The athletic and funky style of dance that started in the 1970s in Bronx, New York is making its way to the global stage and attracting local youth.
In its early days, break dancing was mainly performed for recreation by Latino and African-American youth, but has since expanded to all communities and age groups. This year, the dance form will be one of three new sports to be added to the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics. Break dancing has evolved into formal competitions, and some of the best dancers will compete at the games in Buenos Aires in October.
Forty-eight youth came from all over New England to participate in the Competitive Breakin' Leauge's northeast championship competition at the Phunk Phenomenon studio in Everett on Jan. 13. Dante Graziano and his brother, Giancinto, both of Tewksbury, were among them. Graziano, though small, is a confident dancer.
“Today I am going to be break dancing, and me and my brother have a bunch of routines. The routines are pretty basic, but we put our own flavor into it and we make it nice,” Graziano, 11, explained.
The routine looked more advanced than basic. He and his brother did moves like head spins and back flips with ease. Graziano, who has been dancing since he was 4, made it look effortless.
Antonio Castillo, a 20-year dancing veteran himself, started the national Competitive Breakin' League in 2014. Since then, the league has had about 1,000 competitors ages 5 and up.
“The Competitive Breakin' League is similar to other sports, [the] NFL and NBA. Our goal is to create a platform that is just as professional as those entities so that kids can have an opportunity to go to college and make it a career if they choose to,” said Castillo, who lives in Washington, D.C.
Castillo has made it a career. He travels across the country looking for the best dancers.
“It’s nothing different — a regular sports league where you have kids who go to competitions. They qualify for another, and you create a ladder where the top kids are going to be the ones representing our country at the Olympics,” he said.
Right now, the Competitive Breakin' League is not a qualifying organization for the Summer Youth Olympics, but Castillo hopes the organization receives that designation in the future. The league is still highly competitive, though, and just like at the Olympics, judges like Alex “El Nino” Diaz pay close attention during the competition in Everett.
Diaz, who has traveled the world break dancing, started judging about 10 years ago. He listed the specifics of what he looks for: “Footwork, power moves, top rock and freezes and, of course, since it is a battle, a competition, we're looking at charisma and things like that," he said.
Diaz said what he does is no different from judging figure skating or gymnastics. He watches for precision.
"Let's say if you're spinning on your back or spinning on your head, the freeze is when you catch [yourself], almost like a yoga pose," he said. "You see an ice skater jump up and spin, and if they fall on the ice, it's the same exact thing."
The dancing can be fun, but the winners in Everett took home real prizes. They received gold, silver and bronze medals, along with $200 and new sneakers. The cash prize is what has 11-year-old Dante Graziano seriously considering his future.
“It’s fun and it could be something you could do for a living,” he said.
Graziano's chances are pretty good — he and his brother won the gold medal and are headed to Washington to compete in the national championship in the youth division.
