30 year-old Menno Van Gorp is a man of many titles: painter, designer, entrepreneur, father — and he might just be the best b-boy in the world.
This year, Menno became the first three-time winner of the Red Bull BC One World Finals, one of the most prestigious solo breaking competitions. He also took first place at the WDSF World Breaking Championship and second place at the World Urban Games, both in 2019.
Even with such impressive accolades, Menno is a polarizing breaker — people either love him or hate him. Critics claim that Menno’s breaking is repetitive, low effort, and lacking in technical skill, especially compared to other breakers whom he has defeated.
Either way, Menno is on a roll. It’s not easy to pinpoint why his style works because it’s so abstract. But, perhaps we can define its overall noteworthy aspects.
Introducing the “algorithM”:
Menno has a really unique way of doing things and I gave his style a name today. Watching him dance is like looking at an algorithm. He figures things out, no matter what position he is in, he finds bubbles and filters and just keeps going. So that’s the name of his style, it’s an algorithm.
In other words, Menno effectively incorporates his vast database of techniques with an equally large arsenal of connections in a way that is second nature to him.
Vast database
What’s impressive about Menno’s database of moves is that the majority are his own original content. Regardless of the quality of those techniques, it’s no small feat to conceive so many of them.
Originality is universally valued in breaking, and Menno brings it all the way from preselection to finals. He keeps his rounds fresh by introducing new movement ideas throughout a given competition, and rarely repeats specific techniques. There are plenty of variations in his arsenal that allow him to avoid repeating.
While some argue that Menno overuses certain positions using the shoulders and back, this can be considered his personal foundation. He displays advanced mastery over basic concepts like the shoulder roll and baby freeze by using them in different ways within individual rounds, and between them.
Endless connections
“My art and my breaking are quite similar,” he says. “It’s loose, you can see a lot of movement in the art. It’s all about how I connect things, how I connect movements [in my breaking] and in my paintings how I connect my lines and colours.”
In an algorithm, the connections between steps are just as important as the steps themselves. Menno is known for his “flow,” or his seamless transitions between techniques. Being able to string movement phrases together coherently is a badge of great breaking, and doing this on the fly with a wide variety of moves indicates even greater skill.
In Menno’s case, “flow” also refers to a sustained, light, and unbound quality of movement. There is always at least one moving part in the shapes he creates, and nothing stays still for long. Menno also makes it look easy by keeping his movement light. He rarely gives the impression of exerting much energy or being physically suppressed.
Menno successfully communicates these qualities partly because of the basic breaking techniques that he incorporates. Shoulders, back, baby, and turtle are all positions that beginners understand. This common understanding helps the audience to process Menno’s advanced transitions between unique variations on techniques they’ve seen before.
Although his approach towards breaking may not appeal to everyone, Menno is undeniably a master of his craft. He consistently displays a vast database of techniques, endless connections between them, and a genuine familiarity with his personal movement. At the end of the day, that kind of authenticity is something that we can all roll with.
As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or feedback; I’m on Instagram @glissando. If you liked the article, I’d appreciate it if you hit that clap button or share this link with a friend. Thanks for reading — peace!
