For longtime breakdancers, the sport is about much more than flips and tricks, and it’s that culture that US Olympic-bound athletes are eager to bring with them to Paris this summer.
Dance battle sport is best known for the twists and spins that breakers perform to the beat of a DJ’s music, but those familiar with the sport know there’s much more to it than that.
“Breaking is all about peace, love, unity and having fun,” says B-Boy Victor Montalvo, who has been dancing since he was six years old, after being introduced to the sport by his father and uncle.
“It’s one of the four elements of hip hop, so we’re trying to bring that essence into the Olympics,” he said.
Montalvo is one of four breakers (two men and two women) who make the U.S. Olympic team. So far, he and Sunny Choi (B-Girl Sunny) has qualified. The final spots will be decided after the Olympic Qualification Series.
Olympic hopeful Jeffrey Lewis (B-Boy Jeffro) learned to breakdance through his older brother, who took B-Boying lessons in place of P.E. at school.
He thinks the audience will feel what Montalvo described, because while there’s obviously dancing involved, the DJ, MC and audience are also key components of a dance battle.
The DJs for Paris have yet to be announced and likely won’t be announced until July, but they, along with the MCs, will play a big role in keeping the party going by breaking songs, changing songs and interacting with the crowd in real time.
Breaking is “an inclusive sport,” says Whitney Carter, director of internal sport governance for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. “The dancers get the crowd going. It’s inclusive. It’s good to yell and do stuff like that.”
What you need to know about breaking’s Olympic debut
- A total of 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will face off in a solo dance battle to show off their best moves for the gold medal.
- The dancers will compete at the Place de la Concorde on August 9th and 10th, and the first Olympic medal in breaking will be awarded at the end of that day’s competition.
- The sport first joined the Olympic Games at the 2018 Youth Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where its success paved the way for it to Paris.
- Breaking, like surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing, which were added to the Olympic Games for the first time at the 2020 Tokyo Games, is also an attempt to appeal to a younger audience.
For Choi, bringing breaking to the Olympics is about “bringing all of our communities, all of our backgrounds, all of our histories onto the stage”.
It’s also about “celebrating individuality,” she said, adding that she just wants to “go out there and show the world who I am.”
“There’s something about breaking that you just connect with,” Choi said of the sport. “You see somebody and you think, ‘Oh, I feel for this person.’ You just see them and you know who they are.”
Growing up as a gymnast, Choi didn’t get into breaking until she chanced upon a group of dancers on campus during her college years and was invited to join.
But it wasn’t until January 2023 that Choi seriously considered the Olympics. At that point, it had already been announced that breaking would be included in the Paris Olympics, but she was working for a company and wasn’t sure if she wanted to commit.
Eventually, she left her career behind to train full time for the Olympics.
“I thought to myself: ‘When am I going to get a second chance to achieve my childhood dream?'” she said.
Post-Olympic break
For those involved in the breaking world and culture, this is an exciting moment as success on the world’s biggest stage could create opportunities.
With roots in hip hop culture, the sport began at block parties in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s and went mainstream by the 1980s.
Richard “Crazy Legs” Colon, a longtime member and current president of the Rock Steady Crew, one of the original breaking crews, started breaking in the Bronx in 1977 and claims to be the creator of what is now known as the “power move.”
“The concept of what’s called a power move started with me,” he said.
Colon believes it’s a “great thing” that breaking is in the Olympics and says he doesn’t want to let it go, “because there are so many young people on that path, and if this inspires them and gives them the possibility to achieve something great for themselves and have bigger opportunities, then that’s great.”
Colon hopes the Olympics will bring the “greater opportunities, greater support” the community needs and “ultimately support the culture in the long term.”
But Colon expressed concern that this won’t happen, especially since the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles won’t include breaking; currently, breaking only takes place in Paris. And what about Brisbane in 2032? “To be determined,” but “probably not,” Carter said.
“As far as the Olympics go, this is going to be our only chance to know for now,” Carter said.
This comes after Los Angeles rejected an offer from the World DanceSport Federation to reinstate breaking as an Olympic sport in 2028. Carter believes this happened because offers for other non-core sports, such as flag football and cricket, were stronger.
“But the final decision has yet to be made so there is still a chance breaking could feature at a future Olympic Games, or even the Brisbane Olympics,” Carter said.
Breaking was first proposed as an Olympic sport in the early 2000s, but its debut was made possible with the support of Paris. Carter said that Paris, as the local organizing committee for 2024, offered to include the sport, particularly due to the city’s thriving arts and culture scene and the high profile of breaking in the French capital. The process began with an initial offer in 2019, but it wasn’t until December 2020 that it was officially named an Olympic sport.
As for the breakers who may be competing for their only chance at Olympic gold, Colon wondered what awaits them after the Olympics.
“How do you then level them up, and how do you level up those people who are further along in the journey who may not have made it to the Olympics,” he said. “How do you continue to create a situation where they remain relevant and retain their income?”
Colon’s concerns about the Olympic outcome come from personal experience: Though he’s no longer breakdancing, at 58, he had to work hard to find a way to turn his physical abilities into a lasting career.
For Colon, it’s about sustainability: not only preserving the culture and roots of the sport, but ensuring the next generation can grow out of the community and continue to thrive after their bodies can no longer withstand the physical movements of breakdancing.
Carter said both sides of the conversation had valid arguments.
But she said it was “all about how we use” the Olympic platform, adding that she believes showcasing breaking at the Olympics will help to attract new audiences and create new fans who can watch breakers compete on an existing platform.
“I think it’s about what you do with your platform and how you take it forward,” Carter said.
“It’s also up to people to highlight the athletes’ stories” and “cross-promote it in a way that’s like, ‘Hey, they’ve been doing this since before the Olympics started. Here’s how you can keep following and watching,'” she said.
Ultimately, “I think there are a lot of lessons that breaking can learn from the Olympic arena and a lot of areas that the Olympic arena can learn from breaking,” Carter said.
A big opportunity
For Louis, breaking’s Olympic debut is particularly “an opportunity” to raise awareness of the sport. He said he hopes showing breaking in Paris will open new doors for breakers, “allowing them to carve their own path.”
Choi echoed Louis, calling the moment “an incredible opportunity to share this community, this culture with the world. I feel like a lot of people know about this community, this culture.” [breaking] But I don’t actually understand it, I’ve never seen it.”
“And it’s great to be able to bring it to such a big stage and elevate that message,” she added.
Choi acknowledges that many breakers come from “underserved” communities and hopes that competing in the Olympics will bring opportunity back to those communities, whether it be parents sending their children to breaking classes or investors and corporate sponsors backing the sport in some way.
Carter is most excited to see people see breaking for its “sports aspect” as well as its “entertainment value”, as it is one of the “most physically and mentally challenging” sports she has seen.
“It’s very demanding but at the same time very engaging and fun, so I think if it’s presented in the right way, everyone can really get into it.”
Spectators are just as excited to see breaking at the Olympics as the athletes are: Carter said tickets for the event sold out in 24 hours and are “the hottest ticket” on the resale market, as was the case for the Olympic Qualification Series, which also featured breaking.
Whatever the outcome of breaking’s Olympic debut, the athletes are eager to show what the sport is all about – beyond dancing – in their first foray on the biggest international stage.
Louis said: “It’s really like a party and I feel that’s what breaking brings to the Olympics.”
