The International Olympic Committee has added breakdancing to the list of medal events at the forthcoming 2024 Olympics in Paris. Added alongside other sports such as skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing, the addition is part of a movement to reinvigorate interest in the longtime competitive dance style.
Breakdancing and DJing have gone hand in hand since both art forms arose. The dance style, “breaking” was created in New York during the 1970’s when hip-hop DJs would loop certain sections of tracks, generally a given track’s “break,” for talented audience members to dance to. The discipline gained worldwide popularity and acclaim, and now, five decades later, will be recognized as an Olympic sport.
Though mostly positive, some breakdancers are concerned with how judges can accurately quantify and measure certain qualities such as passion. In an interview with USA Today, breakdancer Logistx said,
“There’s been quite some controversy inside the scene. It’s basically making sure that we preserve the essence and the culture, and that it doesn’t get lost in the competitive grind as we continue to progress and make steps into the Olympics.”
However notably, while the sport has gone from street battles on flattened cardboard boxes to the world’s greatest competitors on Olympic mats, breakdancing will be called breaking in the 2024 games, just as it was back in 1970’s NYC.
Featured Image: Lucas Barioulet, Getty Images
