It is an evolution of Capoeira.

It emerged around 1970 when America's rival gangs began to settle their differences by dancing instead of using guns.

In the 70's, when hip hop culture began in New York, DJs held parties in the neighborhoods. At these parties, they started playing two copies of the same track mixed together to extend the duration of the break. When the break started, they began dancing frantically in the energetic part of the song. That's why they were called break-boys and break-girls, or B-Boys and B-Girls for short.

Breakdance movements are mainly performed while the dancer is low on the ground (downrock moves) and include acrobatic movements with many turns and poses. For this eason it takes a lot of practice and a lot of time to perfect one's skills. Breakers also dance uprock moves, and although they are less impressive than downrock moves, they are chosen by dancers, because they are given the opportunity to develop their own dance style and stand out.

The main categories of breakdance moves are:

Toprock or Uprock: movements made while the dancer is standing.

Downrock: movements made while the dancer is low on the ground.

At the end of the 70's, the dance was enriched with more ground figures that changed according to the evolution of hip hop music on which breakdance is based and the technique of the feet was improved.

Breakdance became popular worldwide in the 80's and 90's, as many breakdance figures were incorporated into films and theatrical productions in America, Europe and Asia.