At its roots, we find jazz music. Now imagine from the trunk there are four main branches that spread out. The first and oldest branch is that of popular dance. Hip-hop, break dancing, disco, twist and swing are all popular dance crazes done to the music of their time. The original jazz steps were exactly this.
Popular dance places strong emphasis on individuality and musical expression.
But wait, you say, most of these forms do not use syncopation. This is true. When rock and roll was born, syncopation disappeared from popular music. Frequent dynamic changes and unexpected movements make the dances exciting. The second branch is that of musical theater dance.