Breakdancer Furkan Coskun performs at the Atakule in Ankara, Turkey to train after the International Olympic Committee approves breakdancing as the first dance sport ever to compete at the Olympics athlete and these are the ones we are likely to reach for. But how about Victor Montalvo in the breaking?. In doing so, it adds a unique, technically demanding and high-octane form of physical expression to the most elite sporting competition on earth.
He continues: “Breaking is physical virtuosity. And a breaker is someone who is striving to completely master the physical capabilities of their body and express that artistically.” Now, Biswas says, breaking has swung back to being a combination of technical ability and dance.Jonzi D, artistic director of the award-winning dance company Breakin’ Convention, concurs that breaking sits firmly within the category of “art” over “sport”, despite the physical demands and whether it’s performed in a sports stadium. “Regardless of context, breaking is an expressive artform set to music,” he summarises. “I believe it is an art – and a weapon.
Why then, if this idea of breaking-as-art-not-sport is so widely felt, does it paradoxically still feel like a good Olympic fit? As many of the breakers pointed out, breaking has competition built into its DNA thanks to the one-on-one battle element. Other dance forms have developed competitions – for example, ballet has the Fonteyn Prize and the Prix de Lausanne, both annual showcases of the next generation of big-name ballet stars.
“Without physical exertion, there can be no dance, so dance can really be classified as sport in its simplest form: no tools or equipment needed,” Tedaldi poetically explains. “Pure physicality. Dancers are athletes, but most of the time, the artistic side of the art form will resonate more deeply with them. I think this characteristic is what separates dancers from other athletes. The sweat and muscle strain and complete exhaustion are just, ‘by the way’.