#Breakdancing

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[unpassive-viewer]

Watching breaking in the olympics has been awesome as a former hip hop dancer, but holy shit. For every person who doesn't know how breaking even works and doesn't think it's a sport, there's ten more who are excited about the men's competition, but absolutely ragging on the women's competitors. My head is actually spinning.

If you don't know about breaking, I need to explain some things:

The breakers all know one another already, and all respect each other. This includes between the m&f categories. Nicka (silver medalist - women's) and Phil Wizard (gold medalist - men's) have literally competed as a duo.

The breakers that you think "are better than everyone in the finals" already went through the qualifying trials. They also compete with all the medalists, they also tried out for the olympic teams. They did not make it.

To that end, every battle is its own battle. They may have done poorly in the qualifying trials, but have beaten the now-gold medalists in other competitions. It's not like swimming where Katy Ledecky will pummel everyone else in the race unless she has an exceptionally off day.

Related to point 2 - breaking was born in the Bronx. It was also born in the 1970s. Being mad that the demographics don't reflect who you think should be dancing, or being mad that the dance isn't "in touch with its roots" is like being mad that someone modified the recipe for ginger beef. Some of the guys who were competing today are old enough that they were dancing with the same people who invented the sport. I promise that they have crazy respect for how it began and all of its influences.

Related to point 3 - breaking requires originality. It is a foundational element of the sport to evolve and be creative. It's a sport, but it's also an art form.

Dancing for three rounds in three separate battles is a lot for any dancer. If you think some of them looked like shit toward the end (I disagree, but whatever) it's because they are tired. Not to mention there were heat warnings in Paris! They still have more athletic ability in their left pinky finger than I've ever had in my whole body - and I was someone who also did street dance!

The music wasn't decided ahead of time, but the DJs were playing very very popular breaking songs. All of the competitors already know how they go, so if they were scoring low in musicality, it's not because they panicked not knowing the song.

The athletes have sets made up already, they're not freestyling. They adapt them to the music, but unless they blank in the middle of the competition, they already know which skills they want to show off. (I'm editing to clarify that some of them did freestyle, but for the most part it was after they felt like they'd done what was going to get them points)

I really doubt that anyone on tumblr is going to care, but Instagram users can't read and YouTube is full of bots. I'm so excited that I got to watch my sport in the Olympics, but my lord people cannot behave.

[mysharona1987]

There’s going to be a dark comedy movie about this one day, isn’t there?

Hollywood casting director: “Ok, which A listers can do decent Australian accents?”

Chris Hemsworth: “Well, me. Obviously.”

Hollywood casting director: “I dunno. I just can’t see you as evil breakdancing coach mafia boss.”

Chris Hemsworth: “I have range!”

[sucka99]

[kemetic-dreams]

Repost from @moyoafrika

•

#repost• @whatsculture History Class: Tracing the roots of Capoeira. The Afro-Brazilian martial art form incorporates acrobatics, dance, folklore, and music. Two opponents play each other inside a circle (Roda) formed by the other players, who create rhythm for the game by clapping, singing, and playing traditional instruments. It’s the second most popular sport in Brazil and is practiced in different parts of the world today. To understand the significance, we look at how it is a phenomenon born out of migration.

“Capoeira was conceived in Africa and born in Brazil,’’ Mestre Jelon Vieira once said. As a colony of the Portuguese Crown, millions of Africans were shipped and sold in Brazil. There, enslaved Africans shared their cultural traditions, including dances, rituals, and fighting techniques, which eventually evolved into capoeira. Many elements and traditions that would inform capoeira are said to have originated in Angola. At that time, 80% of all enslaved Africans in Rio de Janeiro came from Central West Africa from countries that are now known as Gabon, Angola and both Congos.

People from Angola were prominent among the enslaved Africans who played the game on the streets and squares of Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and other Brazilian port cities at the beginning of the nineteenth century. With many enslaved Africans revolting against slavery, they would soon form communities in villages called quilombos in which they could sustain different expressions of African culture. They used capoeira to defend themselves and resist capture, disguising its martial intent with music, song, and dance.

Capoeira became illegal after the abolition of slavery in 1888. Practitioners were socially ostracised for more 40 years, until the legendary capoeira master, Mestre Bimba, opened the first capoeira school in Bahia in 1932. From there, the martial art would reach all parts of the world. At its core, capoeira is born out of a mix of African and Brazilian indigenous cultures and it represents resistance and resilience 🇧🇷🌍

#moyoafrika #brazil #angola🇦🇴 #africanculture #africanculture #africandiaspora #african

[bendgineer]

You're laughing, but in a few weeks some freshman at Macquarie university is going to walk into their intro to communications class and see Raygun is their professor, and YOUR LAUGHING?!?! Good, you should be. This shit is hilarious.

[tvmusiclife]

36 year old break dancing subway manager Dr. Raygun...has a PhD in cultural studies and her thesis focused on the cultural significance of breakdancing. She is a continental champion in the sport back home.....

[madame-helen]

[artschoolglasses]

Team Canada: Men's Breaking

Philip "Phil Wizard" Kim, Gold

[spongebobssquarepants]

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[crackinwise]

I see the broadcast trying NOT to let the camera show the awesome cape Manizha Talash of the Refugee Olympic Team unveiled in the middle of a battle. I see it. That's not politics or propaganda; that's human rights. Piss off.

[joosiewiththeboof]

🥰💗💖💘💞💞💕❣️❤️‍🩹💗❤️‍🩹❣️💕💕💘💖💓💓💓❤️‍🔥💖💖💗💗💔💓💗💖💘💕💕💞💝💘💘💘💕🧡❤️💛🤍🤎🖤🤍❣️💕💖💝💘💝❣️🤍💛💙💛❤️‍🩹💕❣️💖💖💝☪️💝💘💞💞🤍🤍💕💖💕💗💘💘💗💗💕❤️‍🩹🤎🤎🖤💛❤️💛🖤

[scavengedluxury]

the cat when I give him some unexpectedly strong nip

[splemonocracy]

dreaming about the day we'll be reunited