Urban Dance refers to street styled dances that evolved from the Hip Hop culture movement. Hip Hop has become one of the largest influences in youth culture around the world. Dance styles include breaking, tap, gumboot, jazz, locking, popping, salsa and hip hop . The Latin influence has also lead to a renewed interest in social dancing such as swing and Argentine Tango. Urban dance has a more accessible and palatable appeal not requiring years of training although as dancers develop their skills they often will desire serious training in gymnastics, ballet, tap or jazz. Hip Hop is now part of any serious dance curriculum and blended with all forms of dance. The return of the “new school” of break dancing, popular with boys, has inspired many recent B-boy competitions. Hip Hop grew out of African and Latino American culture to reduce inner-city gang violence by replacing physical violence with dance and artwork battles. In spite of the commercial and crime-related rap of the early 90’s Hip Hop has remained a powerful positive youth movement.

Dance Dance Revolution series produced by Konami released in North America and Europe in 1999, has been given much critical acclaim for its originality and stamina in the video game market. DDR games have been released on various video game consoles, including the PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, Game Cube , Wii, Xbox and Xbox 360, and even PC's. DDR is viewed as an exercise tool and is in use as such in many gyms and schools. DDR can be good aerobic exercise; some regular players have reported weight loss of 10–50 pounds (5–20 kg) Many home versions of the game have a function to estimate calories burned, given a player's weight. Additionally, players can use "workout mode" to make a diary of calories burned playing DDR and any self-reported changes in the player's weight . DDR has even been registered as an official sport .The series is now available on all game system and has a global fan base in the millions.

Dance Fitness is becoming big business in gyms and dance studios. Heart-pumping cardio exercise is an essential for health and can beat "workout boredom” that can get in the way of continuing an exercise program. The growing popularity of dance for recreational and fitness purposes has resulted in increased opportunities to teach dance. Dance is a part of life. Rhythmic bodily movement is instinctive. Since 2004 dance is in a time of unprecedented growth and many communities have set out a strategy for its development. Recent dance TV shows enjoy top ratings. Dancing is the FUN way to better health. And because it is fun, people stick with it for a lifetime. Dancers have extraordinary flexibility, muscular strength and both physical and mental endurance. Dancers are elite athletes as well as artists. They follow a rigorous training regime and must stay in top condition. One half hour of continuous dancing can burn as many as 400 calories. Dance your way to fitness and health. Share your success!

The Activekidsns. ca E-Bulletin and Website are components of the Active Kids Healthy Kids, physical activity strategy for children and youth in Nova Scotia. The Success Stories and Resources you find here have been collected from across Nova Scotia, Canada and United States contributed by those involved in the delivery of programs and services designed to improve and increase the physical activity levels of our children and youth. Photos courtesy : David Yoon (A.K.A. Seoul Rock) East Rock Crew, Rioux School of Dance, Bookyards Library to the World, Cat’s Corner Dance School, Propeller Dance, Set It Straight Jaclyn Doyle Photography