What better place to hold a Breaking competition than in the city where it all began? Featuring decisive steps and heart stopping headspins, Breaking– otherwise known as B-Boying or B-Girling – is the ultimate dance style to get the blood flowing and the crowd going at any party or dance battle. While many recognize this style of dance under the umbrella term “Breakdancing” as it was popularly coined by the media in the 80s, originators and connoisseurs of the dance have strayed from this clichéd word due to its inclusion of Popping, Locking, and Electric Boogaloo – dances that were developed on the west coast in the Los Angeles area. Breaking consists of four major elements: Toprock, Downrock, Power Moves, and Freezes. These unique movements ruled the block party scene of the Bronx when brought together for the first time in the early 70s. Unlike Popping and Locking which came up in the late 60s, Breaking was born during the breaks of classic soul and funk songs where instruments would drop out and the rhythmic, percussive sections could take over. The idea to utilize these breaks in music or “breakbeats” came in 1972 from the legendary DJ Kool Herc, credited for laying the groundwork for today’s hip-hop music. With New York being a home to Breaking and Herc himself, Breaking For Gold USA, decided to host the Big Apple Regionals in Brooklyn and allowed SNIPES to support this historic event on our continued mission to promote the growth of dance culture in the areas we serve.
Creating a pathway for future world champions, the Big Apple Regionals offered a qualifying event for the Breaking For Gold USA Tour with an opportunity for 1st place finishers to participate in the USA National Championships. Now that Breaking is set to make its debut in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, there is more excitement than ever before surrounding the popular urban dance style. Top BBoys and BGirls of all ages from across the country gathered in NYC on April 16th to bring their best moves to one of the biggest stages. While adults, teens, and kids took turns competing in their qualifying rounds, judges and spectators were in awe of the impossible moves that dancers performed right in front of them. The Youth winner Pharez, Teen winner Kidbreak, BGirl winner Sunny Choi, and BBoy winner Gravity all stole the show with their respective sets and will be moving on to the next stage of the competition. After the Regionals event, SNIPES presented the Big Apple After Party where competition took place through a different medium – a live art battle between Dragon76 and Charlie Doves that left attendees speechless. Showing off their different styles and artistic influences, the two contemporary artists pulled out all the stops for this 30-minute battle with the winner creating this astonishing masterpiece.
While a select few participants of the Big Apple Regionals and Live Art Battle took home the gold, all the contestants at each level of their competitions deserve credit for their incredible performances under the bright lights in the Big Apple. With modern dance becoming more accessible around the world, we are looking forward to contributing to this progression by bringing you more SNIPES events in partnership with Breaking for Gold USA. You can stay in the know with upcoming competitions as well as our latest news and sneaker/streetwear releases by following us on our Instagram, reading up on our blog posts, and downloading the mobile app so you can keep up with all things SNIPES.
