Street dance originated in New York in the 1970s. Evolving on the streets of Manhattan and the Bronx, it was developed as an improvised, social dance form, reacting against traditional, high-art dance styles. Street dance was used as an expression of resistance and cultural identity outside of the mainstream.

The energetic nature of street dance makes it popular with young people on a variety of levels, both as an art form, a competitive activity or for physical exercise.

Street dance, also informally referred to as street, is an umbrella term which encompasses a range of dance styles characterised by descriptions such as hip hop, funk and breakdancing. Its eclectic nature has spawned a whole new street dance lexicon, including terms such as popping, locking, waving and krumping.

When a dancer pops, they jerk their body by quickly contracting and relaxing the muscles. The movements they make are correspondingly referred to as pops or hits. Locking refers to fast, exaggerated, movements which then freeze into a rigid position (a lock), whereas waving describes a more fluid style where movement appears to ripple through the limbs (as if a wave were traversing the dancer's body). Krumping is characterised by free, expressive and energetic movement of the arms, legs, chest and head. Proponents of these different styles can correspondingly be described as poppers, lockers, wavers and krumpers.