Full episode: Early coverage of breakdancing
From the streets of the Bronx to the Olympics in Paris, breakdancing has come a long way. In this full episode of LiveNOW & Then, we look back at breakdancing’s early successes on television and in movies.
NEW YORK – At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, some disciplines have been added this time. One notable addition is breakdancing.
What is break dancing?
According to the World DanceSport Federation, breakdancing or “breaking” is an “urban dance style.”
Merriam-Webster defines it as “dancing in the hip-hop style by performing a series of acrobatic movements, often involving different parts of the body (such as the back or head) touching the ground.”
A breakdancer performs onstage during the Battle BD and Breakdance during the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad at L’Olympia on July 22, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images)
History of breakdance
The origins of breakdancing go back to the 1970s, when young African-Americans and Latinos grew up in the Bronx district of New York and hip-hop culture emerged.
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Lisa Evers with FOX 5 New York was one of the first news reporters to cover the phenomenon. He said the dance moves are performed outdoors on sidewalks, parking lots or empty street spaces.
File: Brooklyn breakdancers pose in April 1984. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“You had to stop and look because you could see the dancer’s legs… one leg is over here, the other leg is over here,” Evers told FOX Television Stations’ Chris Williams. “They’re hanging upside down. Where are their hands? Where is their head?”
But this new dance style did not remain a fad, but gained more and more attention.
According to RedBullBreakdancers began performing across the country and abroad in the 1970s and 1980s. The dance gained further attention when it was performed at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1984.
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“You can consider it, in a way, a true American folk art,” said the late singer and actor Harry Belafonte in a 1983 interview with FOX 5 DC. “It has the potential to be as rich as jazz, blues or gospel.”
Belafonte also served as one of the producers of the 1984 film Beat Street, which documents the beginnings of hip hop and breakdancing.
The first international competitions began in 1990 and soon became regular events attracting artists from all over the world.
How did breaking become an Olympic sport?
Three years ago, the International Olympic Committee announced that breaking would become an official Olympic sport.
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Breakdancing is called “breaking” at the Olympic Games, as it was called by hip-hop pioneers in the USA in the 1970s. The Paris organizers proposed the discipline almost two years ago after positive trials at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Breakdancer Furkan Coskun, nicknamed “Sincap” (squirrel) on stage, performs at Atakule Stadium to train after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved breakdancing as the first dance sport ever for the Ankara Olympic Games.
Breaking went through further approval phases in 2019 based on separate decisions by the IOC Executive Board and the Full Membership. It is eligible for inclusion in the competition because it is considered an IOC-recognized dance sport discipline.
“I think it’s fantastic that breakdancing is in the Olympics,” Evers continued. “It will definitely give them a much more energetic, motivated and devoted fan base.”
Indeed, the excitement surrounding breakdancing’s Olympic debut is being celebrated by many in the global hip-hop community, from early pioneers of the genre to fans of the culture. Rappers Ice-T and Snoop Dogg expressed their excitement about the breakdancing competition, with Ice-T tweeting that the event “could potentially be one of hip-hop culture’s proudest moments.”
Famous Olympic breakdancers
Victor Montalvo (B-Boy Victor), United States: 30-year-old Montalvo from Kissimmee, Florida, is a breaker who describes himself as a student of the old-school B-Boys from the founding days of hip-hop. He qualified for Paris by beating all other B-Boys at the 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championship in Belgium.
Sunny Choi (B-Girl Sunny), USA: A cheerful breaker from Queens, New York, 35-year-old Choi has long been an ambassador for B-girls around the world, and her win at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile qualified her for the Paris Games.
Dutchman Lee wins the Breaking B-Boys event of the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary, on June 23, 2024. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
Philip Kim (B-Boy Phil Wizard), Canada: Kim is consistently ranked in the top three B-Boys in the international breaking competition community and secured a spot for Paris when he emerged victorious at last year’s Pan American Games.
Dominika Banevič (B-Girl Nicka), Lithuania: Banevič was the youngest in her category at last year’s WDSF World Breaking Championship when she secured her ticket to Paris. Banevič turns 17 this month.
Schedule for breakdancing at the Olympic Games
The groundbreaking competition for women will take place on August 9th and the men’s competition will take place on August 10th.
The days begin with a round robin tournament for teams, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
Breakdancer Bilgehan Turkyilmaz, nicknamed “Spaype” (inspired by Severus Snape) on stage, performs at Atakule Stadium to practice after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved breakdancing as the first dance sport ever to compete in the Olympic Games.
At the Paris Games, the judges evaluate the breakers according to the so-called Trivium evaluation system. A five-member jury panel evaluates each breaker according to the criteria of creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.
Since this is the breakdancer’s debut at the Summer Games, there are no reigning Olympic champions.
This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.
