Breaking’, the widely and wildly popular dance form has made it to the 2024 edition of Olympics in Paris. Riveting, this type of street dancing — that has evolved greatly since its Bronx neighbourhood days in New York — requires a mastery over coordination, acrobatics and intricate body movements. t2 spoke to a few Calcutta artistes about what this means for the community.

ANJALI RAI AKA B-GIRL ANJALI:

The Olympics are really huge and it’s great they’ve considered breaking to be a part of it. But breaking isn’t a sport; it’s a culture, a feeling. All the dancers are unique in their own style, it’s hard to chose a favourite. But I’m definitely looking forward to b-girl Madmax aka Maxime (below) competing because she’s my inspiration and she was really good at the Red Bull BC One finals and she really worked hard for it.

Madmax aka Maxime

ROSHAN BANERJEE AKA POPPING RAW-SHAN:

For me it was long-awaited and it’s time they included a dance style... not just a style but a representation of a whole culture to the Olympics as a recognised sport. This also becomes a gateway for other dance styles to be originally recognised. The hard work of b-boy Flying Machine and b-boy Tornado (below) will surely take them there and hope they can carry a medal for India.”

Tornado

SARFARAZ HUSSAIN AKA B-BOY SHADOW:

It feels amazing now that breaking has been included in the Olympics. Now people can get introduced to b-boys and b-girls, understand breaking and it’s community and culture. This will open many opportunities for us and maybe in the future we will have a hip-hop school in India where people can study breaking. For me, I think b-boy Flying Machine (below) from Beast Mode crew Mumbai should compete in the Olympics because I think he’s really good and is a mature and experienced b-boy.

Flying Machine

SAMBO MUKHERJEE: Hip-hop won! It’s is a big step but they actually had it in the Youth Olympics, two years ago. People are finally going to understand the art form. I will always look at it as an art form but people need to understand it from an educational standpoint. From the streets to the Olympics, that’s mad! India has amazing b-boys and b-girls, such as Arif (Flying Machine) and b-girl Jo (below); she’s amazing and they should definitely represent the country.

Jo