Rock Dance International
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Up Rock. Born in Brooklyn, danced worldwide.

Rock Dance International is a non-profit association devoted to Up Rock, also called Rock Dance: the street dance you dance facing another rocker, as a fight played out to the music. It started in Brooklyn in the late 1960s, and we work so it keeps its history, its steps and its people.

Spain · Nov 20, 2027Write to us
Rock Dance International patch: two rockers bump fists in front of a globe, with a line of rockers behind them

A fight you dance

Two rockers face off, or two whole lines. Every gesture gets an answer, move for move, and nobody throws a punch. Up Rock has its own steps, its own music and its own codes: it is a different dance from breaking, and older.

Brooklyn's historic street dance, the Rock Dance aka Uprock.

Brooklyn Arts Council

  • Freestyle

    Steps and variations taken from Latin dance, Hustle, jazz and Lindy Hop. This is where a rocker shows command of the rhythm and of every instrument in the track.

  • Jerk

    The signature move of the style: a combination usually counted in four beats, and found in no other dance.

  • Burn

    Battle gestures. Rockers mimic weapons, joke, taunt the opponent or act out the lyrics of the song.

  • Apache Line

    Two lines of rockers face each other. They mix the three fundamentals, improvise with the rhythm, the lyrics and the instruments, and answer every gesture from across the line.

From Bushwick to the world

  1. Late 1960s

    Bushwick, Brooklyn

    According to the Brooklyn Arts Council, the rock dance, later known as uprock, was first danced in Bushwick.

    Source: Brooklyn Arts Council

  2. 2003

    Folk Feet

    The Brooklyn Arts Council starts Folk Feet, its program for Brooklyn's traditional dancers. Its master workshops include Brooklyn uprock, taught by Ralph "King Uprock" Casanova.

    Source: Folk Feet, Folk Feet workshops

  3. 2007 on

    On the record

    The council's project Dancing in Detail films Brooklyn's traditional dances in practice. A 2009 video shows Ralph Casanova's Brooklyn-style uprocking.

    Source: Dancing in Detail, Vimeo, 2009

  4. Today

    A world scene

    Crews, jams and battles keep the dance alive in the United States, Russia, Poland, Japan, South Korea, China and Mexico, among other countries.

Crews that carry it

Old crews and new ones, each with the place it comes from.

  • Dynasty Rockers

    From: Brooklyn, New York, USA

    Their patch reads 1973. Their work is part of the Brooklyn Arts Council's Black Brooklyn Renaissance archive.

  • The Bronx Boys Rocking Crew

    From: The Bronx, New York, USA

    More than 50 chapters worldwide, by their own count.

  • Mastermind Rockers

    From: New York, USA

    Almost 40 years of Rock Dance. They have taken it to Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Poland.

  • For The Rock

    From: Russia

    Its tenth anniversary event ran from September 27 to 29, 2019.

  • Rock'n'Raw

    From: Warsaw, Poland

    Rock Dance jams and workshops, also at Red Bull BC One Camp Poland in Kraków.

  • Burn City

    From: Osaka, Japan

    Up Rock battles since 2018.

  • La Meseta Rockers

    From: Spain

    One of the crews keeping Rock Dance alive in Spain.

Is your crew missing? Tell us its city and the year it started, and we will add it.

The soundtrack

Rock Dance is danced to funk, soul, Latin soul and boogaloo. Rock DJs play the records back to back, with no pauses. A few from our crate:

  • Hard Times · Baby Huey
  • When? (1972) · The Jimmy Castor Bunch
  • Latin Strut · Joe Bataan
  • Cloud Nine · Mongo Santamaría
  • Right On · Ray Barretto
  • Funky Nassau · The Beginning of the End
  • The Mexican · Babe Ruth
  • Jungle Boogie · Kool & The Gang

Rock Dance International Spain 2027

Saturday, November 20, 2027

Spain · venue to be announced

Only Up Rock. Workshops, call-outs, battles and an open conversation about where the dance comes from and where it is going. We meet to battle, and to connect.

Registration opens soon. Write to us and you will be the first to know.

Tell me when it opens

Bring Up Rock to your city

We work with crews and organizers who want to host Up Rock where they live: workshops, jams and qualifier battles. If that is you, write to us.

rdi@rockdanceinternational.com

What the association does

  • Documents the history of the dance and records the testimony of its pioneers.
  • Teaches it at every level and to every age, including dancers coming from other styles.
  • Connects rockers, crews, DJs and organizers across countries.
  • Helps teachers, judges and organizers make a decent living from it.
  • Uses the dance to bring neighborhoods and generations together.