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The robot, also called mannequin or dancing machine, is a street dance style—often confused with popping—that suggests the stilted movements of a dancing robot or mannequin. Roboting gained fame in the 1970s after Michael Jackson used the dance when he performed "Dancing Machine" with his brothers.Mansour, David. From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century, p. 403 (2005) ("The Robot was a mimelike dance, popularized by The Jackson 5 and their Top Ten hit "Dancing Machine" (1974)")
Robot dancing is often considered a subsection of popping because poppers often include the robot in their routines, sometimes adding pops to the beat while maintaining the illusion of a robot. However, the robot also exists as its own dance and is sometimes considered a performance rather than a dance when the performer is imitating a robot without any music. When done without music, it is considered to be mime, instead of dance. Street theater often featured mimes who did a mechanical man or puppet style illusion, without music, including performer Robert Shields, who would later perform this style on a wider stage as part of Shields and Yarnell. In the late 1960s, the style was used while social dancing to funk or soul music. While not the first to imitate a robot as a mime, Charles "Robot" Washington Hip-Hop and Urban Dance, p. 17 (2009) and his partner "Robot Ann" were the first to socially couple dance the style to music at parties and clubs. It was at this point it became a party dance and later combined with other illusion styles to form today's popping style. It is commonly known as "Robotics". Roboting has also been likened to the jazz-era folk dance of puppeting (a style also appreciated in some colors of experimental ballet), whereby the dancer would emulate the mechanical movements of a simple musical box doll.
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