hto many names. The right one would be “breaking”, but there are those who prefer “sports dance” and those who prefer “urban art”. Understandable, given that street dancing born in the Seventies in the Bronx as an expression of hip hop culture has become much more: show, pop hobby, and now also an Olympic discipline: it will be at the 2024 Games in Paris, together with surfing, climbing and skateboard. Among those who love the definition of “urban art” and a little less “breakdance” (title of the 1984 Joe Silberg film) there is Carlos Kamizele36 years old, internationally renowned dancer.
Breaking becomes an Olympic discipline
He has won almost all the contests he has participated in, he has been a guest of Maria De Filippi at Amici, of Roberto Bolle in Rai, he has collaborated on the choreography of Zelig, he has performed in New York with Anastacia and Liza Minnelli, therefore he finds any label reductive . “I come from Africa, where the culture of dance, closely linked to music, is also sharing” he explains.
«I see breaking more as an art form than a sport. Creativity counts, not just if you make ten jumps or a perfect lap. I think this is the reason why, born as a niche phenomenon, today it is depopulating everywhere. I’ve seen Koreans do incredible things, people who train from morning till night, or the Japanese. There is also another reason: breaking can gather influences from any culture. I am creating a corps de ballet with young Afro-descendants. Not only breaking, but afro urban, afro beat, Congolese rumba, afro house, social dance».
Breaking is a dance but it will also be an Olympic discipline for the first time
The first schools in 2000
In the Italian diffusion, TV has counted a lot: Sanremo (in the latest edition, Dj Jad surprisingly launched into break dance), Zelig, Amici, Caterpillar, and of course the endorsement of Roberto Bolle. «It was fantastic to be hosted at Danza con me and dance while rapper Ghali recited a poem against racism!». The first schools, in the gymnasium, were born around 2000, says Cristiano Buzzi, whom everyone calls Kris, dancer, choreographer and now teacher: his academy, in Bologna, has 160 students.
«There is something profoundly democratic in breaking. Anyone can do it, even on the street. The meaning is to go beyond one’s limits, therefore it has a great social impact, it’s not just fashion, but a real lifestyle, synonymous with freedom, improvisation, an invitation to live the here and now. As for the Olympics, we’ll see. There are strong currents of dissent and consensus. Breaking is very subjective: how can it be “measured”? There are those who say: then cooking is also a sporting gesture… Breaking does not resemble artistic gymnastics or other Olympic specialties where pinpoint precision counts. Of course, the presence at the games will contribute to an even greater diffusion».
There is copyright on the moves
And to think that few knew breaking until Flashdance, the legendary musical film of 1983, Oscar for best song. Jennifer Beals, the protagonist, stops to watch the stunts of some kids on the street. Among them is Frosty Freeze, pioneer of breakdance, famous for a flight in the air called, not surprisingly, “suicide” because it ends up on the floor, on the back. A cameo, but it was enough to discover the street dance that mixes fancy dance and salsa, kung fu and artistic gymnastics. Along with writing, mcing and djing, breaking is an integral part of hip hop culturewho has just turned fifty. Everyone invents their own moves, so much so that there is a sort of copyright.
The training, very strict, includes cardio activities, from running to jumping rope, to strengthening workouts. A preparation light years away from gang battles on the sidewalks of the Bronx, when breakdancing was a way to settle disputes peacefully, build a reputation, define one’s identity, overcome shyness. But some old prejudices persist. As b-boy Mowgli (Christian Berardi) says, «seeing us dancing in the street still arouses the idea that we are no good, drug addicts, violent boys and unfeminine girls».
The women of breaking
Very wrong. Indeed, speaking of girls, our b-girls (two for all, Antilai Santini and Alessandra Chillemi) are extraordinary in every sense. Antilai (b-girl Anti) born in 1977, she is beautiful and sexy (see his Instagram), loves funk, soul music, James Brown and Michael Jackson. She was born in Livorno, raised in Aviano, in Friuli, she begins with artistic gymnastics and cheerleading, then, at the age of thirteen, electrocution. The dad deejay, during an evening, performs some breaking moves. She imitates him, but it’s not enough for her. To her new passion, she combines Wushu, a Chinese martial art, which makes her steps original.
It started even before her Alessandra Chillemi, (b-girl from Alessandria), 23 years old, graduated in Economics in Milan, enrolled in the sports group of the Fiamme Azzurre (penitentiary police): she trains every day from ten in the morning to eight in the evening, mid-August included, to be among the sixteen finalists who will go to the Olympics in Paris. She’s in good shape, she passed the first qualifiers, but she’ll have to contend with the Chinese, who are quite fierce. And she plays it all out in a 30-45 second performance. She has a good story.
“I lived on a Navy base in Messina because my father was in the army,” he says. «I had the possibility to go around by myself. One day I noticed two of my neighbors, also sons of soldiers, who competed in stunts. I was very shy and didn’t dare to approach them, so I spied on them and copied their moves. I was six years old, I did ballet like many other girls, but breaking really fascinated me. One day I told my parents: “I want to do it too”».
Few girls, but growing
«At the age of eight I started traveling around the world, in competitions I was the mascot of the group. And there were very few girls, we were six or seven in all, while today there are many, and perhaps I was an inspiration. To have a plan B, I studied Economics (you never know), and maybe one day I’ll need it… After graduating, I moved to Padua, where I train with the national team coach. If I think of Paris, it seems like a dream to me: I’ve practiced so many sports, I like everything, from fencing to horse riding, I’ve been a football referee and I’ve obtained my scuba diving license. I wanted to get to the Olympics but I never imagined I could do it with breaking!». His motto: “We train like athletes, we dance like artists”. The ways of dance are endless.
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