I hate that word. I had it in my title for a while and I hated it, because there’s no such thing as ‘urban’… at what point can we get you to give up and just describe Drake’s God’s Plan as a massive pop record rather than ‘urban’?”

- Rob Pascoe, Virgin EMI

“The word urban to me feels like a project. It feels like something that needs to be built. It’s basically like, ‘Oh this urban neighborhood.’
“It means it’s low-income, not safe, etc. So, when you say urban music, to me, it’s letting me know that you think it needs to be rebuilt.”

- Sam Taylor, Kobalt

More about the term and its usage in the music industry here.

All the talk regarding the term “Urban” in the music industry has triggered some talk in the dance community as well regarding the use of “Urban Dance”. Are we running into the same issues as the music industry? To answer this question, we need to first understand why the term was coined and what it means.

This is a short and summarized version of this focusing mainly on the west coast dance community.

What is “Urban” Dance?

Arnel Calvario, Founder of Kaba Modern, Kinjaz Member, and Board President of Culture Shock LA/International, stated that

“urban dance to dance is kinda [sic] like what MMA is to martial arts. This means it is EVERYTHING that is raw and creative. Not necessarily always created in the studios…I think the intent with urban dance was to present something fresh, new, without barriers…”.

In short, it is used to refer to the choreographed dance community like collegiate and other dance teams.

Why did we use the term “Urban” to refer to the choreographed dancing community?

There is no single authority who really deemed the term urban as the correct term to describe the “choreographed dance” community. To understand why this term came into existence we have to go back to when choreographed dancing in groups got really popular. Choreographed dancing got popular as collegiate teams and competitions like VIBE started growing around 1994. Even though a lot of these dancers were inspired by the hip-hop dance community, using “hip-hop” to describe their work was inaccurate and lead to appropriation of culture. Dance community leaders at the time felt constricted as there was a lot of criticism about calling choreographed dances hip-hop as choreographed pieces are a clear departure from the freestyle dancing element of hip-hop. There was also the issue of not teaching the culture of hip-hop in any of these teams or classes.

So, what do you call movement that has stemmed from a dancers training in multiple different art forms? We are assuming that these dancers have trained appropriately in each of the individual dance forms they are using in their choreography. The dance community leaders at the time decided to use the word “urban” to describe movement without any boundaries. It stemmed from the need for freedom of expression and accurately categorize the choreography community. Arnel refers to this as being a “band-aid solution” to address the issue.

Is this the right word for it?

Nobody deems this to be the right word to associate the choreographed community with, but it is what most dancers have decided to use to describe their movement.

There are conversations among the leaders of our dance community to find a better word to describe the choreographed community stemming from the vagueness of the word “urban”. I am not sure if the racial background of the word also has something to do with the discussion around this change. In the dance community, the word was used to describe a kind of fusion of dance forms which were influenced by the instructor and choreographers training.

This also opens up the conversation about “dance styles” vs “dance forms” which we will get into at another time.

Does the term “Urban” open up the door to appropriation of culture (specifically hip hop)?

This is a loaded question, but the short answer is that it can definitely lead to appropriation. Let’s discuss a couple of different scenarios. In both of these scenarios, I am taking or teaching a class that is advertised as “Urban” and using predominantly hip-hop dance movement. For the sake of the argument, let’s say the rest of the class is a mix of other dance forms.

Scenario 1

I am not talking about the culture of hip hop or describing anything about where the movement I am using is coming from. So, I am taking movement from an entire culture and just doing it without any knowledge of it. Similarly, I am not correctly teaching the other dance forms that make up my choreography. This is what most people would call appropriation.

Scenario 2

I am talking about the culture of hip hop, it’s five elements and how it originated. I am talking about what the moves/ grooves are called and how they got their names. In this scenario, I am educating the class/ getting educated myself and executing movement with full knowledge of the background of hip-hop. Similarly, any other styles that I am incorporating in my choreography, I am teaching/learning correctly as I have training in those styles. This is a tough one because for this scenario, dancers are now arguing, why do we not just call this “choreography”? Is this STILL appropriation? We are technically still taking movement from another culture and just calling it something else (even if my piece has movement from multiple cultures). “Choreography” is just as vague a term as “urban”. Lets ask ourselves:

How many times have you taken a class without checking out the instructors “dance style”? I am assuming the answer is almost "zero”
Does this affect studios where young students are unable to check the instructors “dance style”? In this case, parents have to be given the right information by the studio owners.

What falls under the umbrella of hip-hop dance? This is also a topic for another day.

Should I continue using the term “Urban” to describe my movement?

While our dance leaders debate and find a better word to describe the choreographed community, ask yourself the following questions:

- What dance forms are you using in your choreography?

- Do you know where your movement is coming from?

- Are you able to talk and describe accurately the movement you are teaching/ executing?

- Do you know why the word “Urban” is used to describe the choreographed community?

If you do not know the answer to one or any of the above, let’s start there. We are all learning and growing and it is okay to make mistakes.

Unfortunately, I do not have a YES/NO answer for you because it varies based on the classes you are teaching and the content you are putting out. If you are a content creator and are using “Urban” to describe your movement, ask yourself the same questions above. We must all do our part to avoid appropriation of movement and cultures. With our head and heart in the right place, we can all work towards growth as a community.

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Personal Opinion

I am guilty of using multiple labels as I grew as an artist over the past 10+ years. Even though I use “Urban-Desi” as a label for my online content, I do not really need to label my content online. The only time I really need a label, is when I am teaching a class so that it is clear to the students what they are signing up for. Nobody in the dance community is really comfortable using the term Urban to describe their dancing just because it is so vague. Since “Urban dance” is just choreography, I would suggest explaining this label better if you are a teacher so that the students are aware of the dance forms that your choreography is going to use. In my case, it is hip-hop and funk styles.

Should I Use "Urban" to Describe Dance?