WASHINGTON — The 2024 Olympic Games will feature a variety of fan favorite sports during 19 days of competition.
Dance fans will be able to watch an entirely new event taking the stage for the first time: the competitive dance-off known as breaking.
Here's what to know about this new addition to the Olympic lineup.
What is breaking?
Breaking is more commonly known as breakdancing. It's an urban sport that takes inspiration from a multitude of cultures and dance styles, from Latin dancing to kung fu. Participants use complex footwork and acrobatics to perform flips and tricks — such as spinning on their heads.
It's the first time this sport has made its way to the main games, although breaking was first seen at the 2018 Youth Olympics.
How is breaking performed?
Athletes, called breakers, compete by challenging another breaker to 1 vs. 1 dance-offs, taking alternating turns (called throw downs) to perform.
Each breaker will have a set number of rounds to compete in, with most major competitions set up with two or three throw downs per dancer until the finals, which will have three or five.
Each throw down lasts around 60 seconds, although there isn't a penalty if a routine is too long or short. Once both breakers perform during their throw down, the round is over.
How is breaking judged at the Olympics?
A panel of at least three judges scores a breaking match, called a battle, on six criteria: creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality.
Each of the criteria involved has different weights, meaning some are worth more points. Technique, performativity and creativity collectively make up 60% of a performer's score, while the other three parameters account for the remaining 40%.
Judges submit their votes after each round of dancing, and the breaker with the highest point total at the end is declared the winner.
Where did breaking start?
Breaking began on the streets of New York, where young dancers, mainly in African American and Puerto Rican communities, took to the streets to perform. The high-energy dance style was first seen in the 1970s, and over the past 50 years has evolved and expanded to a worldwide phenomenon.
In almost any major city, breakdancers perform for tourists in public areas, and an official scoring system has been developed for competitive dance-offs.
While the sport got its start to hip-hop music, the tunes used to perform aren't restricted as long as the dancers can work with the tempo and beat patterns of the music being used.
Breaking terms to know
Breaking is a culturally diverse sport with a vocabulary all its own. Here are some of the key terms you may hear during the Olympics.
- Battle - A one-on-one dance-off between two breakers, divided into a number of rounds where each competitor will get to dance once.
- Throw Down - A 60-second period during which one dancer gets to do a freestyle dance to the music selected by the DJ.
- Round - Two throw downs, one from each breaker, equals a round. Two or three rounds comprise a battle.
- Freeze - When a breaker stops mid-performance, often in an unusual position, to emphasize the pose.
- Top Rock - All the moves performed standing up. Usually, top rock refers to a combination of hand movements and footwork.
- Down Rock - All the moves performed on the floor. Down rock includes spins, slides, transitions between dance moves and "power moves."
- Power Moves - Complex sets of movement used by a breaker to showcase their athleticism, usually by spinning their whole body on their hands, elbows, back, head or shoulders. These tend to be the most intensive parts of a throw down.