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    • Groundbreaking Olympic debut raises question: artist or athlete?
    Colorado

    Groundbreaking Olympic debut raises question: artist or athlete?

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    PARIS — Sport as an expression of art seems like an abstract concept. But take a well-designed goal in soccer or hockey, for example — the angles it takes, the creativity. Suddenly the two opposites are bridged.

    After all, sport, like art, is entertainment. And breakdancing, the newest Olympic sport, is an ideal example of how two forms of expression, dancing and athletics, are not as opposite as many might think.

    USA TODAY Sports asked U.S. Olympic breakers and those who have been involved in breaking for decades if they consider themselves more of an athlete or an artist. The simple answer is both. The truth lies somewhere on that bridge.

    “How do you put the two together?” asked Victor Montalvo, “B-Boy Victor,” about art and sports. “I don’t know. I have no problem combining the two.”

    Perhaps the most important factor on which the judges base their scores in breakdancing is creativity. Copying another person’s moves – known in the breakdancing world as “biting” – is sacrilege.

    Style is an integral part of breakdancing, from the way one conducts oneself before and after a fight to the participant’s wardrobe.

    “For me, breakdancing is always about style and originality,” said Jeffrey Louis, B-Boy Jeffro, of Team USA. “Even in a sporting sense, I still have to have my own style and originality.”

    For Sunny Choi, also known as B-Girl Sunny, “there is no doubt that this is a sport.”

    But that’s not all.

    “Dance, art, sports – all together,” she said.

    The original breakers, the “OGs” as they are called, sometimes look down on the current generation of breakers for their stretching, Montalvo said. He feels breaking has moved from the “culture side” of society into the sport realm.

    “We learn a lot and train more like athletes,” he said.

    Some of the knowledge they have gained since competing in the Olympics ranges from nutrition to strength and conditioning to mental health. Working with Team USA has been helpful.

    “Because a few years ago, maybe five, 10 years ago, we weren’t doing that,” he said. “So we were our own nutritionists. We were our own strength and conditioning coaches. And we didn’t know what we were doing. Now that we have these resources, it’s really helpful.”

    Breaking Battles at Olympic level can last between 30 seconds and a minute, depending on the distance and the participant’s movements. Each Olympic participant must complete at least six rounds in the first part of the tournament in a round-robin format. After that, it goes into a best-of-three knockout system.

    To be able to perform dynamic movements for such a long time requires professional physical fitness, said Louis. At the same time, crushers create.

    “That’s hip-hop,” he said. “You have to have your own style. You have to have your own taste. How do you do that? By being artistic.”

    London Reyes, a member of the New York City Breakers in the 1980s, says breaking culture reminds him of basketball culture – and the former entertainment manager for Nike’s basketball division knows it.

    “Why can’t breakdancing be a sport and a culture at the same time?” asked Reyes. “So that’s it. It could be two things at the same time – you can walk and chew gum at the same time.”

    The physical aspect is why the Olympics considered it worthy to include the Paris Games, even if they were not on the program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. “You have to eat well, you have to train, you have to stretch, you have to take care of your body,” Reyes said. “You have to be strong mentally, physically and spiritually.”

    “It’s all about competition, and it’s no different than dancing, and that’s the beauty of it.”

    How far has Breaking come physically and artistically?

    Where can breakdancing develop from a technical perspective in the next 20 years? Reyes is not sure.

    “I guess they would have to fly,” he said.

    He seriously believes that the ability to perform all movements both clockwise and anti-clockwise will be essential. He also imagines that a difficulty system similar to that used in gymnastics will be adopted for the assessment.

    Back then, Reyes said, when the “OGs” did headspins, they were simply called “one-shots” or “pencils” because they only did one rotation. Now the headspins are “continuous.”

    “Now they’re pulling their legs in, they’re pulling them out, they’re reaching over, they’re grabbing their leg,” Reyes said. “It’s just different variations of that. It’s just incredible what they’re doing today.”

    The same applies to footwork. What started with simple steps is now performed with speed, agility and flexibility.

    “So they just keep improving and keep doing different creative things with it,” Reyes said.

    And to all those who say it is not a sport?

    “I would tell them, ‘Try doing a tenth of what we do.’ That’s what I would say,” Louis said. “And you would see how much athleticism, how much creativity, artistry and style there is in it.”

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    Madoc Meredith
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