Celebreak

Red Bull BC One Event on MTV

Posted on February 25, 2009

MTV got a great response last month when they showed Inside the Circle and Planet B-Boy and even re-aired it a few times. Now they’re planning to show Red Bull’s BC One event. Showing more breakdancing makes sense since their viewers love it but this time will be different. Whereas Inside the Circle and Planet B-Boy are films, BC One is just a 1 on 1 battle. How do you think this will be received?

Red Bull BC One airs on MTV this Saturday, February 28th at 11pm ET

Freestyle Session 10 Online at Missiong.com

Posted on February 4, 2009

One of the biggest events around, Freestyle Session, recently had it’s 10th annual competition and has put up clips of the jam at Missiong.com. And they didn’t just list a bunch of clips–there’s an interactive flash menu that makes it easy to navigate. Could this be the future of jam footage?

500+ Breakdancing Events in 2008!

Posted on January 11, 2009

There were over 500 breakdancing competetions and jams around the world in 2008. I got that figure from Action.by, a European Breaking website that collected flyers last year and came up with this collage:

And these are only the events with nice flyers. But what about the impromptu jams at clubs when tons of breakers show up or the events that didn’t have a budget for flyers? What about those whose flyers aren’t on here? There are 500 flyers here but it probably represents a small percentage of all the events that went down!

John Hopkins University to sponsor a breaking competition

Posted on December 15, 2008

John Hopkins University is sponsoring a battle! They recently awarded their campus breaking organization, John Hopkins Breakdancing, a grant to host a b-boy competition. The grant, which was awarded through their Arts Innovation Program, “offers funding to faculty to create new courses in the arts for undergraduates, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and cross-divisional courses.” 

The group wants the competition to increase awareness and communication between the school’s different dance groups and the Baltimore dance scene at large. Plus, they plan to host the event during their school’s Family Weekend which should give it an even bigger audience.

Planet B-Boy Movie Review

Posted on November 18, 2008

“I’ve been addicted to this dance for so long, it feels like a shadow following me wherever I go” says B-Boy Joe while talking about about his life as a breaker in South Korea. This Last 4 One crew member is one of the many b-boys whom the film Planet B-Boy, which was released on DVD last Tuesday, follows as they journey to the 2005 Battle of the Year (BOTY) competition. Unlike other documentaries, it explores the dynamics of b-boy life more than the dynamics of the dance itself.  

The movie starts off giving a brief history of breaking and how it’s decline in the 80’s led to the creation of Thomas Hergenrother’s BOTY competition in the early 90’s. The event, which is held annually in Braunschweig, Germany, holds local competitions in 18 different countries and sends the winner of each to represent their nation at the event. The documentary follows the winners of South Korea (Last 4 One), Japan (Ichigeki), France (Phase-T) and the United States (Knucklehead Zoo) as they train for and travel to BOTY. There are also numerous interviews with last year’s winners, Gamblerz, whom are also from South Korea.

For Ichigeki, BOTY is an opportunity to express themselves on the global stage. It’s their second time attending but they feel they weren’t true to themselves the first time around. This time, they want to dance more authentically and not compromise their style for the sake of winning. Their most frequently interviewed crew member, Katsu, also deals with his father’s death and helping run the family business.

The French b-boys, whom legendary B-Boy Storm says have more “Sensitivity for music”, are shown using breaking to unite people in Chelles, France. For them, breaking has been a means to reach out to the community and has even helped change the racist attitude of one crew member’s family. There, breaking and hip hop culture have united people from different countries and religions. As one b-boy puts it, their “Flag is hip hop”.

I’m not sure if it’s intentional but the film make’s the prior year’s winners, Gamblerz, seem a bit arrogant. But one might expect that as they were arguably the most notable b-boys at the time. In talking about their lives since winning, they mention raising their performance fees and being the first crew to ever perform at a Buddhist temple. Their goal is to make themselves and their country legendary by doing what no crew has ever done: win BOTY two years in a row. This contrasts the other Korean Crew, Last 4 One, who are portrayed as humble, poor and from the country side. They’re trying to make their families proud while making a living dancing in a society that doesn’t see breaking as a career option.  

For Knucklehead Zoo, going to BOTY is the ultimate b-boy dream. The crew members have found brotherhood in one another and relish the notion of winning and bringing the title back to the country where the art form started. They’re from Las Vegas and the showmanship and entertainment culture is definitely reflected in their views.

In the end, Ichigeki wins the award for best show and Last 4 One wins 1st place in the battles. But instead of focusing on wins and losses, director Benson Lee ends the film by extending the theme of hip hop as a unifying force. Once the competition is over, the b-boys let their guard down and start enjoying each other’s company. They give each other props, eat and drink together. These are b-boys from different countries, cultures and walks of life, yet they’re all able to relate because of their common love for breaking. And ultimately, that’s what this film is about. As Ken Swift says in the film ”No matter what language you speak, you can communicate with hip hop culture”

Campaigning is Battling

Posted on October 11, 2008

Some months back, I came across this pro-Obama video spoof of Democrats battling Republicans. It has some obvious references to Breakin‘, a horribly awesome breakploitation flick which came out during the peak of breaking’s 80’s popularity, and uses a classic b-boy favorite, George Kranz’s “Din Daa Daa” (before Pit Bill and Yin Yang twins re-popularized it). This video is awesome:

And how appropriate to use a battle; political campaigns resemble them! The 2008 election has shown the Obama and McCain campaigns strategizing and capitalizing on each other’s weaknesses. Similarly, battles are often won using a combination of the same methods.

Crews strategize when to use certain moves based on who they foresee themselves going against and when they believe their moves will be most effective. This week, 4 weeks from the election, Obama released a documentary on McCain and the Keating 5 and McCain has been emphasizing Obama’s connection to anti-war radical Bill Ayers. Both believed their attacks would be most effective at this point in time. In a competition, crews will wait until final battles to do some of their most intricate routines and dopest moves to ensure their win. In both campaigns and competitions, timing is everything.   

Well-rounded b-boys know to do moves their opponents can’t counter. Their opponent’s non-sequitured response highlights their weakness like a politician changing the subject when asked questions to which they don’t know the answer. Sarah Palin has been repeatedly accused of doing this in the VP debate and just like a battle, it’s made made her opponent, Joe Biden, look like the winner.

Despite moves being thrown like attack ads, if you maintain your composure you can still mitigate the damage done in the judge’s eyes, just like the Keating 5 and Ayers attacks haven’t deterred all constituents from voting for McCain and Obama, respectively.

Havikoro win the Red Bull Hit and Run Contest

Posted on October 8, 2008

Havikoro, a world-reknown b-boy crew from Houston, TX, has won the Red Bull Hit and Run Contest. The competition was an all terrain bboy video challenge and the winners will be flown to the next Red Bull BC One in Paris, France on November 5th, 2008. Check out the winning video below:

To see more videos and to learn more, check out the myspace contest page at http://www.myspace.com/redbullhitandrun