Breakdancing, or breaking, started atop a cardboard box in the Bronx in the 1970s. This year, it’s making its debut at the Olympics in Paris.
On August 9-10, 16 B-boys and 16 B-girls will face off in solo battles, vying for the highest honor that any athlete can achieve—an Olympic medal.
“We have a huge responsibility. Our job is to make the world fall in love with breaking,” says Ronnie Abaldonado, one of the commentators for breaking at the Olympic Games.
A Las Vegas local, Abaldonado has been commentating for Red Bull BC One, the world’s largest breaking competition, for the past few years. He dances on the Red Bull BC One All Star team, and he’s also the co-owner of local dance studio District Arts, where dancers of all skill levels can come to hone their craft.
Before heading to Paris, Abaldonado chatted with the Weekly about his breaking origin story, District Arts and what it’s like to finally see breaking as an Olympic sport.
You’re a co-founder of the crew Full Force, and you later became part of Super Cr3w, the group that won season two of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. And Super Cr3w is associated with the Jabbawockeez. Can you explain how those are all connected?
Me and my older brother started Full Force in 1995 in Las Vegas. … Eventually, we bumped into another crew called the Knucklehead Zoo, also from Las Vegas. We joined forces [and] we went to California competitions. And then we ran into a group called Battle Monkeys.
I think what we all had in common was, we were the younger generation [in] the late ‘90s. And we never won any big competition at that time, so we decided to join forces and we created Super Cr3w. … We started battling more overseas and then eventually ended up winning America’s Best Dance Crew, which is ironically the biggest competition that we possibly could have won because it was on national television. And then some members from Full Force also moved to San Diego and created Jabbawockeez.
So basically, Full Force is the origin story of Super Cr3w and some members of Jabbawockeez.
You continue to make space for breaking with your dance studio District Arts, which opened in 2012. There are formal classes as well as open sessions where people can drop in and practice.
We do that because that’s how we kind of grew up learning. You know, with breaking you never grew up learning it in the studio. You just kind of experiment with moves and you get constructive criticism from your crewmates.
We have this whole thing in breaking: “Each one teach one.” You just kind of share. While I’m teaching, I’m also learning as well. … I’ll teach a certain move, and I’ll say, “So what can you do from this?” And it’s just a way for people to get creative. And that’s what’s so beautiful about breaking. You can teach the foundation of breaking. But ultimately, your goal is to have an original style, to create moves that have never been seen before.
Breaking has come a long way since you started your crew in the ‘90s. Can you believe it’s included in the Olympics now?
I think it’s beautiful. It was inevitable. I feel like everything’s all about timing. And this is the right time for breaking to be in the Olympics, because it’s a lot more structured now. Back then, it wasn’t as [structured], especially when I started, competition wasn’t as big. But then with competitions like Red Bull BC One, and really highlighting the individuals and really making it feel like this is something that’s huge at this magnitude where you’re flying people around from different countries. And now with the B-girls team and B-girls, it’s just turned into this undeniable … artistic sport.
It is such an artistic sport, which leads me to my next question: how will breaking be scored at the Olympic Games?
Ultimately, it’s still subjective, right? We could have a point system, but it ultimately will come down to the judges and judging whose style they prefer more. You’re really dealing with the top, the best of the best. So, I guess the easiest way to judge is when you see someone mess up.
Some Olympic breakers have actually come through District Arts to train. And you might have seen them before at other competitions you’ve commentated or competed at over the years. What’s it like to see them make it this far?
They’re all my friends—some breakers that I helped mentor, some that I battled with, some that I battled against. And it’s so beautiful to see everyone’s journey to get to where they’re at.
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