LEUVEN, BELGIUM - SEPTEMBER 24: B-Boy Shigekix – Shigeyuki Nakarai of Japan competes in the semi ... [+]
With the Paris 2024 Olympic breaking events set to take place August 9-10, many new viewers may be wondering how this dance style will be judged as an Olympic sport.
First, a brief history of competitive breaking: Breaking has been around since the 1970’s, and large-scale judged competitions started to gain traction in the 1990’s. Events that paved the way for competitive breaking around the world include Battle of the Year, Miami Pro-Am and Freestyle Session. More international competitions like Outbreak, The Notorious IBE and Red Bull BC One found success years later.
In 2016, breaking’s athleticism and competitive spirit won over the International Olympic Committee, leading to the approval of breaking as a discipline for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games and subsequently the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, b-boys (men) and b-girls (women) face off in one-on-one face-offs called battles, where they take turns showing off their moves and hopefully sway the judges to vote for them. The judges then score the competitors directly against each other using a comparative judging system.
Breaking at the Paris Olympics will most likely use a panel of nine judges using Level A of the WDSF Breaking Judging System. This system was developed by the World DanceSport Federation, the organization responsible for managing breaking in the Olympic ecosystem.
According to the December 2023 WDSF Breaking Rules and Regulations Manual, “The purpose of this system is to provide a comprehensive, transparent and intuitive tool for Judges to use as they assess any given Battle.”
The judging system focuses on five core categories: Technique, Vocabulary, Execution, Musicality, and Originality.
- Technique is all about physiological control, including focus areas like athleticism, form, dynamics and spatial awareness.
- Vocabulary refers to the range of movement techniques that a breaker displays. Variation and quantity of moves are positives, while repetitions should be avoided.
- Execution means performing those moves with clarity and without slips or crashes. The narrative, composition and flow of a breaker’s round in a battle also falls under this category.
- Musicality is crucial because of breaking’s identity as a dance. A breaker should synchronize their moves and respond to the rhythm, texture and other qualities of the music being played—they don’t know what the music will be ahead of time.
- Originality encompasses creativity and uniqueness. These values are represented by focus areas like improvisation, spontaneity, personality, and innovation.
By design, none of the criteria specify any techniques, nor are there quantifiable points for performing a specific move. Unlike conventional sports, breaking is judged qualitatively because of its open-ended and artistic nature. In a battle, a breaker only needs to beat the opponent standing in front of them by shifting the balance in their favor.
In the Olympic judging system, this shifting balance is represented by a sliding scale for each of the five core criteria. The judges can move each slider in favor of one breaker or the other. In the end, the breaker who influences the battle more strongly will win. Competitors are free to play to their strengths and use their unique approach in each battle.
As the old saying goes: “It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it.”
