Last week, the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympics put forward their proposal for 4 new sports: skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing, and breaking.
While the breaking community has been in a hubbub over this news, the world at large remains undisturbed. The general public cares little about breaking and whether it’ll be on the program at Paris 2024.
Lack of awareness is the main issue here — for example, major channels like NBC, CNN, and NPR are still calling it “breakdance,” a term that the media coined as it was exploding in popularity. Even the Paris 2024 committee used the outdated name on the backdrop of their press conference.
Now, I’m not here to convince you why breaking should be in the Olympics, or why it makes sense as an Olympic sport. Shout out to Deadspin, The Undefeated, Games Bids, and Forbes for covering that already (and for using the proper term ‘breaking’).
This article is meant to be a starting point for those who are hearing about breaking for the first time via Paris 2024. For the informed crowd, this article may be useful in raising awareness and educating others on breaking and its involvement with the Olympics.
We’ll cover the essentials of three topics: what breaking comprises in the present day, how the competitive format is judged, and why there has been internal controversy around the Olympics.
The basics of modern breaking
Yes, some breakers still wear tracksuits. Yes, cardboard still works as a makeshift dance floor. However, breaking has evolved significantly in terms of technique, diversity, and influence. Check out my article on the basics of breaking if you’d like a rundown on what the dance looks like nowadays.
Breaking does share some aspects with existing Olympic sports. The acrobatic techniques may remind you of those in gymnastics, the rapid spins and artistic expression are like those of skating, and the spirit of head-to-head combat is shared with martial arts.
Still, breaking is best viewed as a unique discipline. Here are some places where you can watch recent footage of competitive breaking:
- Stance: Probably the most popular online media channel for breaking. They also cover other street dance styles, as these other channels do.
- B-boy Network Channel: Extensive coverage of breaking events in the United States, particularly in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest.
- ProDance TV: Footage of competitions from Europe.
How to judge a competitive art form
By now you may have watched a video or ten, and you might be thinking, “Wait — I have no idea how they decide who wins.” Breaking battles can get confusing because subjectivity is inevitable. But, the core goal of battling stays the same.
“Self-control, then, is really the essence of the battle aesthetic, and the goal is to make your opponent lose his.”
-Joseph Schloss, Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York
Today’s competitive breaking is a combination of demonstrating superior technique and undermining the opposition. To win a battle, a breaker must make statements of common values. It works sort of like a debate. Whether it’s showing that they’re more precise, musical, or creative, the victor demonstrates the common values more convincingly than their opponent does.
These values and their weights can change from judge to judge. So, let’s stick to the judging system from the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. The “Trivium Value System” uses three equally weighted criteria to compare competitors:
- Body=Physical Quality: composed of Technique, Variety
- Soul=Interpretive Quality: composed of Performativity, Musicality
- Mind=Artistic Quality: composed of Creativity, Personality
Some of these criteria are more abstract, meaning that judges must make their own rational decisions. The possibility of different, justifiable conclusions is both a sticking point and a central aspect of breaking. Trivium’s criteria does make judging more consistent and transparent than the default method: each judge points to a winner at the end of a battle, and that’s it.
Conflict within the community
Ever since breaking was proposed for the 2018 Youth Olympics, the breaking community (or “scene”) has been divided on the issue. On one end of the spectrum are the supporters, who are generally optimistic. Breaking’s representatives in the Olympics include the likes of Niels “Storm” Robitzky and Richard “Crazy Legs” Colon, who are both legends in their own right. Supporters expect the proper representation of breaking on the world stage to bring fans, funding, and opportunities to the scene.
Then there are the critics, who see the Olympics as incompatible with the grassroots, unfettered spirit of breaking. Some are skeptical of the Olympic committee and the World DanceSport Federation. The WDSF, despite not being a breaking organization, spearheaded the campaign for its inclusion in the Youth Olympics. Critics fear that, with improper governance, breaking will be commercialized and exploited as it was in the 1980’s.
Suffice it to say that not everyone feels the same way about breaking in the Olympics. It may even be a sensitive topic for some.
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Instagram @glissando for the latest updates. If you liked the article, I always appreciate it if you hit that clap button or share to spread the knowledge. Thanks for reading — peace!
