Breaking — a dance form which once emerged from the ghettos and spoke about brotherhood — has evolved to become an official competitive sport that’s ready to debut at the 2024 Olympics, to be held in Paris. Red Bull BC One Cypher India 2023 celebrated this expression of art recently at NESCO Centre in Mumbai. From air flips, freezes, intricate footwork and movements as lucid as ocean waves, Indian breakers from different cities left us smitten at the eighth edition of the reputed Cypher.
The dancers, high on resilience, gathered over three days of back-breaking camps and went home with some extensive knowledge about the dance form. They indulged in strenuous workshops (conducted by international breakers) and battles, after which a team of 16 B-boys and eight B-girls competed with one another (separate categories) at the Cypher. Two winners from each team qualified to represent our country in Paris. Red Bull BC One is one of the most prestigious one-on-one breaking competitions in the world, a platform which gives wings to breakers. Divided into three rounds for both B-girls and B-boys, the neck-to-neck competition finally decided on the winners who will fly abroad to compete for the Red Bull BC One World Championship title.
Katsu conducts his Footworkerzz workshop on Day 1 of the camp.
Bangalore-girl Johanna Rodrigues aka B-girl Jo took the first title after the B-girl category was introduced to the Cypher in 2019. “When BC One came to India, in 2015 it was just in Mumbai and everyone travelled from all over the country to attend it, and I was one of them. Ever since it introduced the B-girl title, I’ve been participating. I want this muchneeded expansive support to grow,” she told The Telegraph.
B-boy Ginni (Goutam Kaulsee) from Haryana and B-girl Glib (Simran Ranga) from Jaipur beat the rest across three rounds of battle and tasted victory; they will fly to Paris and represent the country at the finals to be held on October 21. The main floor at NESCO centre was on fire. Breakers Lil Zoo, Kastet and Lil G from Austria, Paris and Venezuela took the tough call to decide on the winners over three rounds of battle, each judging different aspects of breaking, like footwork, the concept of beats and the flow of movements. The Indian breakers not just made us proud, but also enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The crowd could not contain its enthusiasm and was impressed by the dancers’ zest for life. The Telegraph spoke to some of the past champions (as well as competitors of this year) and the international artistes at the venue.