Shutting down Celebreak.net

Posted on May 13, 2009

I’m sad to say that this is will be my last post on Celebreak. Due to some major life changes–namely, switching careers and continents–I no longer have time to dedicate to this blog. And instead of letting it suffer, killing it with a quick and painless blog-post seemed like the merciful thing to do…

I started Celebreak last year to answer a question: why don’t people know more about breaking? Though its been around for over 40 years, relatively little is known about it outside of it’s community of b-boys, b-girls and hip hop heads.

Breakers danced for the president in the 80’s and the pope in the millennium. They’ve chilled in Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and stayed out late with David Letterman. There are b-boys serving life in Uganda and risking their lives to dance in Iraq. It’s a world-wide culture and people of all shapes and sizes are a part of it.

Yet, whenever I mentioned breaking to a non-practitioner, I’d always hear something along the lines of “Oh, can you spin on your head?” Don’t get me wrong, headspins are a part of breaking but they’re just one move. But to the thousands of b-boys and b-girls around the world, it’s also their art and lifestyle.

My vision for Celebreak.net was that of a central location where anyone interested in breaking, regardless of their level, could learn more about it. And over the last 8 months, I’ve done by best to show this dance’s reach, shed light on its growth and otherwise dispel the myth that its just about spinning on your head.

It’s been a great run and I’m glad to have undertaken the endeavor. Even though I’m no longer posting, Celebreak.net will still be up for a while. And after the domain expires, the archives will be accessible at http://projects.ebunoluwa.com/celebreak.

There are fortunately many other sites that are still going strong:

  • MoreThanAStance.com - This is one of my personal favorites. Calvin and Paul–the co-founders and editors–have a high-quality b-boy web zine with informative articles (e.g., Bridging the Gap), regular blogs and galleries.
  • BreakerNYC.com - This is another favorite. Chris, the owner of this blog, took the initiative to create a regional  site focused on the NY tri-state area’s breaking scene. In addition, he also regularly posts links on twitter and created a Google Maps mashup for crews around the world.
  • FreestyleSession Forums - The longest running b-boy forum still in existence. Named after the event (Freestyle Session, which was started in the 90s by B-Boy Cros1 and still goes on today), this site is an online hangout for OG and new b-boys alike.
  • BboyWorld.com Forums - Arguably the largest b-boy forum on the web right now. It gained momentum during the pre-YouTube days when b-boy videos were hard to find. They would host videos for breakers around the world to come and download. I have no idea how they could afford the bandwidth but it resulted in over 100,000 members to date! You can find the latest event info, event videos, practice spots (around the world) and tutorials here.
  • B-Boy.org Forums - Another great forum with many members. Just like BboyWorld, you can find event info, event videos, practice spots and tutorials here.

I’m sure new ones will come in the future. I’ve talked to other b-boys with interesting websites in the works and may even come back again in the future with some of my own.

Until then…peace.

-Ebun

One Year Anniversary of O.G. B-Boy Frosty Freeze’s Passing

Posted on April 3, 2009

I was browsing the Freestyle Session forum when I was reminded of what today represents: the 1 year Anniversary of Frosty Freeze’s Passing. It took me by surprise. It feels like just yesterday that the breaking community was mourning his death. One year has gone by so fast.

Freeze’s impact on breakdancing is immeasurable. His role in Flashdance is responsible much of today’s breaking. Personally, I can trace this blog, much of the past 11 years of my life and my first original move to the man. I didn’t know him at all, yet I knew him well. 

Popmaster Fabel put together a clip of Freeze to commemorate his memory. The footage honors the legendary b-boy and serves as a reminder of his contribution:

Breakdancing around the World: Iraq (Again)

Posted on April 2, 2009

Though breaking started in the Bronx, NY, it has since grown from a U.S. fad to world-wide phenomenon. I‘ll periodically post a “Breaking all over the World” blog to showcase b-boys and b-girls from all around the globe.

I blogged about breaking in Iraq last December but had to revisit once I saw this clip. I’m constantly amazed at how ubiquitous breaking has become. It’s everywhere! 

The dreams and fears of these Iraqi b-boys are equally conveyed in this clip. They aspire to open schools and want to be allowed to break in peace. But they also recognize that their dancing, which is seen as Western, is still unacceptable in their society and are aware of the consequences. Some even cover their faces as to not be recognized by passerbys and hope that a power outage prevents the footage from being shown on TV. 

Truely amazing. I can’t wait to see Iraq represented at a Battle of the Year. 

I wasn’t able to embed the clip but you can view the footage here: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2067.htm

Dynamic Rockers/5 Crew Dynasty on the Rachael Ray Show!

Posted on April 1, 2009

Rachael Ray recently had Dynamic Rockers/5 Crew Dynasty on her show after hitting up BreakerNYC and asking him to put her in touch with some area breakers. I bet her audience wasn’t expecting that! Props to the crews for a dope performance and Chris from BreakerNYC.com for making it happen!

Breakdance Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Amateurs and Professionals

Posted on April 1, 2009

“Conclusion: Breakdancing must be considered as a potentially high-risk dancing sport. Even with severe injuries, dancers interrupt training only for limited periods of time. “

Okay, now this one HAS to be an April Fool’s joke. Not that I don’t believe there’s no validity to injuriers in b-boys and b-girls…but would this really be in the American Journal of Sports Medicine?!

Breakdance Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Amateurs and Professionals

Max Daniel Kauther, MD{dagger},*, Christian Wedemeyer, MD{dagger}, Alexander Wegner, MD{dagger}, Kai Michael Kauther{ddagger} and Marius von Knoch, MD{dagger}

{dagger} Department of Orthopaedics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, and the, {ddagger} University Giessen and Marburg, Giessen and Marburg, Germany

*Address correspondence to Max Daniel Kauther, MD, University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Orthopaedics, Hufelandstraße 55, D-45147 Essen, Germany (e-mail:maxdaniel.kauther@uk-essen.de).

Background: Serious injuries due to breakdancing have been presented only as singular case reports to date. So far, there have been no comprehensive studies about injuries in this sport.

Hypothesis: Professional breakdancing might lead to a higher incidence of injuries than amateur training. Wearing safety equipment is correlated with a decreased incidence of injuries and pain.

Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study.

Methods: The retrospective study surveyed 40 breakdance professionals and 104 amateurs by questionnaire.

Results: There were 1665 injuries and 206 overuse syndromes found in 380 588 hours of training, leading to a loss of 10 970.6 training days. Professionals reported significantly (P < .001) more injuries and overuse syndromes with significantly more injuries of the wrist (P < .001), knee (P < .001), hip/thigh (P = .003), ankle/foot (P = .013), and elbow (P = .033). No significant differences were found in the time lost per injury and the time lost per overuse syndrome. Pain occurred most frequently in the region of the wrist, spine, shoulder, and ankle. A negative correlation between protective gear and injuries or frequency of pain could not be shown.

Conclusion: Breakdancing must be considered as a potentially high-risk dancing sport. Even with severe injuries, dancers interrupt training only for limited periods of time.

Clinical Relevance: Breakdance injuries and overuse should not be underestimated. Physicians should be aware of the common risks in this highly acrobatic kind of dancing.

…but then again, maybe it just means breaking is getting more attention. With the grewing numbes of breakers, the number of injuries (we’ve all had them!) would be on the rise and so would the number of hospital visits. If it’s true, I have a lot more respect for the AJSM for studying it!

American Breakdance Instructor refused entry into Britain?

Posted on April 1, 2009

I don’t know if this is an April Fool’s joke or not but I saw it when reading the news this morning:

AN American break-dancing instructor who tried to get into Britain illegally has been sent back home from Leeds Bradford Airport after telling lies about his reason for visiting Yorkshire.

On arrival at Leeds at Sunday night on a flight from Paris, the 28-year-old man told UK Border Agency officers that he was only intending to stay in the UK for six days to visit a friend at Leeds University.

However the man had no return ticket, and officers’ suspicions were raised further when checks revealed that he had been refused entry to the UK only last June, although his passport bore no sign of the refusal stamp.

A search of the man’s baggage revealed the two missing pages from his passport including the refusal stamp – along with 500 business cards he had packed, promoting his services as a break-dancing instructor.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “There are strict legal channels for people wanting to come and work in the UK. Visitors must abide by our immigration rules: if they do not they will be sent back. We do not tolerate people entering with the aim of working illegally.”

The man was refused entry, detained and removed from the UK the next day.

From the Yorkshire Post. Is this an April Fool’s joke? Or do you think someone really tried to illegally enter Britain with the intent to teach breakdancing on the low?

Nike Women’s Dunk High - B-Girl

Posted on March 31, 2009

I just heard about these from nsneakers.com:

“Nike released new dunk high sneakers, the nike dunk high comes for women’s and named nike dunk high B-Girl. You can see the nike wmns dunk high b-girl mainly feature in white color and you can also find baby blue logo on this high dunk and as on images the other side is orange color along with baby blue sneaker lace, those color on sneakers contrast well which is rather clean and nice. Also the B-Girl holding on b-girl/b-boy pose is at the heel of the sneakers.”

The Pilot! A short Breakdancing film from the 80’s

Posted on March 30, 2009

I love the internet, even if just for the buried gems it keeps unearthing. I found this short film, The Pilot, which came out in during breakdancing’s pinnacle in 1984. Here’s the synopsis:

(1984) A young girl struggling with insecurities and being unpopular, develops an alter-ego as ‘The Pilot’, the best breaker in town. She must prove she’s got the talent if she wants respect.

There’s more film info on it’s IMDB page. Here’s the film!

Clip 1:

Clip 2:

Clip 3:


SYTYCD, Star Search, America’s Got Talent and ABDC: Breakdancing on Reality TV

Posted on March 29, 2009

There’s something mesmerizing about seeing the human body do amazing things. It can be singing, contorting or flying through the air; we love experiencing our fellow man honing a craft or creating art.

We’ve been fascinated for years. Even before the modern circus developed in 2nd century BC, societies held competitions–often as a rite of passage–where boys would prove they were men by displaying ability while everyone else watched

Is it any wonder then that talent-based reality TV show has become so popular? While not the first, American Bandstand and Soul Train become hit shows by televising music and dancing. The 80’s leveraged their formula to bring us Star Search and Amateur Night at the Apollo. Things were going well until 1995 when Al Gore’s internet creation started disrupting people’s focus.

But there was a renaissance 2002, when American Idol emerged and reignited public interest in watching other’s display their talents on TV. After its success, some of their executives realized there was a market for a dance version of the show. And with that, So You Think You Can Dance? was born. With an inquiry like that being the show’s title, you knew some breakers were going to respond! Here are some of them answering the question in the different countries it was asked:

  • America - B-Boy Ryan Conferido
  • Canada - B-Boy Jeremy Tran (also peep locker Katie Lee)
  • Malaysia - B-Boys from the 2008 and 2007 seasons battle
  • Scandavia - This is a top 24 clip with b-boys from Norway, Sweden and Denmark

A remake of Star Search also started around this time with dancing replacing modeling as a category. There were 4 seasons and nearly all of them were won by a b-boy, Do-Knock. Despite mild acclaim, the show only lasted until 2004.

With these programs doing so well, Idol’s Simon Cowell took the cue to create another talent-based reality show, America’s Got Talent. This was more of a variety show and it wasn’t long before breakdancing made it’s way onto it’s stage as well. There are Got Talent spin-offs in over 20 countries and breakdancers have been on a lot of them:

Finally, in 2008, MTV got in on the action. Really, they should have been first. SYTYCD is on Fox and America’s Got Talent airs on NBC but MTV has the dance-loving youth market cornered like Mike Tyson. They finally released America’s Best Dance Crew and have been giving access to b-boys and b-girls ever since. Breakdancers have won each of the competitions held so far: Jabbowockeez in the first season, Super Cr3w in the 2nd and Qwest Crew in  3rd.

Though these shows don’t always allow breakdancing to be done in it’s truest form, they have been a platform to jump-start careers. For example, ever since winning ABDC 1, Jabbawockeez have been in Gatorade and Pepsi commercials (I guess there’s no conflict of interest) and even performed with Shaq at the last All-Star Game. And then there’s the financial component: some of these competitions pay up to $100,000! These dancers do it for the love but it’s great that they can extend that love to their wallets and bank accounts.

And this is only the beginning. There will be new shows (anyone want to bet that the Bravo Channel creates one?), twists on existing shows and some will die off. I know some people are concerned that the growing popularity is looking eerily familiar but there is fortunately enough information available to prevent breaking culture from repeating history.

For more information on the shows, you can check out their websites here:

More Pregnant Women Breakdancing!

Posted on March 25, 2009

Oxfam is at it again! This time their flash mob hit the streets in Paisley, Scotland:

Oxfam’s goal is to increase awareness on the dangers of giving birth in poor countries (World-wide, 1400 women die every day in pregnancy and childbirth due to a lack of basic health care). They’ve used similar flash mobs to increase awareness in Paris, Berlin, Utrecht and across Canada.

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