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© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Breaking emerged from the African-American and Latino communities in New York in the 1970s. Afrika Bambaataa, a DJ and pioneering hip-hop artist, convinced members of the Bronx street gang to challenge rival gangs with dance battles instead of guns and knives.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Afrika Bambaataa and pioneering b-boys Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert cite James Brown as the inspiration for many of the breaking moves.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art and dance form, is said to have directly influenced break dance.
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Breakdancing
- Breakdancing has become an umbrella term that includes California-based dance styles including popping, locking, and electric boogaloo.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Breakdancing vs breaking
- The media coined breakdancing and breakdancer when breaking gained popularity, unaware that breakers do not add 'dance' to the name of their art form.
© Shutterstock
5 / 30 Fotos
Hip-hop
- Breaking is part of the hip-hop subculture, along with MCing, DJing, and writing (also known as graffiti).
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Kool Herc
- When throwing neighborhood parties, DJ Kool Herc noticed people would dance with more sporadic and dynamic energy when the breaks (instrumental or percussion section) of the track he was playing would come in.
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
Kool Herc
- DJ Kool Herc would play and mix two copies of the same record so that he could extend the break, allowing dancers to have more time to show off their moves.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
B-boy
- A b-boy is a boy or man who performs breaking.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
B-girl
- A b-girl is a girl or woman who performs breaking. The terms b-boy and b-girl were coined by Kool Herc.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- Promoters and the media started to take notice of b-boys and b-girls when they were dancing at parties, parks, and in clubs, providing breaking with the exposure that made it mainstream.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- In 1982, the Rock Steady crew performed on stages in London and Paris. They also appeared on the American talk show 'Late Night with David Letterman' in 1983.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- The New York City Breakers performed for President Ronald Reagan during the 1984 Kennedy Center Honors, which was broadcast nationally.
© Getty Images
13 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- B-boys and b-girls also appeared in music videos and blockbuster movies, including 'Flashdance' and 'Beat Street.'
© Shutterstock
14 / 30 Fotos
Elements - toprock
- Some basic top rock steps are the Indian step and the Cross step. They happen when breakers are standing before they go to the floor.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Elements - footwork
- Breakers use their hands for support when they move their legs through footwork steps on the floor. These steps include six-step, three-step, and CCs.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Elements - freezes
- A freeze is when a breaker holds a solid shape with their body for a few seconds.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Elements - tricks
- Breakers often add a unique twist to conventional steps, freezes, or power moves. Examples are the hopping air chairs and leg threading.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Elements - power moves
- When a breaker propels their whole body into a continuous spin, this is called a power move. Examples are head spins and windmills.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Music genres
- Breakers dance to break beats, funk, rap, and soul. Some of the most famous tracks associated with breaking are 'Apache' by the Incredible Bongo Band and 'It's Just Begun' by the Jimmy Castor Bunch.
© Shutterstock
20 / 30 Fotos
Losing popularity
- After its peak in the mid-1980s, breaking began to wane in popularity. However, it experienced a resurgence in the 1990s when original b-boys came out of retirement to judge competitions.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Cyphers
- Cyphers are circles formed around a breaker to dance with another b-boy or b-girl. A cypher can happen anywhere and everywhere, from parties to public spaces.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
Competitions
- Breaking transitioned from being a party dance to a competitive art form, with events taking place all over the world, from one-on-one battles to crew competitions.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Women in breaking
- While women and girls have always been involved in breaking, it is an industry dominated by men. However, as popularity grows, some international competitions have introduced separate b-girl battles, allowing women to showcase their skills independently.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Battle of the Year
- The international Battle of the Year was created in 1990 and was the first large-scale breaking competition.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Summer Youth Olympic Games 2018
- In 2018, breaking was added to the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
International Olympic Committee vote
- In 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to include breaking in the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Paris Olympic Games 2024
- In the summer of 2024, 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls will compete for Olympic medals at the Place de la Concorde.
© Shutterstock
28 / 30 Fotos
B-boy Victor
- Victor Montalvo (b-boy Victor), a two-time Red Bull BC One champion, will represent the USA in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Sources: (Red Bull) (Team USA) (Dance Magazine)
See also: The greatest and most inspiring Olympic moments
© Getty Images
29 / 30 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Breaking emerged from the African-American and Latino communities in New York in the 1970s. Afrika Bambaataa, a DJ and pioneering hip-hop artist, convinced members of the Bronx street gang to challenge rival gangs with dance battles instead of guns and knives.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Afrika Bambaataa and pioneering b-boys Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert cite James Brown as the inspiration for many of the breaking moves.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
History of breakdancing
- Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art and dance form, is said to have directly influenced break dance.
© Getty Images
3 / 30 Fotos
Breakdancing
- Breakdancing has become an umbrella term that includes California-based dance styles including popping, locking, and electric boogaloo.
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Breakdancing vs breaking
- The media coined breakdancing and breakdancer when breaking gained popularity, unaware that breakers do not add 'dance' to the name of their art form.
© Shutterstock
5 / 30 Fotos
Hip-hop
- Breaking is part of the hip-hop subculture, along with MCing, DJing, and writing (also known as graffiti).
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Kool Herc
- When throwing neighborhood parties, DJ Kool Herc noticed people would dance with more sporadic and dynamic energy when the breaks (instrumental or percussion section) of the track he was playing would come in.
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
Kool Herc
- DJ Kool Herc would play and mix two copies of the same record so that he could extend the break, allowing dancers to have more time to show off their moves.
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
B-boy
- A b-boy is a boy or man who performs breaking.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
B-girl
- A b-girl is a girl or woman who performs breaking. The terms b-boy and b-girl were coined by Kool Herc.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- Promoters and the media started to take notice of b-boys and b-girls when they were dancing at parties, parks, and in clubs, providing breaking with the exposure that made it mainstream.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- In 1982, the Rock Steady crew performed on stages in London and Paris. They also appeared on the American talk show 'Late Night with David Letterman' in 1983.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- The New York City Breakers performed for President Ronald Reagan during the 1984 Kennedy Center Honors, which was broadcast nationally.
© Getty Images
13 / 30 Fotos
Entering the mainstream
- B-boys and b-girls also appeared in music videos and blockbuster movies, including 'Flashdance' and 'Beat Street.'
© Shutterstock
14 / 30 Fotos
Elements - toprock
- Some basic top rock steps are the Indian step and the Cross step. They happen when breakers are standing before they go to the floor.
© Getty Images
15 / 30 Fotos
Elements - footwork
- Breakers use their hands for support when they move their legs through footwork steps on the floor. These steps include six-step, three-step, and CCs.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Elements - freezes
- A freeze is when a breaker holds a solid shape with their body for a few seconds.
© Getty Images
17 / 30 Fotos
Elements - tricks
- Breakers often add a unique twist to conventional steps, freezes, or power moves. Examples are the hopping air chairs and leg threading.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Elements - power moves
- When a breaker propels their whole body into a continuous spin, this is called a power move. Examples are head spins and windmills.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
Music genres
- Breakers dance to break beats, funk, rap, and soul. Some of the most famous tracks associated with breaking are 'Apache' by the Incredible Bongo Band and 'It's Just Begun' by the Jimmy Castor Bunch.
© Shutterstock
20 / 30 Fotos
Losing popularity
- After its peak in the mid-1980s, breaking began to wane in popularity. However, it experienced a resurgence in the 1990s when original b-boys came out of retirement to judge competitions.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Cyphers
- Cyphers are circles formed around a breaker to dance with another b-boy or b-girl. A cypher can happen anywhere and everywhere, from parties to public spaces.
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
Competitions
- Breaking transitioned from being a party dance to a competitive art form, with events taking place all over the world, from one-on-one battles to crew competitions.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Women in breaking
- While women and girls have always been involved in breaking, it is an industry dominated by men. However, as popularity grows, some international competitions have introduced separate b-girl battles, allowing women to showcase their skills independently.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Battle of the Year
- The international Battle of the Year was created in 1990 and was the first large-scale breaking competition.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Summer Youth Olympic Games 2018
- In 2018, breaking was added to the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
International Olympic Committee vote
- In 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to include breaking in the Paris Olympic Games 2024.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Paris Olympic Games 2024
- In the summer of 2024, 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls will compete for Olympic medals at the Place de la Concorde.
© Shutterstock
28 / 30 Fotos
B-boy Victor
- Victor Montalvo (b-boy Victor), a two-time Red Bull BC One champion, will represent the USA in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Sources: (Red Bull) (Team USA) (Dance Magazine)
See also: The greatest and most inspiring Olympic moments
© Getty Images
29 / 30 Fotos
The history of breakdancing: from the streets of NYC to the Olympic Games
How much do you know about the newest Olympic event?
© Getty Images
In 2020, the International Olympic Committee voted to include breaking or breakdancing in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where 16 b-boys and 16 b-girls will compete for medals at the Place de la Concorde in the heart of the French capital. While it may be a new addition to the Olympics, breaking has existed for decades, originating in African American and Puerto Rican communities in the Bronx in the 1970s.
This gallery explores what breaking is, the elements of the dance sport, and how it took the world by storm. So, if you're curious, click on to discover more.
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