This sport is making its Olympics debut in Paris. Just don’t call it breakdancing | CNN (2024)

CNN

As a DJ spins music, the athletes twist, whirl and leap — each move a dizzying mix of fancy footwork and contorted limbs.

It might seem more like an artform than a sport, but breakdancing — known professionally as breaking — is making its Olympics debut this month in Paris.

Breaking has been flourishing on the streets of New York and other US cities since the 1970s, but Paris marks its first time its athletes, known as B-boys and B-girls, will freestyle their moves on perhaps the world’s biggest stage.

The two-day breaking competition this Friday and Saturday features competitors from more than a dozen countries, including China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the United States.

CNN Related article Break dancing makes its debut at the Paris Olympics. A timeline of when every Olympic sport was introduced

The Games will expose breaking to a wider audience, said Victor Montalvo (nicknamed B-boy Victor) of the US, who’s been called the “Michael Jordan of breaking” and is a favorite in Paris to bring home a medal.

“It’s reaching a different audience, a global audience, an audience that thought breaking was dead or was never there, an audience that has the stereotypes or misconceptions of breaking back in the 1980s,” Montalvo told CNN En Espanol in a recent interview.

As the popular pastime steps into the Olympics spotlight, here’s everything you need to know.

Breaking has been a competitive form of street performance for decades

Breaking in the US is part of the hip-hop culture that emerged on the streets of New York City five decades ago. It started as a form of creative expression among Black and Latino youth and is considered one of the key elements of hip-hop, along with rapping, DJing and graffiti art.

“Breaking was a pivotal part of the hip-hop movement, combining dance, music and urban culture,” says Sergey Nifontov, secretary-general of the World DanceSport Federation, which governs the sport. “The dance style was heavily influenced by a mix of movements from various sources, including gymnastics, martial arts and even the complex footwork of James Brown.”

Driven by the growing popularity of hip-hop, breaking burst into the mainstream in the mid-‘80s thanks to media coverage and appearances in such movies as “Wild Style,” “Beat Street,” “Breakin’” and its famously titled sequel, “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.”

The growth of the internet and social media later spread the artform further by connecting dancers worldwide to share moves and learn from one another, Nifontov says. Breaking also got exposure in recent years on reality TV shows such as “So You Think You Can Dance?”

The artform provided minority youth with a form of self-expression about their struggles and larger social issues, said Richard M. Cooper, an expert on hip-hop culture and co-coordinator of African American Studies at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania. He describes it as a creative outlet for a young urban generation desperate to rise above their circumstances.

“Breaking (was) created against all odds at a time when there was a lack of resources,” Cooper said. “It was a way to send a message that ‘we’re still here having a good time and we’re not going anywhere.’ It was a way for Black and Brown kids to have artistic expression … (and) create this beautiful, complicated, stylized art form.”

Cooper said that although breaking was a cornerstone of the hip-hop movement, its roots can be traced decades earlierback to Africa, where dancers made similar moves to drums and other percussion instruments.

There’s a reason it’s called breaking and not breakdancing

While breakdancing is the more commonly known term, the original B-Boys and B-Girls coined the word “breaking” as tribute to the vigorous dance battles that happen during breaks in a track. The Olympics adopted the same name to honor its culture and history and preserve its authenticity, Nifontov said.

“While the term breakdancing became popular in mainstream media during the 1980s, largely due to Hollywood and commercial influences, it is often viewed as a term that oversimplifies and commercializes the artform,” Nifontov told CNN in an email. “The community prefers breaking as it encompasses the deeper cultural and artistic significance of the dance.”

This sport is making its Olympics debut in Paris. Just don’t call it breakdancing | CNN (3)

Olympic athlete Victor Montalvo poses for a photo at the USOC Media Summit in April in preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games.

The International Olympic Committee has been searching for ways to attract younger audiences. In recent years, it has added skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing to the Games as part of that effort.

Breaking fits this trend given its cultural relevance and dynamic nature, Nifontov said. Officials introduced breaking at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Argentina, where its viewership hit 1 million, dwarfing the audience for other sports.

As breaking makes its Olympics debut, Cooper said a part of him fears it will lose some of the cultural qualities that make it a unique artform.

“Everything changes when corporate structures take over,” he said. But Cooper also says he’s happy that breaking is getting the recognition it deserves, and he’s excited to see athletes highlight its culture and creativity on a global stage.

Breaking events are scored on five factors

Like gymnastics or figure skating, breaking competitions are scored by a panel of judges. But unlike in those sports, which allow athletes to compete to the recorded music of their choice, B-Boys and B-Girls must showcase their art and athleticism to spontaneous beats from a DJ.

“The DJ sets the mood, and the dancers have to react to it,” said Zack Slusser, a vice president at USA Dance, the nation’s body of the World DanceSport Federation. “That is probably the most crucial thing when it comes to judging — how much a dancer can resonate their arsenal of moves with the music.”

Unlike some other sports, success in breaking is not about who’s the fastest or the strongest, Montalvo said.

This sport is making its Olympics debut in Paris. Just don’t call it breakdancing | CNN (4)

Logan Edra of the US in action at the WDSF World Breaking Championships in Leuven, Belgium, on September 24, 2023.

“That does help. But it’s more about the character, originality and respecting the dance and bringing the essence,” he said in a profile on Team USA’s website.

In breaking, nine judges score athletes’ performances based on five factors:

Execution: Precision, control and cleanliness of moves

Musicality: Matching movements to the beats and rhythms

Originality: Creativity and innovation in moves

Technique: Skill level in performing complex movements, including footwork, power moves and freezes

Vocabulary: Variety and range of movements used throughout the performance

Each battle is scored per round, and the athlete who wins the majority of rounds is declared the winner, Nifontov said.

Cooper says the scoring system is a far cry from its origins in street battles, where winners and losers were determined by audience cheers.

“This is how it worked back in the day,” he said. “Those patterns of adulation and cheers decided the winner. It was communal. It was based on street credibility.”

In some communities, breaking also was a way of settling conflicts, he said.

“So many artistic, beautiful parts of it were also about relationships, where some have argued that it settled beefs. And instead of fighting, it’s let’s battle … on the dance floor.”

The US team says it’s ready to make history

The breaking competition in Paris will feature 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls from all over the world.

The US team is led by Montalvo, who started breaking at age 9 because of his father, who was part of a breaking duo in Mexico. He describes breaking as intertwined with hip-hop in a fun way.

This sport is making its Olympics debut in Paris. Just don’t call it breakdancing | CNN (5)

American breaker Sunny Choi poses for a portrait during the Team USA media summit in New York City on April 16, 2024.

“It’s about the dance. And it’s not just breaking. It’s like hip-hop. It’s graffiti, DJing, breaking, and emceeing. So it’s like you put that together and it’s a group of people in a room just having fun and partying and living their best life,” he told Team USA.

The 30-year-old Florida resident was the first American to qualify for the Olympics and is the reigning world champion.

Montalvo’s moves appear to defy gravity, with upside-down headspins in which he balances on one arm and seamless transitions between fast-moving footwork and freezes.He’s been a force in the breaking scene for nearly a decade.

“He’s good at … everything,” said Slusser of USA Dance. “His moves are technical, exciting and put together in an almost impossible-to-match flow.”

The other US breakers include Sunny Choi, nicknamed B-Girl Sunny; Logan Edra, 21, whose B-girl name is Logistx; and Jeffrey Louis, 29, or B-Boy Jeffro.

Louis says a key challenge for the Olympic judges will be assigning a grade to a sport that’s also an artform.

“Even though we try to make breaking objective, it’s still subjective,” Louis told Team USA. “You’re judging art that’s transformed into sport. Sometimes I don’t even know why one guy lost. I’ll be like how?”

Choi, 35, is a former gymnast who started breaking as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania and loved its artistic elements and physical challenges. She eventually left her job at a global cosmetics company to focus on breaking and lives in New York City, where she trains.

“My whole entire life, I’ve been doing what I should be doing as dictated by … other people, society, culture — and I decided to quit because this (breaking) is a childhood dream,” she said.

“In terms of the Olympics, so many of us, even the breakers, were like, ‘There’s no way that’s going to happen because it’s still such an underground street culture,’” she said. “I could never have pictured this.”

CNN’s Gonzalo Alvarado contributed to this story.

This sport is making its Olympics debut in Paris. Just don’t call it breakdancing | CNN (2024)

FAQs

Why is breaking not called break dancing? ›

The simple answer is that breakdancing is not the real title of the sport. Breaking originated in the Bronx in the 1970s. DJ Kool Herc realized that people tend to dance with more energy during the instrumental section songs, also known as the "break."

Why are they adding breakdancing to the Olympics? ›

Breaking, more commonly known as breakdancing, is part of the new wave of sports that the International Olympic Committee has ushered in as part of a broader effort to appeal to younger fans and add an urban flair to the Summer Games.

What is break dancing called in the Olympics? ›

Breaking, better known as breakdancing, made its debut amid the grand elegance of Paris' Place de la Concorde, with 17 dancers known as B-Girls going head-to-head in a series of battles. Ami, whose name is Ami Yuasa, beat Lithuania's Dominika “Nicka” Banevic in the final, with China's Liu “671” Qingyi taking bronze.

Which sport will be making its Olympic debut in Paris 2024? ›

Breakdancing – professionally known as Breaking, will kick off at the Olympic Games for the first time tomorrow at 4PM.

Is breaking and breakdancing the same? ›

Call it breaking news — B-boys and B-girls are battling it out as breaking (not breakdancing) makes its official debut as an Olympics event, with the women's and men's events respectively taking place on August 9 and 10 in La Concorde, the urban park where the BMX freestyle and skateboarding competitions were held in ...

What is another name for breakdancing or breaking? ›

Breakdancing, also called b-boying, b-girling or breaking, is a style of street dance originated by African Americans in the Bronx, New York City, United States.

What are female break dancers called? ›

When the break dropped, people at the parties would hit the floor and go off, dancing wildly to the energising break part of the music. This is why they were called break-boys and break-girls, shortened to b-boys and b-girls.

Is breakdancing part of the Olympics now? ›

While breaking (or breakdancing) started in The Bronx in New York City during the early '80s, it's now part of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The new event is set to make its debut on Friday, Aug. 9.

Why is it called dance break? ›

The term break refers to the particular rhythms and sounds produced by deejays by mixing sounds from records to produce a continuous dancing beat. The technique was pioneered by DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell), a Jamaican deejay in New York who mixed the percussion breaks from two identical records.

What sport is changing in Paris Olympics? ›

SOME OTHER CHANGES

The order of the disciplines will also be new, with short rest intervals. A repechage round will be introduced to all individual track events in athletics from 200m to 1500m in distance. Replacing the individual 50km, the mixed team walking race will also make its Olympic debut at Paris 2024.

What sport is breaking in the Olympics in 2024? ›

PARIS — Breakdancing – or breaking, as its practitioners prefer to call it – was born in the Bronx more than 40 years ago. So it was only right that, in the first and perhaps last men's breaking competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, an American was on the podium.

What Olympics is going to be in Paris? ›

Paris 2024 Olympic Games | The Champions Park keeps going strong: relive the best moments of the day in pictures. On Thursday 8 August, the Champions Park of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was once again the centre of celebrations for athletes from all over the world.

How did we get the term break dance? ›

Breaking crews like the Zulu Kings and Rock Steady Crew were two of the first to battle at the club, along with Dynamic Rockers and New York City Breakers. The media took notice — and dubbed it breakdancing, a word that's now considered pejorative. In 1983, the movie Flashdance introduced breaking to the world.

What is this called break dancing? ›

: a style of hip-hop dance in which soloists perform acrobatic moves that often involve touching various parts of the body (such as the back or head) to the ground. Breakdancing takes incredible athleticism and energy, but it's also personal and highly artistic …

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