Modern Mexico dances in the street and on stage: b-boys and b-girls battling in cyphers, crowds moving to cumbia at sonidero parties, and contemporary companies inventing new ways to move.
Hip hop reached Mexico in the 1980s through films, cassettes and family ties with the United States, and breaking took root in the plazas of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Mexican breakers became some of the strongest in the world: Roxrite, born in Guadalajara and raised in California, won the Red Bull BC One world final in 2011, and the national Red Bull BC One Cypher crowns new champions such as b-boy Ztimpy and b-girl Zoely. Alongside hip hop runs a uniquely Mexican street culture: the sonideros, DJs with huge sound systems who play cumbia and salsa at open-air dances in barrios like Tepito and send shout-outs to fans across the border — Mexico City declared them intangible cultural heritage in 2023. On stage, Mexican contemporary dance is bold and inventive: companies like Delfos Danza Contemporánea, founded in Mazatlán in 1992, tour the world, and festivals such as Lila López in San Luis Potosí and the Cervantino in Guanajuato bring new choreography every year.
