As breakdancing, or breaking, as the community more commonly refers to it, takes the Olympic stage in Paris on Friday and Saturday, local b-boys and b-girls are watching their art form rise in popularity. So, what is breaking? And how does London’s scene feel about the new attention?
“Breaking is the original form of hip-hop dance that started in the early ’70s, but it’s basically street dance format where it’s about incorporating different elements of capoeira, kung fu and all these different original dance forms,” explains Jim Han, the founder and director of the 519 School of Hip Hop.
The School of Hip Hop, located at 760 Little Simcoe St., aims to make the culture of hip-hop a focal point for its students, who range from young children to adults in their 30s. In addition to breaking, they teach the foundations of graffiti art, DJing and rapping.
“All of those cultural components make up hip-hop as an entity. So, we here try to educate everybody on the cultural aspect of it as well as a dance,” Han says.
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“Not everyone wants to dance as well, right? So, if you’re more into the artistic side of it, the visual art or music production or DJing, we do offer that as well, and we make sure that regardless of the route that you choose, you have a good foundational knowledge of what hip-hop really entails.”
The 2024 Summer Games are the first time breaking has been included as an Olympic sport, as part of the International Olympic Committee’s goals to widen the Olympics’ appeal. Han says that creates a “tremendous opportunity” to get people into the art form.
“I’m hopeful that that impact that it has on the kids is going to be a long-lasting one, where they’re going to start to see that like, it’s viable to pursue this as a passion,” Han says. “For us breakers here in London, we’re proud to see that attention being directed at us, but it does put us at the position of responsibility to make sure we let the audience know what … hip-hop and breaking is beyond just an Olympics category.”
Han hopes the world stage will encourage more people to get into hip-hop, something he and his group have been working towards.
Ari Bhojani, a young student at 519 School of Hip Hop, says the school has taught him a “lot of fun stuff.”
“We do DJ, dancing, we do graffiti, we do lots of stuff!” Bhojani said. “It’s cool to see (breaking) at the Olympics.”
The school is hosting free workshops, followed by watch parties for both the b-girl and b-boy events starting at 1 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Another watch party will be hosted at the Central Library on Saturday from 9:50 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
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