In the last year there has been an explosion of mass media attention to some new and exciting performing arts. "Break dancers" have made their way into mainstream An1erican consciousness via major motion pictures and television appearances. Rhythmic dance songs on the radio feature clever poetic "raps" about the trials of urban life or the joys of dancing. And the "funky" dance music played in clubs and discos, heard on radio, and seen on television musical variety shows includes a new type of instrumentalist: the disc jockey, or DJ, who plays a barrage of electronic turntables, mixers, and special effect synthesizers with the finesse of a symphonic percussionist.

As these performing arts attain widespread popularity, the initial media images of tough minority youths leading the urban avant-garde are being transformed into an all-An1erican craze of national proportions. Youths of every cultural background are trying to spin on their heads, while tapes of DJ mixing, such as "scratching," play in the background. But at the same time, the abundant exposure in the media has not revealed the extent to which these popular performing arts have developed from, and are continually enriched by, cultural and community traditions.