Jumpstyle Dance

JUMPSTYLE is a rave dance and electronic music genre mainly practiced in Europe, specifically Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and northern France. The dance is also called Jumpen (English word Jump + the Dutch and German suffix -en, meaning "to jump" or "jumping"). Jumpstyle also refers to a style of music to which Jumpstyle can be performed. Jumpstyle originated in 1997 in Belgium. Jumpstyle is starting to be performed in England as well. Bands like Captain Ahab, Patrick Jumpen and S-Styl33 are becoming more popular internationally.

History

Jumpstyle is originally from Belgium and it started in 1997. It didn’t get popular and didn’t last long unlike other electronic music dances; however, it came back to the public and it’s getting popular through all Europe. It didn’t have the name Jumpstyle when it was first introduced to the world, but it had a significant change in the Netherlands in the early 2003. After it changed its name from jump to jumpstyle, it was reintroduced by many European electronica dance clubs and the ones who were interested in the electronic music dances in general. Also, many people found out about it through search engines online like Yahoo or Google. In 2005 to later years, There were European electronica groups like Scooter (German band) that came out with Jumpstyle music and dances.

Performance

The modern dance associated with Jump, is evolved from skiën (lit. "skiing"). Performance by more than one person is the most popular. The legs are the most important part of the body in jumpstyle. It is performed by a series of forward and backward swings of the legs on the rhythm of the music. The most simple form of jumpstyle (OldSchool jump) can be done as follows.

• The dance can be started with two small jumps that match the beat or stomping the left foot twice, to the beat.
• The dancer places his right foot to the front, and his left foot to the back.
• The dancer's feet then switch positions.
• The dancer kicks his right leg forward twice. His foot would be at the same height as his knee.
• The dancer would then kick his left leg.
• The dancer then swings his left leg backwards. Similar to the original step, the foot would be level with the knee.
• The left leg would be put on the ground, behind the dancer.
• The dancer then swings his right leg back, knee level, to prepare for the initial first step.
• The dancer would repeat this.

At every part, the jumper jumps a little bit. More difficult paces include those with turns, twists and so on. Jumpstyle moves differ, and the dance itself is generally improvised, using the moves learned. Other moves include the "hi-tic", which is a jump straight up into the air, where the heels meet during the jump.

Styles

Jumpstyle has various styles, but while all of these styles vary quite a bit, they still fall under the category of jumpstyle. In the descriptions below, suggestions to how the styles are performed will be made. However, the styles are not necessarily limited to these suggestions.

Old Skool/Basis Jump This is the simplest form of jump that almost all jumpers will learn when starting out. It is something anyone can pick up, which is what makes jumpstyle so accessible to the masses. It is made from 5 basics steps.

Hardjump The Hardjump is a more complicated 6 step basics and is a little harder to master. However this is the most important and most used part of jumpstyle. While you can do the same moves in old skool jump and hardjump, typically more advanced moves are coupled with hardjump. It is also performed with more power as you are stamping the ground rather than kicking the air.

Sidejump Sidejump is essentially hardjump with a different set of moves. Most of which will have you facing the side while your jump. While it incorporates the same basic 6 steps of the hardjump, more advanced dancers tend not to use these steps at all and rely entirely on tricks and turns.

Freestyle (now most commonly known as ownstyle in some parts of the world) Freestyle is generally doing whatever you want, therefore any moves and any basics can be used. Previously this was posted as Hardjump and Old Skool jump, and then a new name was given to styles that included sidejump. The reason for this new name was that sidejump had not been invented when the article was written. So the new name "Ownstyle" was invented to show all three styles. However as will all dances, freestyle does mean "all moves" and "unrehearsed". So Freestyle and Ownstyle are the same thing. This also tends to be the most popular style amongst more advanced jumpers, as it has no restrictions, but for this same reason is less popular in tournaments.

Music Jump

The music which accompanies Jumpstyle is an offspring of Happy Hardcore and Gabber. Its tempo is usually between 140 and 150 BPM. However, it cannot be seen as merely a slowed down version of gabber. It is characterized by a 909 kick drum used in a four on the floorbeat. It also has influences from Hard House. Because of the big hype around the dance and music style itself in 2007 and 2008, it suffers from image-problems especially in the Netherlands. Because of this, the euphoric/melodic Jump like it was made between 2006 and 2008 is not being released anymore these days. However, there are still some radio stations left, broadcasting Jump in its traditional form. The oldest Jump radio was founded in 2005 and still exists today under the name of JumpStation.FM. The style attempted a jump to American audiences with Los Angeles band, Captain Ahab. German band Scooter brought jumpstyle into the mainstream with their fully jumpstyle album Jumping All Over The World, and the Italobrothers' album Stamp! is heavily influenced by jumpstyle.