GET YOUR DANCE FIX: Breakdancing in the Raw...

We invite the Harvard Breakers to perform at Eastbound almost every year and we are often guests performing at the very same shows. Yet, after so many years performing together, we've yet to scratch the surface of understanding what breakdancing is all about!

Breakdancing has flooded pop culture through TV dance shows So You Think You Can Dance and America's Best Dance Crew. The shows do a wonderful job highlighting and showcasing the tricks, stunts, and styles of breakdancing, but doesn't quite pick up on the culture of breakdancing.

Thanks to Curtis Chan '08, former Harvard Breakers President, I went to a breakdancing battle in Cambridge. The battle was called Battle Boutique and was hosted in a shoe store called The Attic in Central Square. Local breakdancers and breakdancing fans all streamed into the store carrying their breakdancing gear (knee pads, wrist bands, bandannas, hats, sweats, beanies). The store installed a small woodden dance floor and set up DJ turntables in the corner. With just those three elements (dance floor, music, and dancers), the battle was ready to begin!

The judges were two universally acknowledged and understood top breakers today and from way back when (Old G's). This particular battle had two sections: B-Boy and Pop and Lock. The B-Boy section was teams of two battling against each other (2v2) and the Pop and Lock section was individuals battling against each other (1v1). Almost all of the dancers were affiliated with crews and are all familiar friends and faces. Competing dancers signed up to compete and then warmed-up in turns on the dance floor waiting for the official battle to begin.

What struck me as strange was how the breakdancing world felt like a club or tribe with an understood hierarchy and way of doing things. There's a common style of dress and affinity for unique names like Megatron, Flow Boy, Gyro, Snap, O-Sheet, A-Boogie, Lady Beast, etc.) Breakdancers are true artists who respect and celebrate the art of breakdancing through dancing alone. Perhaps to subvert the potential for individuals to assume a superego, applause and cheering was rare, until a huge crowd was finally gathered. Though the battles had an implied sense of aggression and confrontation even in the more informal cypher (circle) battles, each breaker exhibits a understood respect for the other and his or her skills. The hardest thing for me to wrap my head around was the fact that nothing was choreographed! Music just continued to play and you danced however you wanted! It's difficult to explain this in words, but simply put, the breaking culture is completely different from the ballet world. Rather than continuing to drone on and try to capture my impressions in words, enjoy these videos instead! I would highly recommend going to a battle and getting a sense of breakdancing in its truest form!


Cyphering (note that there are b-girls in the bunch!)


Popping


Popping Battle (the little kid won!)


More Popping


B-girl Lady Beast Poppin'