BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Everybody is equal in the furnace until the battle begins, or at least until the air flares are thrown and freezes laid down. Breaking made its much anticipated debut at The World Games over the weekend. It provided spectators, officials, and athletes a preview of what the sport could offer come Paris 2024.
B-Boys and B-Girls were called into action at Sloss Furnace, a venue featured prominently in the opening ceremony of The World Games 2022. The creative team highlighted how it was one of the only interracial work spaces in Alabama ahead of the Civil Rights Movement. However, it was the site of intense “battles” during the breaking competition.
Athletes took turns performing various contortions of the body in front of a lively, sellout crowd. The intimate venue offered a new vision of Olympic sport.
Gone was the purpose built venue, reserved seating, and formal presentation often present at the Olympic Games. In, was a live master of ceremonies, judges performing before the start of the event, and standing room only viewing.
Jeffery Louis, who goes by B-Boy Jeffero when competing, said, “it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s not as structural as a lot of other sports. It’s free.”
Louis won a silver medal in the b-boy competition at The World Games 2022. He told Around The Rings, “we train like athletes, but we create like artists.” Artists, who will soon have a chance to perform at the Olympic Games.
“It would mean the world,” he responded to a question about earning the opportunity to perform at the Olympics. “We train at garages, at parks, because we had no home.”
“This is our release, and our break from the world,” Louis added.
His compatriot, Sunny Choi, had a message for detractors of the sport. “Just come and watch. The audience here loved it.”
Both Louis and Choi reported hearing spectators rave about the sport during its debut at The World Games.
“I’ve heard from so many people that this is like their favorite thing that they’ve seen,” said Choi. “I think the thing about breaking is there’s so much you can kind of connect with. The music is really interesting; the culture, the dance, the creativity. Also, the incredibly difficult movements and the dynamics.”
She explained the odd choreography that takes place on stage during each battle, telling Around The Rings, “there’s a conversation that happens between the two dancers. The best kind of battle is when the two really feed off of each other, where you can see they are reacting to what the other one is doing. It kind of gives a whole new life to the competition.”
B-Girl Sunny, as she’s known on the stage, expounded upon the competitive nature of each battle, commenting, “breaking came from the streets, and from a different kind of culture than what we have here.”
“100 percent rooted in all of us is that battle mentality. You just want to smoke somebody else,” asserted a passionate Choi.
It’s a mentality the International Olympic Committee hopes will reverse a dwindling interest in the Olympics among younger viewers.
If Sunday’s finals are anything to go by, there may be hope yet.
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