A Head-Spinning Debut

Breaking is a new sport at this year’s Summer Olympics — at least we’ll call it a sport for the sake of the Games. You probably know it as break dancing, the art form in which performers spin, pose, glide and dance across the floor with incredible athleticism and charisma. The event debuted yesterday in Paris with the women’s, or B-Girls’, competition. Ami Yuasa of Japan, known as B-Girl Ami, bested Lithuania’s Dominika Banevic, or B-Girl Nicka, to win breaking’s first gold medal. The men, or B-Boys, are competing today.

This week, I published an article that explores the history of breaking. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how breaking made its way from the streets of New York to the Olympic stage, and what you can expect from the competition. I’ll also show three moves that are at the core of many breakers’ routines.

Three questions

1. How did breaking get into the Olympics?

Innovative Black and brown youth in the Bronx invented breaking in the 1970s as one of the core elements of hip-hop, along with lyricism, graffiti and D. J.ing. The dance spread nationally and globally through movies like “Beat Street” and pioneering crews providing demonstrations in countries like Japan and England.

Breaking has always centered on competition. Individuals and crews battled with dances that involved style, flair, confidence and one-upmanship. Competitions grew more popular in Europe in the 1990s, and the art form took a turn toward sports in 2001, when Red Bull sponsored the first Lords of the Floor, a tournament featuring crews from around the world.

The International Olympic Committee has not hidden its intent to attract a younger and more diverse audience with new events like breaking and skateboarding. It added breaking to the Paris program in 2021, after the sport made a splashy introduction at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. Still, some pioneers and purists are skeptical about breaking at the Olympics.

2. How is the competition being judged?

How to objectively assess an art form was one of the most vexing questions around bringing breaking to the Olympics. The answer? With judges. A lot of them.