50 Fun Facts About Breaking

Breaking developed in which New York City borough?

African American and Puerto Rican youth shaped the dance there in the 1970s, alongside the birth of hip hop.

Breaking made its Olympic debut at which Games?

Battles were staged over two days in August on the Place de la Concorde.

Which DJ coined the terms 'b-boy' and 'b-girl' for the dancers at his parties?

He said 'breaking' came from slang for someone going to the breaking point, not from the breaks on a record.

Along with footwork, power moves and freezes, what is the fourth element of breaking?

It is the standing opener, and transitions from it to the floor are called drops.

What is a held, motionless pose used to hit a strong beat called?

Chaining several together into a 'stack' shows off musicality and upper-body strength.

Who threw the August 1973 back-to-school party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue?

Her older brother was the DJ; the rec-room parties grew until dance halls had to be rented by 1975.

Which Incredible Bongo Band track became a staple of early breaking parties?

It was one of the records Herc played back to back to extend the drum breaks for dancers.

Which artist did many early Bronx breakers name as 'the first b-boy'?

Kool Herc said Brown was his favourite artist even while he was still living in Jamaica.

Films starring which martial artist are cited as an influence by early breakers?

Many acrobatic moves are said to echo kung fu kicks from the ground.

Which two b-boys formed Rock Steady Crew in the Bronx in 1977?

The name meant keeping 'the Rock' (the dance) steady, or alive, as older dancers moved on.

Which power move did Rock Steady Crew's president discover by accident?

He overshot a chair freeze into a continuous back spin, and the move has been a foundation ever since.

Rock Steady Crew's part in which film propelled breaking to worldwide fame?

Breaking 'hit the West Coast with a fury' in 1982 after the crew's appearance.

Who doubled for Jennifer Beals in the breaking move of her 1983 audition scene?

Beals' main dance double was the French actress Marine Jahan; a gymnast did the slow-motion dive.

Which 1984 film, released as Breakdance in the UK, gave Ice-T his screen debut?

Its sequel, Electric Boogaloo, came out the same year and lent its name to a running joke about sequels.

The 1984 Cannon film with dancers Ozone and Turbo was set in which beach community?

The setting was inspired by a documentary about the Radio-Tron club near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.

Which country hosted the first international breaking competition, in the early 1990s?

Founder Thomas Hergenröther's event has been called the 'World Cup of B-Boying'.

Which French city hosted BOTY's world finals in 2015?

Crews won regional qualifiers from Zimbabwe to Indonesia to reach Montpellier's Sud de France Arena, BOTY's home for much of the 2010s.

Red Bull BC One held its first event in 2004 in which Swiss city?

The competition returned to Switzerland in 2018, at Zurich's Hallenstadion.

How many breakers compete in the Red Bull BC One main knockout event?

Six earn places through regional qualifiers; the rest are the holder, wild cards and expert picks.

In which year did Red Bull BC One first feature a 16-b-girl bracket in its main event?

B-Girl Ayumi had been invited as a competitor the year before.

Who won the first women's Olympic breaking gold medal?

She had already won the first b-girl Red Bull BC One title in 2018 and two WDSF world championships.

Which Lithuanian b-girl took silver in the Olympic women's final?

Dominika Banevič was just 17 and had won the world title in Leuven at 16.

Which country's breaker won the first men's Olympic breaking gold?

Phil Wizard swept three rounds against France's Danny Dan, with the judges voting 23–4.

Which crew's street shows in Vancouver inspired Phil Wizard to start breaking in 2009?

His own name came by accident: people shortened 'Phil from the Wizards crew'.

Which landmark square hosted the Olympic breaking battles in 2024?

The same square hosted skateboarding, BMX freestyle and 3x3 basketball.

How many judges scored each battle round at the Paris Olympics?

Each judge voted for one breaker per round; the majority took the round.

Which Olympic judging criterion covered the number and variety of a breaker's moves?

The other criteria were technique, execution, musicality and originality, each weighted equally.

Which b-girl's 'kangaroo hop' at the 2024 Olympics went viral and drew widespread mockery?

She received no judges' votes in three round-robin battles and retired from competition that November.

Australian b-girl Rachael Gunn lectured at which university?

Her PhD thesis examined gender in Sydney's breaking scene.

Which comedian satirised the Australian b-girl's routine on The Tonight Show?

Team Australia's chef de mission Anna Meares publicly defended the dancer against online abuse.

Which Refugee Olympic Team breaker was disqualified for a 'Free Afghan Women' cape?

Displaying a political slogan breaches Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter; she said she would challenge the ruling.

Breaking debuted at the Youth Olympics in 2018 in which city?

The battles were held at Puerto Madero, the first dancesport at any Olympic event.

Which body governs breaking internationally?

Breaking qualifies as an Olympic discipline because dancesport is recognised by the IOC.

Korea's Expression Crew announced Korean breaking to the world by winning what in 2002?

1997 is called the 'Year Zero' of Korean breaking, when a VHS tape of a Los Angeles event began circulating.

In a '1990', the breaker spins continuously on what?

B-boy Cico set a world record of 27 rotations.

Which 2007 documentary followed five crews preparing for BOTY 2005?

Director Benson Lee later made a 3D feature film about the same competition.

Which Japanese crew led by Taisuke won BOTY in 2015?

They beat Kienjuice of Belarus in the final.

Who in 2016 became the first Japanese b-boy to win Red Bull BC One?

Taisuke dominated crew competitions but never won the solo title.

Which slave-era dance, per Michael Holman, introduced the circle format to Black dance?

Holman traces a line from Juba through tap dance to the moves that became breaking.

What is the circle of dancers in which each breaker takes a turn called?

The Notorious IBE in the Netherlands decides winners by crowd approval inside huge multi-tiered ones.

Uprock, the combative partner dance absorbed into breaking, is named after which borough?

It developed in the 1960s and mimicked a fight, reportedly used to settle gang disputes.

Which former gang leader founded the Universal Zulu Nation to steer youth from violence?

His parties, like Herc's, pushed Bronx teenagers toward dance rather than gangs.

In 1984, which country became the first with a regular national TV show about hip hop?

Hosted by Sidney Duteil, it sparked an explosion of crews such as the Paris City Breakers.

Breaking reached Japan in 1983 with a Rock Steady Crew tour and which film?

Yoyogi Park in Harajuku became, and remains, the home of Tokyo's breakers.

The earliest known film footage of a headspin appears in which 1933 movie?

B-boy Kid Freeze is sometimes credited with inventing the move decades later.

The breaking 'flare' is borrowed from the Thomas flair in which sport?

Power moves also borrow from martial arts; the flare is a pommel-horse staple.

Which pose has the knee resting on the elbow of the supporting arm?

A hollowback is a bridge with the feet off the floor; a planche holds the body straddled parallel to the ground.

Which IOC president said breaking was added to attract young people to the Olympics?

Paris added breaking as an optional sport under the host city's 'youth-focused urban' vision.

Which two-time BC One champion was the first American to qualify for Olympic breaking?

Born in Florida to parents from Puebla, Mexico, he won the 2022 World Games gold as well.

What did Herc's 'Merry-Go-Round' DJ technique involve?

Two copies of the same record let him extend a short break into a 'five-minute loop of fury'.