How the Olympic B-Girls Made the Breaking Scene Proud

With Snoop Dogg, one of the most legendary rappers in hip hop history, officially opening the event the 17 Olympic B-Girls took over the stage and showcased everything the scene could hope for.

The ladies showed the love that flows through the Breaking community, from Vanessa and India starting their Round Robin battle with a cool, personal handshake that the two close friends have. Then later, even after she was eliminated, Vanessa sat behind India in full support of her bronze medal battle against 671 from China. And even though India didn’t win, Vanessa, along with India’s team and other supporting friends, all jumped on stage, hugging her and showing just how proud they all were of her amazing performance.

This community love was also seen in the final battle for gold and silver between Ami and Nicka, in which, after Ami saw she had won gold and Nicka saw she would be getting silver, Nicka immediately jumped up and down with a smile on her face, turning to Ami and giving her props for winning, then waiting for Ami’s team to finish hugging her so that she could also embrace Ami and enjoy their history making moment together.

Breaking is also a dance that has always been about battling and the B-Girls showed the fire they all possess for competition. This was fully displayed by home country B-Girl, Syssy, who opened her first round of the day with an explosive upside down, spin on one-hand move that breakers call a “ninety”, and then going straight into a back somersault combo that made the whole arena erupt with cheers.

It was seen by 671 when Nicka came out to start their semi-final battle but then 671 flew out before Nicka could get into her groove, stamping her desire to start the battle by jumping straight into two big explosive 360 horizontal spins, right in front of Nicka, in the middle of the floor. This sparked what was an action packed, back and forth semi-final battle of power blow ups, style, and fresh moves.

The B-Girls got to be the first ones on the Olympic stage, showing the world what breaking is all about. But even though they were the centre of attention they weren’t alone.

Anti’s father put aside his dislike of flying to see his daughter make history, as she said: "He does not like to fly, but for me he took the flight and I am happy he was here. He finally saw me compete in real life as he always watched me on television."

Silver medallist, Nicka, got to share the whole journey with her mum, as she has been doing her whole breaking career, as she said: “We are a dream team. I do not have a coach, physio, therapist or nutritionist, my mom is my coach, she is my psychologist, and everything else. She is the most important person for me, and I am happy we are here in Paris.”

DJ’s Fleg (USA) and Plash (Poland) introduced the audience to a non-stop barrage of classic, Breaking tracks keeping the B-Girls fuelled and dancing all day; from James Brown, ‘Hot Pants’, to the groovy funk track, ‘Yellow Sunshine,’ and Nina Simone’s sultry, ‘Funkier than a mosquito's tweeter.’

One of the many Breakers who flew in to attend the historical event was Victor ‘Glyde’ Alicea, an OG B-Boy from the legendary Dynamic Rockers crew, from New York. When asked what he thought of breaking’s debut at the Olympics and the B-Girl’s performances, he said:

“I loved every single thing I saw. I loved the way it was done. I think it was beautiful. We saw this coming a long time ago and it finally came through.”

His son, Kid ‘Glyde’ was also in attendance, and opened the second half of the competition, with B-Boy Skim from South Korean. A B-Boy who got the Dynamic Rockers torch passed to him by his father, his thoughts on the day were, “I think today was a major turning point for our culture and our dance, opening another avenue that is dance sport. This showed the diversity and the level of where breaking is, as well as the fun, the joy, and that anyone can do this, it doesn’t matter how old you are. One of the B-Girls in top 8 is 41, which shows this dance can be for anybody. I’m proud of my dance, I’m proud of the B-Girls, I’m proud to be a part of this community, and I’m excited to see where we’re going now.”

It’s without a doubt that the legendary ‘Glyde’ family, father and son, spoke what the whole breaking scene was feeling; proud of how the B-Girls represented the breaking scene on the biggest sporting stage in the world.

Photos by Little Shao

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Published on 9 August 2024