Animation is defined as a sequence of images that when shown in succession create an illusion of movement. However, in dance, what styles make up animation?

Well there are many heated discussions about this,  in my opinion it is a combination of popping, tutting, dimestops, waving, gliding, and strobes. Either way, animation is a style under the large umbrella of popping.

The styles brought to the technique depend on the dancer’s vocabulary. They can bring anything to the table, the idea is to imitate the stop-motion illusion of movement like in cinemas.

The dancer uses short, quick movements to create the effect of long continuous movement, similar to flipping through a book of images.

Animators utilize textures to differentiate movement, like doing a smooth move into a hard hit.

A couple famous animators in America are Fik-Shun and Cyrus. Cyrus “Glitch” Spencer is part of Dragon House, a hip-hop crew that stormed So You Think You Can Dance one by one. Cyrus made it to the Top 4 of the dance competition. Fik-Shun was also a contestant on SYTYCD, known for his animated faces. After a long road competing in Season 10, Fik-Shun won the competition. Both of these dancers tell a story on stage and that’s what makes them such skilled animators.

Animator Fik-shun dancing at World of Dance after winning the NBC show “So You Think You Can Dance.”

How do I become an animator?

Well, that’s where YouTube tutorials come in. Many animators have taught themselves so it can be done. If you want more in-depth teaching, many dancers have websites with hour-long tutorials.