Olympics-Breaking's breakthrough brings electric 'folk art' to Paris
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[December 08, 2020]
By Amy Tennery
(Reuters) - Breakdancing cleared its
final hurdle to feature in the Paris 2024 Games on Monday, bringing
the wholly original, electric art form to sport's biggest stage.
Considered one of the pillars of hip-hop culture, breaking, as
participants prefer to call it, originated in New York in the 1970s
and has spread globally, enjoying enormous popularity beyond the
United States and particularly across Europe and Asia.
A 2019 Olympic Programme Commission Report estimated there were
roughly one million participants in breaking worldwide and the 2019
Red Bull BC One World Final in Mumbai racked up more than 50 million
views across streaming platforms including Facebook and YouTube.
"It can resonate with a lot of people because hip-hop culture
resonates with a lot of people, hip-hop music resonates with a lot
of people," Logan Edra, a 17-year-old American dancer who goes by
the performance name Logistx and has performed on The Ellen
DeGeneres Show, told Reuters.
Breaking is not the first artistic movement counted as an Olympic sport
but its inclusion in the Paris 2024 Games has prompted soul-searching
among many dancers, including Edra, a former gymnast who aspires to win
the Olympic gold.
"It being in the Olympics, it makes sense that people would refer to it
as (a sport) but I think one thing for the breaking community is we want
to make sure that it’s not known as just a sport but an art, a sport, a
culture," said Edra, who won the 2018 Silverback Open Championship
B-Girl solo competition.
Key elements in breaking include top rocks -- typically a competitor's
introductory dance moves -- footwork, power moves and freezes. Power
moves are explosive displays such as spins, while freezes are when a
performer sticks a pose.
In a blend of artistry and athleticism, competitors -- known as "b-boys"
and "b-girls" -- are evaluated not only on technical skill but also
creativity and style, with strength, speed, rhythm and agility providing
an edge.
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Logan Edra, who goes by
the performance name "Logistx", poses for a photo at the St. Regis
Hotel prior to the Last Chance Cypher of the Red Bull BC One World
Final in Mumbai, India November 7, 2019. Dean Treml/Red Bull
Content/Handout via REUTERS
"The biggest part is your stage presence and character and your
rhythm, whether or not you’re really feeling it," said Ronnie
Abaldonado, a competitive breaker since 2004 who won the
international Red Bull BC One competition in 2007.
"People can hit the moves but if you’re not feeling what they’re
doing then you just kind of look robotic and that’s what kind of
separates it being a sport to it being an art form."
Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon, one of the pioneers during his
upbringing in the Bronx in the 1970s, said he applauded breaking's
inclusion in the Olympics but wanted to ensure its cultural core
remained intact.
"This is true folk art from the music to the dance, to the DJ to the
rapper," said Colon, who appeared in dance films of the 1980s
including Beat Street and Flashdance.
"We’ve already legitimized ourselves so we’re not looking to the
Olympics for legitimacy."
The Olympic competition will take place in the heart of Paris, on
the Place de la Concorde, at the bottom of the famed Champs-Elysees.
"It will be a fascinating mix of sports and culture at an iconic
site," Paris 2024 sports director Jean-Philippe Gatien told
reporters on Monday.
"We're expecting it to be a phenomenal success."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; editing by Clare Fallon)
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