How traditional dances influenced breaking styles
7 min read
Breaking has always been a dance that encouraged practitioners to find their own unique styles. This mindset was ingrained in the dance from the beginning when it was born at parties in the Bronx. A product of many cultures coming together, including Caribbean immigrants who had moved to America, African-Americans and Puerto Rican Latinos, each brought their own influence into breaking and helped define the foundations of the dance.
In the ’80s and ’90s, when the art form spread across the globe, young dancers would mix their traditional and cultural dances into their breaking to create their own unique style. And in those early days, before the internet, it was common to be able to tell where a breaker was from simply by their style.
Thomas Hergenröther from Battle of the Year explains: “Nowadays you don’t see it much anymore, but before you’d watch breakers and know, that’s a French style or that’s a German style.”
But perhaps the three most influential styles in the early days of breaking came from those who blended traditional dances from South Africa, Russia and Brazil into their own move set.
With more than 20 years of experience as a b-boy in South Africa, Vouks has seen how cultural dances from his country have heavily influenced the development of the style of South African breakers. He also credits this for playing a big part in making the breaking style truly unique.
Vouks emphasizes regional differences even within the country
© Wayne Reiche / Red Bull Content Pool
When you go to the outskirts of South Africa, especially the Eastern Cape, the breakers dance differently
In a country where 11 different languages are spoken and there’s a massive and diverse musical scene, Vouks explains that breakers from across South Africa each have their own unique style. “Many might have been Pantsula dancers or Kwassa Kwassa dancers first and then learnt about breaking, so most of them took those dance styles and fused them with their breaking. Still today you can see that South African breakers are so unique compared to everybody else.”
A storytelling dance form used to express political and cultural issues, Find out more about Pantsula in the documentary Explore Pantsula below:
12 min
Explore Pantsula
Learn everything you need to know about the South African dance style Pantsula.
The Brazilian martial art dance style of capoeira is just as famous around the world as breaking. It also carries a similar history as an art form said to also have been born from struggle. Believed to have African roots, it is such an important part of Brazilian culture that when breaking spread to the South American country it was inevitable that capoeira would be proudly reflected in the breaking styles of Brazil’s b-boys and b-girls.
Pelezinho was the first Brazilian B-Boy to compete in Red Bull BC One
© Nika Kramer / Red Bull Content Pool
Pelezinho was the first Brazilian b-boy to ever compete at a Red Bull BC One World Final. For him, he sees it as vitally important for a breaker to bring their cultural identity into their dance. Being Brazilian, he was always proud to combine capoeira into his breaking. He says: “Breaking started in the US but you should show people your heritage through your dance and for me, I used capoeira because it’s in my blood!”
Neguin says: “Ginga is your approach to everything that you do. It’s making something that is hard look easy, with flavour, character and charisma.”
2 min
Red Bull BC One Neguin Best Moves
Best moves of Red Bull BC One All Star b-boy Neguin from Brazil.
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Traditional Russian dance styles
Russian b-boys and b-girls have been a force on the scene ever since they started practicing the art form. Crews like All The Most, Top 9 and Predators are among those who have showcased the formidable and uniquely creative Russian style of breaking all around the world.
One of the most well-known traditional dances that has now been stylised and used by breakers all over the world is the Russian Cossack dance. This sees a dancer squat low and kick their legs out in front of them without putting their hands on the floor. A hugely difficult dance to master, it was first inherited by Russian breakers and helped them to create a truly unique style that was instantly recognisable.
However, B-Boy Yan The Shrimp from All The Most crew points out that in the beginning a lot of Russian b-boys and b-girls didn’t want to use the traditional dances. He says: “Some people were really opposed to taking moves from the Russian national dances and putting them with breaking, as they said that breaking was an original Bronx cultural dance.”
Yan teaching a workshop at the Red Bull BC One Cypher Kazakhstan
© Victor Magdeyev / Red Bull Content Pool
Proud to have elements of their breaking that distinctly reflected where they were from, Yan and his crew were amongst the Russian breakers to use traditional dance. Something that he believes attributed to their success and helped them stand out on the international stage. “I think that’s how we got more known in the world because we were the first ones who did all those Russian steps in our breaking styles.”
This changed the mindset of other Russian breakers and they began to embrace their cultural dances. Yan explains: “When the breakers who were opposed to using traditional Russian dance steps in their breaking saw that other people liked it, they also started to do it.”
Red Bull BC One Battle-X Russia
Watch the most legendary match-ups from Red Bull BC One Battle-X – a secret battle held all around the world.
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The internet changing approaches to styles
Inevitably, more access to footage through the explosion of the internet led to breakers picking up moves from around the world. From the Bboyworld.com forum to breaking clips flooding onto YouTube, breakers could suddenly emulate the moves of their favourite dancers, no matter where they were from. It also led to those trying to make their mark attempting to imitate the style of breakers enjoying the most success in competitions.
Main event
No judges, no round limit. Red Bull BC One Battle-X features rival matchups in an undisclosed location.
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Bringing it all together over the years
The Dutch breaker explains: “I was really inspired to have a new school approach but always with a touch of the old school b-boy feel.”
With Menno creating a style that was inspired by breakers all over the world, and having such high-level success, reflects why so many young breakers now seek inspiration from other countries, mixing styles together to find the right formula. At the Red Bull BC One World Final 2019, legendary B-Boy Poe One named Menno’s style ‘algorithm’ in the post-event judge’s interview.
5 min
Kazuki Rock vs Menno – B-Boys semi-final 1
Kazuki Rock and Menno battle head-to-head for a spot in the final of Red Bull BC One in India.
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Still a dance from the Bronx
No matter the country, city or region, the one thing that all breakers have in common is that they respect and acknowledge that the dance they are doing is in essence a cultural dance style created in the Bronx.
It’s clear that b-boys and b-girls around the world will always strive to add their own unique flavour to their breaking. Whether it’s blending their own traditional dances into their moveset or emulating their heroes, they want a style that helps them stand out from the crowd.
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