Breaking: “Our bodies are those of athletes, but our souls remain those of an artist”

Dhe DJ starts and Shigekix does the same. For once, no feeling with the battle opponent on the other side of the stage, no provocative poses, no watching who picks up the beat first and starts in a duel between two b-boys.

The 19-year-old Japanese, the youngest defending champion in the history of the BC One World Finals, “helped man, half machine”, as the moderator says, is bravely leading the way. Who, if not him. He jumps, he flies, he rotates, he dances, holds his body weight in one hand and catapults himself into crazy positions. With extreme control over the moves, dynamic, at the same time very musical and with an ease. With a freeze, a frozen position, the rival in sight, he ends his first of three rounds and challenges the opponent with gestures: Now show what you can do!

Time for Flea Rock from Miami, dark full beard, daring, gaunt, a veteran, with us for 29 years and at 39 almost twice as old as Shigekix. He toured with Gwen Stefani and performed for Michael Jordan. With both arms he pulls an imaginary sword from behind his back, attacks the youth, rotates dizzy on his head. Headspins – the crowd cheers. The bass shoots. Shigekix answers cheekily – “Not like that, my friend,” he indicates with his finger. But his answer remains surprisingly tame. He can do headspins par excellence, he showed that before, but now lets it go.

And Flea Rock? Unimpressed, incited, sees the chance of the old master and outsider. He takes out the imaginary pistols, crawls on the ground towards the enemy, a character, a guy with a groove, a staging. It’s a duel between generations. Also a clash of styles. But both protagonists are united in this dance form, which is much more than that. “Most of the things in my life,” says Shigekix, “I learned through breaking.” This was also a lesson. The jury sees Flea Rock in front.

Will individuality and freedom soon be pressed into structures?

What had its origins in the streets of New York at the end of the 60s and beginning of the 70s and was sold out in the mid-80s when the name “Breakdance” was imposed on the outside of Breaking was now celebrated in Gdansk and celebrated in Paris in 2024 Olympic premiere. In the scene, opinions were divided, the concerns great, the challenges immense.

How should something like breaking, which is part of hip-hop culture, which celebrates individuality, freedom, which managed without much structure, be pressed into an Olympic corset? Or is there another way? The answer is yes and no. It becomes clear in Danzig: The scene is strong in itself and cannot simply be determined by itself.

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Shigekix wants to be there in Paris – as it did at the breaking premiere of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. “Our bodies are those of athletes,” he says, emphasizing: “But our souls remain those of an artist.”

Please do not strive for rehearsed perfection

Due to the national preliminary decision in Japan, he had to defend the Red Bull BC One World Final, one of the prestigious 1v1 competitions, and prove himself at the “Last Chance Cypher” event on site. Twelve B-Girls and B-Boys were selected for the final by a jury decision, including Shigekix. At the “Last Chance Cypher”, the best from more than 60 global qualification competitions competed for the remaining four final tickets per gender.

The Munich b-boy Said took his exit there as a lesson. “I’ve been breaking for 14 years, but this is the first year I’ve been on major battles,” says the 24-year-old. “For me it is the beginning. I am super motivated and inspired for the future. ”The Berliner Jilou, 28, one of the top B-Girls worldwide for many years, full-time dancer and in 2020 in the semi-finals, also had to fight for the final on Saturday evening. And was eliminated from the later runner-up Vavi. The Russian, very acrobatic, very clear in her performance, almost robotic. “I try to avoid your approach,” says Jilou. “It can be done very quickly if you don’t know what you are doing.”

This is how a round like your first can arise, unique, improper, individual, musical, athletic. But also a round like her second. “I lost myself a bit there,” says Jilou and doesn’t complain about the defeat. For them, who know the pursuit of rehearsed perfection from artistic gymnastics as a child, the only option is the path with a lot of improvisation and spontaneity. Being in the moment, reacting to the music. So everyone approaches the matter differently. “I dance with my soul, with my heart,” she says. “And sometimes the heart just doesn’t feel it. You know how it is with love. “

Strongly male dominated

Breaking is freedom. Breaking free. Again and again, with Said, with Jilou, with Shigekix, words like self-discovery, being in harmony with the music, are used. “Breaking,” says Jilou, “is also a way for me to break out of social constraints.” It’s about the feeling you get when you do it. “I just love to dance with all my heart, to be part of the culture together with others,” says Said.

Shigekix doesn’t disagree. “Sure, fighting battles, training hard to win – that’s important,” he says. “But it’s only one part. We share our vibes, our knowledge, we exchange ideas. Across all borders. We have so many ways of expressing ourselves. It’s about more than winning. ”A valve, a statement, a lifestyle. Art, dance, sport. Breaking is a lot.

And soon also Olympic. 16 B-Girls and 16 B-Boys will compete in battles in Paris. The intention is clear: the games should also appeal to a young audience and become more modern, cooler. In Tokyo, therefore, skateboarding, climbing and surfing were already part of it. And didn’t Pierre de Coubertin also want the young people of the world to meet?

This includes opening up to new things. After all, the Olympic Games are not a fixed structure, once conceived and set in stone. Like many other things, they are subject to the changing times – without forgetting tradition. And Breaking is definitely enough to claim to be global: In Gdansk dancers from Venezuela, India, Finland, Kazakhstan, the USA and several other nations met each other. In addition, the Olympics should give a boost to the rise of the B-Girls in a scene that is still heavily dominated by men. “When I started,” says Jilou, “men got 500 euros, women a T-shirt. It has only been four years that we really have a platform. “

Yet. There was a lot of rumor in the scene when the topic of the Olympics came up, especially since the World Dance Association WDSF claimed – and received – sovereignty over breaking. Many thought it was an absurdity. “In general, the scene reacted 50:50 to the Olympics,” says ex-world champion Vartan Bassil, as a spectator on site in Gdansk. With his crew Flying Steps he won the Battle Of The Year in 1994 and 2000, among others. “We have huge egos in our scene, as well as many legends that have made a lot. The problem is: We are completely unstructured, we had no associations, everyone does his own thing, but everyone wants to be part of it. ”Some are now in the forefront.

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The world association got it right and brought a lot of people out of the scene – also in the most important positions. “But there are some who say: I should actually be standing there,” says Bassil. “Instead of saying: How can we support that?” Would he be 19 like Shigekix himself? “I would have said: Go for Olympic gold once? Yes!”

The scene protects itself

The Japanese had a positive attitude towards the Olympic mission from the start. “Many feared that breaking would change for the better, I didn’t. Because we ourselves know about the culture of breaking, where it comes from. As long as we don’t forget that, the scene won’t change. We can protect our culture ourselves. ”Jilou, who recently joined the federal squad, agrees:“ I am also involved, especially because of the worries that many of us have. I’m not the one to shut up. That’s why I have the responsibility to be there. And of course I’m also up for it. “

The active players and especially the former B-Girls and B-Boys, who are now having a say in the world and national associations, do their part to ensure that all the fears do not become reality – that would be: too much structure, too many constraints, away from the individual aspect, less art, less musicality, only the search for the most difficult moves. One who is in the thick of it: the German breaking legend Niels “Storm” Robitzky. With Kevin “Renegade” Gopie, he has trimmed the rating system that has existed for ten years and is used in many places to meet the Olympic demands.

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In Gdansk it was different, here the jury of former dancers showed their votes with a show of hands, later in the final with name boards. That has its charm, it is always old school, it is different, more understandable and fairer. For the Olympics, the evaluation criteria were differentiated even further and the technical implementation of the system as well as the transparency were refined – but not at the expense of art. Jilou sees no reason to complain. She also says: “I have a lot of confidence in Storm and Renegade.”

And she grants others success. When the 18-year-old Logistx got on her knees after her final victory, the German was the first to storm the stage. “She’s like a little sister, an open, very pure person.” With a victory belt like in boxing in her hand, the American said: “It’s not just about the title. I wanted to win because then people would listen to me. And I want to say: this is not my victory, it is for everyone. Listen to your heart. If something feels wrong, it probably is. “

Does the Olympics feel right? She says, “I don’t think Breaking will lose its soul, its culture. The community is too strong. “