Breakdancing
On the 11th of August 1973, a back-to-school party took place in the rec room of an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx. Cindy Campbell organized the event to raise money for school clothes and asked her brother Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell to DJ. These gatherings became the incubator for a new dance style that would eventually be called breaking. Before this moment, young people in the Bronx were already dancing irreverently at local clubs like the Plaza Tunnel basement of the Concourse Plaza Hotel. They called these moves "freestyling," "going off," or simply "breaking." Kool Herc noticed dancers waiting for the percussive drum breaks in songs to perform their most exciting moves. He began looping these sections together to create extended periods just for breakers. Songs like "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band and "The Mexican" by Babe Ruth became staples of these parties.
The roots of this movement stretch back further than the 1970s. West African dances performed by enslaved people introduced the cipher, a circle where each dancer takes a turn to dance. This tradition merged with Irish Jig steps brought by immigrants arriving in the United States during the 1850s to form Tap Dance. Early breakers cited James Brown as the first b-boy because his music embodied black pride and individuality. Michael Holman notes that tap dance has connections to all other dances that evolved into breaking. The Legendary Twins directly credited jazz figures like the Nicholas Brothers as inspiration for their developments. Capoeira also shares several moves with breaking, though early practitioners deny a direct connection despite its presence in New York at the time.
Four primary elements define the physical language of breaking: toprock, footwork, power moves, and freezes. Toprock refers to any string of steps performed from a standing position and serves as the opening display of style. Dancers transition from toprock to footwork through movements called drops. Footwork, sometimes known as downrock or floorwork, describes any movement on the floor with hands supporting the dancer as much as feet. Foundational moves include the 6-step and its variants like the 3-step. Power moves are acrobatic actions requiring momentum, speed, endurance, strength, flexibility, and control. Examples include the windmill, swipe, back spin, and head spin. Some power moves borrow directly from gymnastics, such as the Thomas Flair shortened to flare.
Freezes are stylish poses where breakers suspend themselves off the ground using upper body strength. They emphasize strong beats in music and often signal the end of a set. Freezes can link into chains or stacks where breakers move from one freeze to another to hit musical beats. In the late 1970s, DJs like Grandmaster Flash began looping just the breaks in songs. This spurred a new style emphasizing more acrobatic moves while top rock receded into the background. The Rock Steady Crew developed extended footwork at Kool Herc's parties. Cholly Rock and Pow Wow built on this by doing fast rotations on hands and feet now called Zulu Spins. Uprock, also known as Brooklyn uprock, is an aggressive dance style performed between two partners that mimics fighting. While originally separate, some breakers adopted uprock moves as variations for their toprock.
Breaking spread globally through specific cultural hubs that adapted the dance to local contexts. By the early 1990s, Australia was considered a world-leading power move country according to award-winning breaker Kid Tek. Stars included B-Boy All Stars from Brisbane who appeared on Star Search in 1992. The scene peaked around 2010 but dipped between 2013 and 2017 before surging again due to Olympic inclusion. In Brazil, Ismael Toledo became one of the first breakers after moving to the United States in 1984 to study dance. He met Crazy Legs who mentored him for four years before he returned to São Paulo to open Hip-Hop Street College.
In Cambodia, Tuy "KK" Sobil started Tiny Toones community center in Phnom Penh in 2005. His organization helps roughly 5,000 youths annually with language skills and life education. Diamond emerged as Cambodia's first b-girl within this program. France became the first country to have a regularly nationally broadcast television show about hip hop in 1984 hosted by Sidney Duteil. This led to an explosion of crews including Paris City Breakers. Japan introduced breaking in 1983 following Wild Style movie release. Tokyo's Yoyogi Park in Harajuku remains an active area for dancers today. Taisuke Nonaka led Floorriorz to win Battle of the Year in 2015 against Belarus crew Kienjuice. South Korea saw its culture take hold in late 1990s when John Jay Chon gave Expression Crew a VHS tape of a Los Angeles competition called Radiotron.
Major tournaments transformed local street battles into structured international events. Battle of the Year founded in 1990 by Thomas Hergenröther in Germany stands as the largest international breakdancing competition for crews. It holds regional qualifying tournaments in countries like Zimbabwe, Japan, Israel, Algeria, Indonesia, and the Balkans. Winners compete in final championships held in Montpellier, France. The Notorious IBE started in 1998 as a Dutch-based event without stages or judges. Instead it uses timed competitive events in large multitiered ciphers where audience approval determines winners.
Red Bull BC One created in 2004 brings together top 16 breakers from around the world every year. World record holder Mauro "Cico" Peruzzi spun continuously on one hand 27 times during a 1990 move. R16 Korea founded in 2007 by Asian Americans Charlie Shin and John Jay Chon is sponsored by the government and broadcast live on Korean television. In 2011, R16 instituted a new judging system eliminating bias with five criteria: foundation, dynamics, battle, originality, and execution. Breakdancing debuted at the Youth Olympic Games starting with Buenos Aires 2018. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris saw 16 male and 16 female breakers compete head-to-head. Ami Yuasa won gold for Japan while Philip Kim took home gold for Canada.
Film and television have shaped public perception of breaking across five decades. Early 1980s movies included Fame, Wild Style, Flashdance, Breakin', Beat Street, and Krush Groove. Donnie Yen starred in Hong Kong film Mismatched Couples performing various breaking moves in 1985. The 2000s brought Step Up films featuring all five installments plus TV series Step Up High Water premiering the 20th of March 2019. Documentary Planet B-Boy followed five crews training for 2005 Battle of the Year championship. A 3D film version released January 2013 directed by Benson Lee.
Television advertising widely uses breakdancing as an indicator of youth culture despite relatively small genre following. Shows like So You Think You Can Dance and America's Best Dance Crew brought it back to pop culture forefront. South Korean dramas featured breaking extensively including miniseries Break from 2006 and Showdown game show hosted by Jay Park premiering the 18th of March 2022. Literature also documented the scene with Kim Soo Yong's comic Hip Hop selling over 1.5 million books starting serialization in 1997. Linden Dalecki published Kid B novel through Houghton Mifflin in 2006 after winning Austin Chronicle short story contest. Video games included Break Dance by Epyx released 1984 and Bust a Groove franchise character Heat specializing in breakdancing.
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Common questions
When and where did breakdancing originate?
Breakdancing originated on the 11th of August 1973 at a back-to-school party in an apartment building at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx. Cindy Campbell organized this event to raise money for school clothes while her brother Clive Kool Herc Campbell DJed.
What are the four primary elements of breaking?
The four primary elements that define the physical language of breaking are toprock, footwork, power moves, and freezes. Toprock involves steps performed from a standing position while footwork describes movements on the floor with hands supporting the dancer as much as feet.
Who founded the Battle of the Year competition and when?
Thomas Hergenröther founded the Battle of the Year competition in Germany in 1990. This tournament stands as the largest international breakdancing competition for crews and holds regional qualifying tournaments in countries like Zimbabwe, Japan, Israel, Algeria, Indonesia, and the Balkans.
Which country was considered a world-leading power move country by the early 1990s?
Australia was considered a world-leading power move country according to award-winning breaker Kid Tek by the early 1990s. Stars included B-Boy All Stars from Brisbane who appeared on Star Search in 1992.
When did breakdancing debut at the Olympic Games?
Breakdancing debuted at the Youth Olympic Games starting with Buenos Aires 2018. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris saw 16 male and 16 female breakers compete head-to-head with Ami Yuasa winning gold for Japan and Philip Kim taking home gold for Canada.