Tanzania break dancers to search for Games’ qualifying marks
What you need to know:
- Breaking has been chosen to feature on the 2024 Paris Olympic sports programme as a new sport, along with surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will field competitors in break-dance, also called breaking, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifying events, The Citizen can reveal.
Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC) vice president Henry Tandau said various competitors numbering 50 are currently in intensive training every Tuesday at Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam.
According to Tandau, Tanzania is required to compete in the qualifying events and that only competitors from five countries will get the chance of featuring in the Games.
“Our competitors are currently in intensive training ahead of Africa’s qualifying events. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) now officially regards break-dance as a sport and will be contested in Paris.
“TOC has used that opportunity to include break-dance as among the six sports that we now have. So, besides break-dance, there are women’s football, swimming, athletics, amateur boxing and judo,” said Tandau.
He said each country will send four competitors (two female and two male).
Breaking is a style of dance that originated in the United States in the 1970s.
It took form in the lively block parties in the Bronx, emerging from hip hop culture, and is characterised by acrobatic movements, stylised footwork and the key role played by the DJ (disc jockey) and the MC (master of ceremonies) during battles.
International competitions were first held all over the world in the 1990s, popularising the dance form both among hip hop communities and the general public along the way.
At the 2024 Paris Games, the breaking competition will comprise two events – one for men and one for women – where 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will go face to face in spectacular solo battles.
Athletes will use a combination of power moves – including windmills, the 6-step and freezes – as they adapt their moves and improvise to the beat of the DJ’s tracks in a bid to secure the judges’ votes and take home the first Olympic breaking title.
Breaking made its Olympic debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018.
Following its outstanding success, breaking has been chosen to feature on the 2024 Paris Olympic sports programme as a new sport, along with surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing.
