Boogaloo - Robottin - Struttin:
​Undocumented History for the Future

​HHC is dedicated to preserving the history of inner-city culture through the people and art forms that have influenced and inspired it. HHC has undertaken a process spanning years to preserve the rich African American dance history of the San Francisco Bay area through the project known as "The Day Before Hip Hop." This monumental collaboration with Tart Productions International, LLC has brought together award-winning film makers and historians to document the prolific art forms of Boogaloo, Robottin' and Struttin' known colloquially as BRS dance styles that set the stage for Hip Hop dance on the West Coast, originating in the SF Bay Area in the 1960s to 1970s.

BRS dance styles of the California inner-city Black communities of Oakland, Richmond and San Francisco, California would become the precursor to some of Michael Jackson's most Iconic dance moves and the group choreography of his most Iconic video epic Thriller and Dancing Machine,, inspiring future generations in throughout Hip Hop culture for decades to come.

Much of the incredible history of BRS was undocumented and has largely gone unknown, and without sincere preservation efforts to conserve this time capsule of African American history, this tradition is in danger of being lost to time. With much of this information passed down from generation to generation though experience, and many of the teachers no longer around, HHC has made its mission to preserve not just the original dance styles but the true history of these incredible pioneers of African American culture.

Learn more about the conservation efforts HHC is undertaking to preserve "The Day Before Hip Hop", BRS and its history.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

"HHC is the first Hip Hop organization to officially represent, work with, and support the undocumented inner-city dance cultures of Boogaloo, Robottin' and Strutting from the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area. HHC understands the importance of preserving the history of the culture for future generations. In 2006,  HHC began a special archival project to document what is known as the "The Day Before Hip Hop."

Though many people may have come across the dance styles of Boogaloo, Robottin' and Struttin' across pop culture visually, most people have no knowledge of what they are viewing, or when and where these African American dance styles originated. Together with one of the few surviving members of the original era known as the "The Day Before Hip Hop" -- Lonnie Green aka "The Fillmore Kid"/" Pop Tart" -- HHC is helping to preserve this part of African American culture and history. Through archival footage of video interviews, photos, events, youth workshops, documentary shorts and a full feature length documentary, HHC is preserving the legacy of African American dance and its cultural history for posterity, so that future generations know who to recognize and appreciate for their contributions to the rich cultures of Hip Hop and African American folk dance.

HHC works with Endangered Ideas (Emmy Award-winning filmmakers who produced KQED’s minidoc “If Cities Could Dance: Oakland Boogaloo”) on the full-length documentary called “Hit and Pose: Hip Hop’s Forgotten Funk Styles,” as well as with award-winning journalist Eric Arnold, lead editor on KQED’s Bay Area Hip Hop History project, a year-long multimedia project documenting the Bay Area’s contributions to hip-hop culture launching in 2023, called "That's My Word".

BAY AREA BRS ORIGINALS

HHC is proud to have sponsored
The Annual International Strutter's Room Master Camp
​in San Francisco since 2017.
THE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL STRUTTER'S ROOM MASTER CAMP

STRUTTER'S ROOM WORKSHOPS & EVENTS