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WATCH: Here's What Breaking Should Look Like, How It Became a Worldwide Sensation

WATCH: Here's What Breaking Should Look Like, How It Became a Worldwide Sensation

What Breaking looks like: Here's a pallet cleanser for the people focused on the poor breaking performances at the Paris Olympics.

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Image for article titled WATCH: Here's What Breaking Should Look Like, How It Became a Worldwide Sensation
Photo: Al Bello (Getty Images)

This summer, Breaking was displayed in front of the world at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. But the competition went viral for all of the wrong reasons, especially the performance of Rachel “Raygun” Gunn.

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Many argued that her performance was a mockery of an art form that was created and popularized by young people of color in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s.

With that in mind, let’s look at some classic examples of breaking while also revisiting the history of the art, and how it became a worldwide sensation long before the Olympics.

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Early Breaking

Early Breaking

1980s New York, Breakdancing, B-Boys, 16mm

Unlike ballet or salsa, there’s not one way to break dance. It’s mostly improvised by performers and has evolved over the years with more complex and difficult moves.

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Early Breaking

Early Breaking

80s breakdancing on us tv

The dance form came from DJs in the 1970s. They noticed that people would dance at the “break” of the song or the part where you could only hear the drums without any vocals or other instrumentation.

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Early Breaking

Early Breaking

1980s B Boys Breakdancing, Dancing, Hip Hop

The person who’s credited with created breaking is DJ Kool Herc, who is also considered one of the early pioneers of hip-hop, which isn’t surprising considered the two are intertwined. During parties, Herc would encourage B-Boys to perform as he would continue to loop the percussion breaks during his set and hype up the crowd on the mic.

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Dance Crews

Dance Crews

Poppin’ Express Crew - Oldschool Poppin 1984

As the popularity of breaking grew in New York City, B-Boys would create crews where they would come up with their own routine and often challenge others crews to battles.

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Dance Crews

Dance Crews

Ken Swift-Rock Steady Crew

Some of the pioneering crews included the New York City Breakers, the Zulu Kings, the Dynamic Rockers and the Rock Steady Crew.

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Legendary Breakers

Legendary Breakers

Crazy Legs & Ken Swift - 1983

Some of the legendary breakdancers who helped popularize and grow the culture include Ken Swift, Crazy Legs, Frosty Freeze, Charlie Rock, Joe Joe and Rubber Band.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

Massive Monkees vs Jinjo Crew | R16 BBOY Battle 2012 | YAK FILMS

As hip-hop has grown in popularity, so has breaking. It’s now a worldwide sensation with multiple competitions taking place every year where the best dancers from every country duke it out to see who’s the best.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

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As you can see, the moves of some of these dancers has evolved to something that people who created the art form wouldn’t have imagined in the 1970s.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

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The days of only dancing to breaks in the beat is long gone, as dancers will now perform to some of the most popular songs in the world.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

BEST BREAKING HIGHLIGHTS of Red Bull BC One 2023 World Final Paris

One of the biggest competions in the world is the Red Bull BC One, an annual competition that brings together the best 16 dancers in the world to see who is the best.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

Predatorz Crew vs. Flow XL | Final | Battle of the Year World Final 2023

These competitions happen all round the world. One of the biggest ones is Battle of the Year (BOTY), which is held every year in Germany.

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New School Breaking

New School Breaking

Massive Monkees vs Jinjo Crew | R16 BBOY Battle 2012 | YAK FILMS

R16 Korea is another huge competition that takes place in South Korea.

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New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

B-Boy Lil Zoo’s BEST moments | 10 YEARS of Red Bull BC One All Stars

There’s now a new generation of B-Boys and B-Girls across the world who are pulling off moves that you wouldn’t believe.

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New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

B-Boy Victor’s BEST moments | 10 YEARS of Red Bull BC One All Stars

While some are from the United States, like B-Boy Victor, others come from counties like the Netherlands, South Korea, Russia, France and Japan.

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New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

New Gen B-Boys and B-Girls

B-Girl Ami’s BEST moments | 10 YEARS of Red Bull BC One All Stars

We didn’t forget about the B-Girls who have become just as talented and popular as B-Boys.

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