Windmill (breakdance move)
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The Windmill (or briefly Mill) is a power move in breakdance. The breaker rolls his torso continuously in a circular path on the floor, across the upper chest/shoulders/back, while twirling his legs in a V-shape through the air.
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[edit] Origin
This move was first used in the 1970's by a member of the Black Kao Crew, a prominent breakdance crew in Queens, New York at that time. From then on, it became a widely popular move. Windmills are sometimes called Kao's , because where it came from.
[edit] Description
The twirling of the legs is akin to twirling a math compass around in your hands; the momentum created by this twirling motion gives the breaker the majority of his power. The leg position and motion is seen in several other power moves, which makes the windmill an essential power move to learn first. It was created to be a continuous back spin.
The basic windmill can either be "stabbed" or "unstabbed". A "stab" is merely part of the starting position for a single windmill rotation where the breaker has one elbow "stabbed" into his stomach while the palm of that stabbed arm is flat on the ground. The stab position helps to keep the hips up high which aids in execution of the move, especially during the first rotation. Unfortunately, it slows down movement when multiple windmills are performed. Accomplished breakers may stab to begin the windmill, but they will fall on their face and perform subsequent rotations unstabbed (sometimes called a "forearm mill").
[edit] Halos
The Halo is a move similar to windmills and to air tracks/air flares. In this move, the breaker's head stays in constant contact with the floor, and the body rotates around the head such that the point of contact with the ground traces a halo pattern around the calvaria. No other part of the body touches the ground except the hands which are slightly employed at the point when the forehead is facing down. They may protect the face, stabilize the rotation, or push off to gain momentum.
Halos are often launched from windmills because the two share many similarities, plus the windmill is easier. Halos can be performed with the legs swinging relatively near the floor, or they can become more and more vertical until they approximate a headspin. However, there are distinct differences in that halos employ the hands for a part of the rotation, the point of contact changes, and the swinging motion of the legs remains critical in generating momentum. Halos are performed much higher off the ground than the typical windmill, but lower than the air track/air flare, described below, which has a similar motion but has the hands contacting the ground rather than the head.
[edit] Air Track
The Air Track is more extreme still, and they are considered a separate move. An Air Track is basically a windmill in midair. You use only your hands and you hop from hand to hand in somewhat of a circular motion. There is dispute about whether this move is different from the Air Flare. Some say that Air Tracks have the body traveling only on an x axis, while with an Air Flare the body travels on an x and y axis. Others contend that the moves are one and the same, and that the name difference is merely based on the evolutionary history of the moves.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- BBC Blast - Dance Watch Lil' Tim demonstrate windmills in this downloadable video clip from BBC Blast.
- BBC Blast - Dance - Tips and Tools Find out how to perform a windmill.
- Six basic mills The fifth clip is a Munch Mill and the sixth incorporates a 1990.
A Video Tutorial on How to Breakdance
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