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When Ronnie Abaldonado first took up breaking in 1993, he would not have imagined that 21 years later, he would be part of a historic first. Breaking, a street dance style in the 1970s from New York City, is set to feature at the Olympics as a legitimate sport, thus entering the mainstream conscience. What started as a form of dancing in house parties in the Bronx area of New York some 50 years back is now at the grand stage of the Olympics in Paris, starting in a couple of weeks.

Abaldonado, aka B-Boy Ronnie, will be one of the commentators for this landmark moment for sports. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) is bidding to attract a younger audience by featuring Breaking as the latest ‘urban sport’ at the quadrennial event after skateboarding, sport climbing, and BMX freestyle made their forays into the Olympics in recent editions.

Breaking was introduced as part of the Olympic program in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, and it was a huge hit. Although there is still some debate over the legitimacy of considering Breaking as a sport, as Ronnie explains, Breaking is an art form and a competition.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of purists that may look at it like it’s not a sport…but it’s a competition. So, it is a sport, but it’s art (as well). You have your artist Breakers, and you have your athlete Breakers. But then they can both coexist, right? If you want to compete in the Olympics, that’s great. If you want to train like an athlete, there’s nothing wrong with that. But then if you’re an artist breaker that just wants to jump into cypher, do more shows, teach more, and if you’re more about like the culture, that’s OK too, you know. I feel like we should all support one another. And it works,” Ronnie told News18 Sports in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Red Bull BC One Cypher India 2024.

Breaking at the Olympics

Being the first dance sport to be featured at the Olympics, Breaking is sure to bring a new ‘vibe’ to the generally serious nature of athletic competition at the Games. Part of the hip-hop culture, Breaking will bring free-spiritedness and creativity, and the judging is based on creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity, and musicality, which Ronnie believes will help Breaking set itself apart from other sports.

“Even though Breaking is in the Olympics, you have to understand that it’s different from all the other sports. You know, we have music involved. Like you’re still a subjectivity to it, right? Even though there’s a point system, like I said earlier, when you asked me what do I look for, I said I look for an original style and I look for creativity. Sometimes you can’t really judge that, right? It’s more about the feeling and the vibe, but I think there’s more freedom with Breaking… ’cause you can really be an orthodox, an unorthodox breaker and have a completely different style and maybe 1 judge might like it and maybe 1 judge might not at all.”

As Breaking gained popularity through pop culture in the 1980s, it grew from streets to communities to large-scale judging competitions. Testing each other in Cyphers (when people gather in a circle and somebody freestyles in the middle) is still the most notable structured form of Breaking competitions. Even though the 2018 World DanceSport Federation officially governed the sport, other competitions still carry much weight within the breaking community, and Red Bull BC One is leading the charge.

Breaking in India

In this year’s Red Bull BC One Cypher India, 16 B-Boys and 8 B-Girls enthralled a Bengaluru crowd last week with B-Boy Flying Machine (Arif Chaudhary) and B-Girl Glib (Simran Ranga) winning the titles and have booked a ticket to the Red Bull BC One World Final in Rio de Janeiro in December this year. While Breaking is finding its feet in the global sporting community, the Breakers are still fighting for recognition in India.

The Breakdance Federation of India (BDFI) is only three years old and still needs to be recognised by the IOA. Hence, throughout the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, lack of funds was the primary concern for the Breakers, and consequently, Indian breakers could not take part in most of the ranking events held across the globe. There will be no Indian representation at the Olympics in Breaking for India, the same as it was during the Asian Games 2023.

26-year-old Chaudhary has been professionally breaking since 2009 and won the Red Bull BC Cypher one for the fifth time. Considered one of the best in India, he was ranked 16th in Asia last year but did not get to participate in the Asian Games after the Sports Ministry refused to clear a four-member contingent for not fulfilling the criteria.

“There isn’t a legit federation for breaking in India. The Dance Sports Federation of India mainly communicates but doesn’t do much else,” Chaudhary told News18 Sport,” adding, “There’s a different procedure to qualify for the Olympics, requiring attendance at multiple qualifying events. Due to a lack of sponsorship, I could only attend three out of eleven or twelve events, which affected my ranking. The Indian Olympic Committee doesn’t recognise breaking yet, which makes it hard to get sponsorships. However, with support from entities like Red Bull India and more awareness, we can build a stronghold and make breaking a recognised sport in India.”

For Chaudhary and all the aspiring Breakers in India, the fight for recognition is a long battle. After missing the Asian Games and now the 2024 Paris Olympics, the road ahead is tough, but Chaudhary is confident that India will embrace this urban sport, provided they get the right support.

“Breaking abroad, especially in places like Russia, is different because they have experienced B-boys who train the younger generation from a very young age. In India, we are the first generation exposing breaking to the audience, and there’s still a lack of awareness and support,” he concluded.

Ronnie concurred, “Some of the Breakers that I know personally have been winning all the competition. They’re world-class. They’re definitely experienced. They’ve competed in numerous international events and have done very well. So, it’s (Breaking in India) growing.”

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