Breakdancing

Breakdancing
GenreHip-hop dance
InventorStreet dancers
YearEarly 1980s
OriginNew York City (NYC)
Breaking in the street, 2013
A breakdancer standing on his head in Cologne, Germany, 2017

Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx.[1][2][3]

Breakdancing consists mainly of four kinds of movement—toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes—and is typically set to songs containing drum breaks, especially in funk, soul, and hip-hop. Its modern dance elements originated among the poor youth of New York during the early 1980s.[4] It is tied to the birth of hip-hop, whose DJs developed rhythmic break for dancers.[5]

The dance form has expanded globally, with an array of organizations and independent competitions supporting its growth. Breaking became an Olympic sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris,[6] as per a December 7, 2020 decision by the International Olympic Committee, after a proposal by the World DanceSport Federation.[7]

  1. ^ Verán, Christina (1999). "Breaking It All Down: The Rise and Fall and Rise of the B-Boy Kingdom". In Light, Alan (ed.). The Vibe history of hip hop (1st ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. pp. 54. ISBN 0-609-80503-7. OL 42726M. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "The True Story Behind Olympic Breakdancing". Arizona State University Media. August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  4. ^ Chang, Jeff (2007). "It's a Hip-Hop World". Foreign Policy (163): 58–65. ISSN 0015-7228. JSTOR 25462232.
  5. ^ Hall, Josh (2020). "From the Bronx to the world: The birth and evolution of hip-hop". Red Bull. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "2024 Paris Summer Olympics will feature breakdancing". Yahoo! News. January 19, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "Breaking officially added to Olympic Games Paris 2024". worlddancesport.org. December 12, 2020.

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