Flexing , also called Bone Breaking , is a style of street dance from Brooklyn , New York that is characterized by rhythmic contortionist movement combined with waving , tutting , floor moves , and gliding . Flex dancers , referred to as '' flexers '' , often perform shirtless and incorporate hat tricks in their performance for showmanship . Before flexing gained mainstream exposure it was featured as early as 1992 on a local television show in New York City called ' Flex N Brooklyn ’ . The dance is primarily performed to a mix of dancehall , reggae , and " ... a chopped-up instrumental called the ' Volume ' riddim " . According to Pitchfork.com , the producers of this new genre refer to it as FDM ( Flex Dance Music ) . Although flexing looks like a subgenre of popping , it did not come from hip-hop dance , funk music , or hip-hop culture . It evolved from a Jamaican style of street dance called bruk-up . In a 2009 interview with '' WireTap '' magazine , dancer Stefan " Mr. Wiggles " Clemente described bruk-up as a " reggae style of animation . " Flexing has been performed on the third season of '' America 's Best Dance Crew '' ( ABDC ) , on the second season of '' The LXD '' , and at the Guggenheim Museum as part of the YouTube Play event . In 2011 , the '' Huffington Post '' published a brief news article on flex dancers Bones the Machine and DJ Aaron . In 2013 , NextLevelSquad performed flexing at Breakin ' Convention and Adedamola " Ringmaster Nugget " Orisagbemi performed flexing at the Vail International Dance Festival
Breakin ' Convention
Breakin' Convention
Flexing (dance)