known as China’s first female rock star) who became obsessed with breakdancing and dropped out of school at the age of 13 to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer.Īfter the rise of breakdancing in China through the 1980s and into the early ’90s, the form started to fade from public consciousness however. ![]() The film’s appeal went well beyond dance circles. Tao Jin, the lead in Rock n Roll Kids became an overnight superstar, later appearing in Chinese television’s biggest annual event the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 1989 to dance and sing for the audience. The movie features a bizarre selection of cultural references, including Michael Jackson rip-offs and inspirations from Bollywood movies alongside a ton of breakdancing. In the same year that Rock n Roll Kids was released in China, Xinjiang director Guang Chunlan’s lesser known work Crazy Dancer (西部舞狂) focused on the craze in Urumqi. ![]() In Hong Kong in 1985, where the hip hop craze had caught on earlier, Donnie Yen displayed the connectivity between the two art forms in the movie Mismatched Couples, in which the martial arts master showed off his popping and locking skills. In many ways, it made sense that the hyper physical movements of breakdance connected with Chinese audiences, as in the US prominent early Bboys claimed that they took inspiration for their power moves from kung fu or martial arts. In 1988, the iconic film Rock n Roll Kids (摇滚青年) - directed by controversial fifth generation filmmaker Tian Zhuangzhuang and starring dancer Tao Jin - was integral in bringing a Chinese slant to the new form of creative expression that was taking the country by storm. This enthusiasm for breakdancing also influenced how hip hop culture was depicted in Chinese productions for the big screen, a year after Breakin’ had become popular. The style and movement of breakdancing as portrayed in the movie caught the imagination and inspired an entire generation of Chinese street dance enthusiasts, with 霹雳舞 or “thunderbolt dance,” as breakdancing came to be known in China, catching on with young Chinese people looking for something new to engage with. The arrival of the 1984 Joel Silberg movie Breakin’ in mainland Chinese cinemas in 1987, during a time of cultural opening up in the country, caused a flurry of excitement for China’s youth. Just like rap music, street dance has a longer history in the country than the sudden rush of hype-laden talent contests now putting under the mainstream spotlight might suggest. ![]() With massive stars such as Jackson Wang, Lay Zhang and Wang Yibo lending their influence and dance skills, the show has helped boost street dance from a fringe cultural offering to the mainstream.īut how did hip hop dance initially emerge in China? The third season of dance battle TV show Street Dance of China comes to a close on streaming platform Youku this weekend after a run that has proven to be a phenomenon across the country.
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