The funky beats, fast feet and head spinning moves of breakdancing made their debut at the Asian Games in the Eastern city of Hangzhou on Friday less than a year before the sport enters the Olympic programme for the first time at Paris 2024.
Under bright lights and ear-splitting, subwoofer hungry mixes more akin to a nightclub or indoor hip-hop concert the “b-boy” and “b-girl” dancers performed their tricks in a circle on a stage in front of judges and several thousand spectators.
Sporting baggy pants and beanie hats and using stage names including “Think”, “K” and “Quake”, the dancers span and shimmied on their heads, shoulders and hands in performances familiar to tourists in city squares across the world.
This time the prize was not a wad of notes in a hat but a gold medal and exposure to millions.
“It’s very special,” said one of Taiwan’s female breakers, 25-year-old Yang Jia-li, who added that breaking had massively boosted her confidence.
“A lot of friends are asking when I will perform or asking about the Olympics. I am also very happy that people in different fields care about breaking.”
Along with esports’ debut as a medal event in Hangzhou, organisers hope “breaking” can help lure young viewers turned off by traditional Games sports.
A counter-cultural art-form born in the streets of New York City decades ago, breakdancing is judged against broad criteria in competition.
“Now it has become a sport, its culture is becoming less and less because after all we have to cooperate with some sports norms,” said Yang’s 24-year-old male team mate Sun Zhen.
JUDGING AN “ART”
DJs played clips for the breakers from a “mix cut” of around 200 songs prepared for the Games which the dancers did not know in advance, said technical operation director of the competition, Meng Changqing.
The contestants then had to react quickly to “feel” the music as they entered the circle to perform their moves.
Judges give contestants marks out of 20 in five categories: skill, musicality, diversity, completion and quality and personality, for a total score out of 100, Meng added
The dancers were widely very positive about the experience and its potential to encourage others to take up breaking.