What Should You Know Before Going To A Freestyle Jam? Find out

As you know, freestyle dancing is not a structured or choreographed dance, it is unplanned and prepared at the moment to dance. In a freestyle jam, you have two people on the stage, constantly trying to one-up the other. The crowd grows wilder and the air gets thicker on every leveled-up performance. 

A freestyler may have practiced or performed in classes or with teams. But the history of these styles is strongly rooted in street dance. 

As you would have seen these battles and jams on various movies, the hype and excitement get bigger and bigger as the show goes on. 

History of Freestyle Battles:

The history of freestyle dance dates back to the 70s when the individuals started the battle because dancing was a way to steam and prove themselves, and get accepted as crew members in the communities.

Dance saved lives in New York. Instead of resorting to gang violence, dancers sorted their issues through dance battles without physically attacking each other. It was a system based on respect and skill than on brutality. The scene of battle culture exploded in America in the 70s and 80s. These used to happen in a public setting where dancers have the support of the crowd. 

When you think of other types of dance like ballet or belly dance, there’s no component of battling face to face with someone else. But when you think about street dance, you instinctively think of battling. 

The Structure of Battles:

The freestyle jam has rounds organized with brackets, tournament-style.

The tournament have only limited space and so, if they receive too many registrations from dancers, there will be a preliminary round. 

In the preliminary rounds, two dancers will have a face-off competition in front of judges and they choose the top 16.

From prelims, the dancer or the groups will take turns dancing in the rounds of the battle. This is usually around 30 seconds to a minute on the floor for each dancer. After each of the dancers takes their turn, judges will decide a winner and indicate that through points or gestures at the dancers who they thought deserved to win the round. 

The winner advances up the brackets to battle another winner from a different round. Freestyle jams are getting more creative with how they seed battles. The dancers who make it past the prelims from each of those groups will go on to the battle with the rest of the winners.

Solo Battles vs Team Battles

Solo battles are a 1 vs 1 battle when an individual dancer goes up against another individual dancer. Whereas, team battles are when there are 2 or more people on one side. It could be 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and so on. In these battles, the crew members each have a turn in each round of the battle.

In a team battle, judges evaluate the chemistry of the team in addition to individual skills and style.

Single Style vs All Styles:

The single style battles have specific styles that are judged based on the dancer’s mastery within that style. Whereas in an All-Styles battle, judges look for a dancer’s exhibition of at least 2 styles, as well as their ability to transition between those styles within their round.

Do’s and Dont’s in a Battle:

If you are going for a freestyle jam for the first time, here are some useful tips on the dos and don’ts in the battle.

• Don’t just stare: You can get blown away by the creativity, talent, and personalities of the freestyle jams. Keep it casual and try to watch and appreciate the work of dancers.

• Cheer: The energy at a jam is everything. And giving props is the easiest way to raise the vibe of the room.

• Stay Humble: The biggest reason freestyle battlers have been able to grow so much is that everyone knows to stay on their game. 

• Listen to the music: It is all about collective energy and vibe. This is set by the music. By listening to what everyone else is listening to and watching what everyone else is watching, the energy in the room multiplies.

• Listen to Emcee: The one person you don’t want to mess up with is the emcee of the show. They are the ones who bring the crowd together and make the jam more energetic. Hence, don’t try to talk over them or ignore what they are saying.

• Have fun: Even though there are few ground rules that you may need to follow, the most important thing for you to do is to have fun and appreciate the energy around you.

The individual strength becomes a collective strength and later the strength of the freestyle dancer’s community. All you need is to have some cool moves and inspiration to be a hit in the jam.