Breaking's debut, Paris Olympics 2024
• Throw-down in Paris (Jonathan Abrams, Bedel Saget and Umi Syam, NY Times, 8-5-24) More than 50 years since its inception, breaking debuts as an Olympic sport in Paris, where B-boys and B-girls will vie for gold and glory. Watch video of basic "steps."
"The Olympic battles, which are set for Aug. 9 and 10, will be a watershed moment for a dance form conceived and cultivated by Black and Hispanic youth in the Bronx during the 1970s, when they boogied at basement parties and park jams to the break beats played by hip-hop architects like DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash.
"Back then, breaking’s fundamental movements provided escapism and expression, competitive and spontaneous physical performance breathed to life by the dawning genre of hip-hop. Breakers danced to make a name for themselves and earn respect in their neighborhoods.
• The origins of breaking, the newest Olympic sport (YouTube Video, 6 min., CBS Sunday morning, 6-30-24) Breaking (not "breakdancing," apparently), an acrobatic dance style with its roots in New York's hip hop culture, is making its Olympic debut in this year's Summer Games in Paris. Correspondent Luke Burbank talks with Victor Montalvo (a.k.a. B-Boy Victor), who will be competing for breaking gold; and with founding members of the b-boy group New York City Breakers, who came up with some of the sport's original moves in the Bronx back in the late 1970s and early '80s.
• Paris 2024: The move breakers just can't crack (YouTube video, Le Monde, 8-8-24) Over two years and three countries, Le Monde followed dancers from France to Taiwan to Laos who set out to conquer a move long considered impossible: the double airflare. Monkey King works toward mastering it. You have to watch this. Imagine a fellow twirling on one fore-arm (not one leg).
• Video from Best Moments of Break Dance 2023 (Red Bull One World Final, 2023 Breaking Zone)
• The Notorious IBE 2012 | Red Bull BC One All Stars Vs. Team France. This was earlier in breaking history and there seem to be more in-the-air steps than in the 2024 competitoin, which surely deserve praise from the eagerly watching audience.
• Lawksam's Best of Breaking 2023 video compilation(notice how different the audiences are, in his case happily rowdy, always cheering good moves and here doing a little together-breaking)
• Video of champion breakdancers (video, Break Dance World Championship 2024) I'm not sure I'd call it dancing, but it DEFINITELY take strength, skill, and a lot of practice and muscle-building! Short clips of various competitive break dancers break dancing.
• B-Boy Lil Zoo (in Russia?) (video of another b-boy)
• B-boys – Subcultures and Sociology (Grinnell College) Academia's take. B-boy dance forms (breakdancing) are composed of distinct breaking movements, such as toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes.
Traditionally, B-boys performed to the tune of rap, Hip-Hop, and computerized beats with a distinctive 'scratch' or over dubbing sound. B-boy dance forms (breakdancing) are composed of distinct breaking movements, such as toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. Traditionally, B-boys performed to the tune of rap, Hip-Hop, and computerized beats with a distinctive 'scratch' or over dubbing sound.
• How Breaking Went From a Street Dance to an Olympic Sport (Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 4-22-24) This summer, 32 athletes will compete in what’s commonly known as breakdancing, a dance sport that combines athleticism and artistry. When the International Olympic Committee announced the 2024 Paris Games would include breaking for the first time, not all athletes danced with joy.
• United States' B-Boy Victor breaks his way to bronze medal (video, NBC Sports, Olympics, #Paris2024) Victor toppled Shigekix in the bronze medal battle, 3-0, to earn the first breaking Olympic medal for the U.S., a bronze.
• B-Boy Victor takes center stage in Olympic breaking debut vs. Shigekix (video, NBC, Olympics, #Paris2024)
• So, how does Breaking work at the Olympics? (video, Olympics #Paris2024) What do you think?
• Paris 2024 Olympics: Breakdancing makes its debut at 2024 games (YouTube video, France24) Born in the United States in the 1970s, the dance style quickly took storm thanks to its highly entertaining "battles". How will competitions be run in Paris? FRANCE 24's Natalia Ruiz Giraldo, Cedric Ferreira and Leo McGuinn report
• Once Sidelined, Breaking’s B-Girls Now Throw Down at Center Stage (Jonathan Abrams, NY Times, 8-9-24) Women are competing in breakiaring in greater numbers and, thanks to better training and more opportunities, with more dynamic moves. (H/T Nancy Kane)
• #breakdancing YouTube shorts show what breaking looks like
• Paris Olympics: What to know and who to watch during the breakdancing competition (Associated Press, 7-12-24) A roadmap to follow for breakdancing's debut at the Paris Olympics
• The First Tango in Paris Made a Stir Worth Remembering (Jaimie Seaton, Smithsonian magazine, July/August 2024) As breaking makes its debut at this summer’s Olympics, take a look back more than a century when another dance rocked the City of Lights (H/T Paula Stahel)