Breaking: From the Streets to the Olympics | NDR.de

by Alexander Cobbs

Marco Baden should only think for a moment, then the national coach quickly clicks into YouTube and provides an example video. The final match of the 2021 World Cup flashes on the big screen, which took place at the hip-hop academy in the Bielstedt district of Hamburg, the battle between the dashing legend “Flea Rock” and the rising Japanese “Shigekix”. It is intended to answer the question of the journalists present, how exactly is a hack assessed.

“It also depends on the width

For the next few minutes, everyone is glued to what’s happening on the screen. Amazing moves from both athletes. Head spins, top rocks, bottom rocks, power moves – and after that everyone is sure: the young Japanese will win the duel. Technically flawless, dynamically elegant.

For reporters, the winner is clear. But things are different. The old landmark “Flea Rock” was chosen as the winner. His charisma and originality were the decisive factors in the end. “It also depends on the show,” Baden says then. Thus it also opens up the discussion of how hackable it is at all and doesn’t leave the viewers confused.

The Olympic parade at the Place de la Concorde

“Showing isn’t a sport, but that’s part of the other criteria,” says Baden. For nearly two and a half years, he’s been at the helm of the up-and-coming sport, which will make its Olympic debut next year.

A covered outdoor arena will be set up on the famous Place de la Concorde in Paris for 32 participants. 16 men and 16 women can qualify. Trendy DJs are spinning around, and the dancers (“B-boys” and “B-girls”) don’t know the beat in advance and have to execute the music automatically.

The Singles Battles take place in the French capital, and last between four and five minutes. Alternately, everyone can show what they can do twice for about 45 seconds (“run”). Breaking is the first dance sport to enter the Olympic program.

Anniversary: ​​50 Years of Hip-Hop History

says Tim Dolman, managing director of the Hamburg Hip-Hop Academy. Young people have been training in this specialty here for 16 years.

In preparation for the Games, a workshop was organized for media representatives to impart knowledge on the rules and history of hacking. Appropriate: This year we celebrate 50 years in the history of hip-hop.

Only 32 places in the Olympic Games

Candidates for Paris are from the USA, Japan, Korea and France. “We are in third place,” says Baden, who was himself one of the best strikers in the world. Artist Name: Mallekid. A maximum of two people per gender may participate in each country. Hard elimination battle in advance.

Baden’s mission is to form a competitive national team. A daunting task. To round off Germany’s top cut-outs, Baden will return to Hamburg at the weekend. To be more precise, in Heiligengeistfeld. There will be a “DTV Ranking Battle”.

An event open to anyone who feels called to join the Federated Team. Minimum age: 16 years old. A prerequisite is club membership – and as a potential sports cadre, you must, of course, have German citizenship. You can register on the day of the competition itself.

Via Hamburg to Paris?

The Grand Slam in Hamburg is one of two stops in which the active players on the federal team (eight men’s and eight women’s) are determined. Audition and then head to Paris. Hamburg youngster Noah Tete is hoping to be there too. The 21-year-old shows the media what he’s made of at the HipHip Academy Workshop Day. Get ready for the big stage, so to speak. Best of course for the Olympics.

“That will definitely be my thing. I don’t think I’ll make it through this round, which isn’t bad because I haven’t danced this long compared to the others. But I’m definitely going to rock the next round.” says Tete.

Olympic doubts at the crash scene

Baaden and the organizers expect up to 140 dancers who would like to introduce themselves on the Heiligengeistfeld. Great rush, even if the skepticism of the scene is great. Not everyone is celebrating fracturing becoming an Olympic sport. Her sport has her own spontaneous and creative lifestyle. own culture. To put pressure on the IOC’s actions is unthinkable.

There is great concern about whether their subculture can be reconciled with the strictly standardized guidelines of the IOC. There have been similar views when it comes to skateboarding, which is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021.

The national coach has also long quarreled with himself over whether he should take over. “I had a lot of ideas about whether it was the right thing. Whether it was breaking, or whether the whole hip-hop culture belonged to this set of rules, because we’re relatively free,” says Baden.

But the IOC is ready to inspire a younger audience with new sports. Baden decided to help take his sport to the big stage and show everyone that breaking is more than just “sliding on the floor”.

break – no break dance

The sport originated in the New York Bronx. In the 1970s, young African Americans in particular established the battle of hip-hop. Instead of fighting in the streets, the clans played their feuds by dancing. The trend soon spread to Europe. Noah Tete, who will likely only be hopping on the 2028 Olympic train (venue: Los Angeles), only took a four-and-a-half-year hiatus. “Sports strengthens my personality and self-esteem as well,” he says. Breaking is also known as breakdancing. However, the term is dismissed on the scene as a media invention.

The pressure of appointing the national coach Baden

You can also feel the spirit of optimism on this workshop day at the Hip-Hop Academy. Olympia sets out to stir things up. Suddenly, coaches who have coached for decades like this have to show certain coaching licenses. Funding from DOSB is based on the nomination of the sports team.

In general, new buildings had to be built in the fracking area, says Baden. The national coach has a lot to do at the moment. He has just returned from an event in Canada the evening before the workshop. One date is chasing the next.

Wanted: The first Olympic champion to break

And what about performance comparison, how are gold, silver and bronze awarded? Baden is pragmatic: “In the end you have to say: There is a jury of competent people and they decide what is right and what is wrong.” There are probably nine jurors in Paris who decide the medals.

Ultimately, it will come down to the criteria of creativity, personality, technique, variety, performance, and music. In other words, the jury’s taste will play an important role. “It’s still an exciting topic,” says the national coach. But one thing is already clear: the first broken Olympic champions will have to make the best bid.