Break Dancing Debuts At Paris Olympics—Joining These Other Nontraditional Sports
Key Facts
Breaking will compete at the Olympics for the first time on August 9th and 10th, part of a push to attract a younger audience to the Games.
The competition will take place at La Concorde, a part of a major public square in Paris, along with BMX freestyle, skateboarding and 3X3 basketball, and there will be two events for 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls (breaking terms for male and female dancers).
Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing all made their debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games as a way for the International Olympic Committee to make the games more appealing to younger viewers, according to CBS.
Skateboarding competitions will take place from July 27th to August 7th, with the men’s teams from the U.S. and Japan seen as the leading contenders.
Sport climbing will make its return after Tokyo, featuring the return of 22-year-old Colin Duffy, the youngest Olympian on the Tokyo team.
Surfing competitions will take place over a 10-day window at the historic Teahupo’o village on the island of Tahiti, known for having some of the biggest waves in the world.
What Is The History Of Breaking?
Breaking emerged during the rise of hip-hop music in 1980s New York City, specifically, becoming a staple in the Bronx community among the Black and Puerto Rican population. DJ Kool Herc, known as a founding father of hip-hop, is credited with discovering breaking after noticing his crowd waiting for pauses, or breaks, in the music to start dancing. At the time, the Bronx faced tough challenges amid the crack epidemic and increased violence and breaking was seen as a positive outlet in the community. The sport continued to spread as hip-hop gained popularity.
How Is Breaking Scored In The Olympics?
Both B-Girls and B-Boys compete head-to-head in a tournament-style battle. Each battle consists of three rounds and the athlete that wins two out of three rounds clinches the win. A panel of nine judges will score dancers based on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity, and musicality. Performativity and creativity will count for 60% of the score, while the other elements hold 40%. Judges will use a digital slider to score the athletes during their rounds.
Surprising Fact
Breakers at the Olympics will have no idea what music they will dance to. The DJ will be in charge of the breaking music for Paris, and dancers will have to improv to random music.
Tangent
As of now, breaking is not scheduled to compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, so this year’s Games may be the only time the world gets to see breaking on the Olympic stage.
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