Red Bulletin UK 5/21

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Breaking The world of competitive breaking usually involves spot-lit, sweat-drenched battles in packed-out venues for hyped-up crowds. But on a Sunday evening in early March, thanks to lockdown, B-Girl Vanessa Marina is performing to the world via her mobile phone, in a small hired studio in Hackney Wick, east London. The Portuguese-born 29-year-old is competing live against Argentina-based B-Girl Carito for a place in the final in Texas, and, despite the unusually subdued backdrop, her energy is characteristically high. Vanessa’s feet shift rhythmically and instinctively as she moves fluidly between freezes, footwork and spins to a salsa-infused hip-hop soundtrack, seemingly propelled as much by her self-confidence as by her athletic ability, honed through hours of practice. “When we dance, it shows our personality,” she says. “It shows character. Someone shy can become their true self. Breaking is a language everyone around the world can understand, and a battle is a conversation. The person who goes first asks a question; the person who battles next gives the answer. No two movements will ever be the same.” It’s this marriage of artistic interpretation and gymnastic skill that makes breakdancing – or breaking, as it’s known in the scene – a unique proposition. Part art, part sport, breaking was conceived on the streets of New York in the 1970s, but has since spread around the world. More recently, its growing popularity has resulted in its – controversial for some – inclusion in the 2024 Paris Olympics. An unlikely alliance of objectors has arisen following news of breaking’s Games debut, comprising both traditional sportspeople sceptical of its credentials, and old-school breaking purists afraid that mainstream exposure might dilute the culture. But, for a fresh generation of UK breakers keen to push the boundaries of their scene, it’s just the latest step in a journey that was already well underway. These B-Boys and B-Girls are athletes, artists, activists and adventurers, using their art form to express themselves to an ever-expanding audience. “It’s great to have new platforms and opportunities,” says Vanessa, who, at 18, moved from Lisbon to London to pursue a breaking career and has since helped to evolve the UK B-Girl scene. “The breaking scene is now thriving in London and across the UK. Scenes have to evolve; nothing stands still. As these new opportunities are born, we must embrace them and what they can do for the culture and our future. If we stand still, the scene will die” Though it was born in the Bronx, where breaking battles and cyphers – freestyle battles fought in the centre of a circle of B-Boys and B-Girls – were used for everything from self-expression to settling scores and unifying neighbourhoods, breaking has decades-old roots in the UK, too. Over the course of UK breaking history, London has been home to prestigious battles such as the UK B-Boy AJ the Cypher Cat Breaking is in the blood of this 19-yearold – his father and uncles were part of the scene back in the ’80s. AJ – real name Aijion Brown – reached last year’s BC One Cypher UK semi-finals and now he has his eye on the chance to represent Team GB at the 2024 Paris Olympics 32 THE RED BULLETIN
“As soon as I won my first battle, aged eight, I told my dad that one day I’d compete at BC One” AJ the Cypher Cat
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Red Bulletin UK 5/21

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