Hakken


Hakken is a form of rave dance originating from the Dutch hardcore and gabber scene. The dance is very similar to earlier European folk dance and is thought to be a sub form of zapateo with less airborne moves. Music one is able to do the dance to is also called hakmuziek. The name is derived from the Dutch verb hakken which means chopping, or hacking, or refers the heels of the feet.
In Australia, the dance is mainly referred to as gabber or gabbering, named after the gabber subgenre of hardcore it is performed to. Despite the fact that it is called gabber, it is usually performed to music of the hardstyle genre by most ravers in Australia.
The dance consists of small steps that quickly follow to each other to the rhythm of the bass drum. The lower body is the most important part, though it is not unusual to move the arms and torso too. Because one is supposed to keep up to the beat of the song, the dance is usually done fairly quickly, since the BPM of this music style can easily reach 190 BPM.