OOne of the men behind the music at the Olympic breakdancing competition in Paris, which begins with the women’s competition on Friday at the Place de la Concorde, wants to settle a debate that has been simmering since the announcement of breakdancing’s inclusion in the Summer Olympics in Paris at the end of 2020.
What you will see at the Olympic Games is not a sport.
“I look at it as art and dance,” says New York-based Stephen Fleg, aka DJ Fleg, who will spin and scratch the records that the breakers will dance to, along with DJ Plash1 from Poland. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s an incredible amount of athleticism involved. But that doesn’t make it a sport per se. The only reason I like to make that distinction is because we want to make sure we keep the integrity of the whole thing. Because when it becomes pure athleticism, one of the most important elements is lost: creativity, personality, things that generally don’t belong to sport in the same way.”
The results-orientation of sport, says Fleg, can affect dance as an art form. “The most important thing is simply the goal-oriented status and nature of sport, where it’s, ‘You have to throw this ball into this basket,'” says Fleg. “I love sport, so don’t get me wrong. But when breakdancing becomes goal-oriented only in that sense, you simultaneously lose the drive to express yourself or to create, in the same way that built dance from the ground up. It’s a dance. Any other dance would not be considered a sport. Dancing is its own category, its own level of things.”
“That’s pretty much the objective truth, because breaking is going to die if you look at it strictly like moves,” says Fleg. “Moves don’t encompass everything. I’d like to say that’s my opinion, but I really don’t think it’s an opinion. I think that’s the fact.”
At the Olympics, the breaking DJ is considered a “technical official,” which understates his role. The person who times how far someone throws the javelin, or makes sure swimmers stay in their lane… that’s a technical official. The breaking DJ is an integral part of the whole affair. Unlike, say, figure skaters who have carefully choreographed their routines before a competition, the breakers don’t know what music the DJ will play.
The DJs are like pitchers in baseball. Fleg will suggest something: It’s up to the Olympians to react spontaneously and hit the ball out of the park.
“I don’t want to get too self-aggrandizing here, but the role I’m doing has never been something that’s been around in the Olympics or in major sports,” says Fleg. “I’m not an idle player who sits back and watches what happens and makes a judgement. I play an active role, a very active role, in how dancers perform.”
Fleg insists that none of the breakers have contacted him with song requests. “They know better,” he says. “Even in a regular competition, this is a good opportunity for me to definitely not play something like that. I don’t want to be obviously biased.”
Fleg, 38, grew up in a Baltimore suburb and started breakdancing at age 13. He has been DJing since his early twenties, both competitively and in clubs, and is also a music producer and event organizer.
He promises varied beats when breaking. “You’ll hear African rhythms, Latin rhythms and fun, psychedelic stuff,” says Fleg. “James Brown, hip-hop. It’s good to approach the music with an open mind and just enjoy it.”
He hopes to correct misconceptions. “People make fun of breaking,” Fleg says. “They’re doing the worm. Look, this dance has been 40 years in the making. And most people still don’t know what it looks like. They’re about to find out. When you look at some of these moves where the athleticism comes into play, these guys are incredible. They’re geniuses, they’re physical geniuses.”
Is Fleg nervous?
“When people ask me if I’m nervous, it makes me more nervous than I need to be,” says Fleg. “But overall, I’m fine. I’m just focused on what I have to do here.”
I point out to him that this is his first time DJing in front of millions of people around the world.
Am I not a help?
“Again, yes,” says Fleg. “The answer is yes.”
