World Bboy Battle Championships in New York City

TRIBECA, NEW YORK CITY -

The 2019 World Bboy Battle Championships took place inside the Borough of Manhattan Community College Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Sat. Dec. 21. Some of the world’s top bboys danced to become the champion and win the grand prize of $2,000. The tournament winner was bboy Thesis. After bboying began with the birth of hip hop in the 1970s in the Bronx, New York City, bboying, pending a final vote in Dec. 2020, could become an Olympic sport appearing for the first time in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. It debuted in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. Due to the efforts of bboys and event promoters keeping bboying alive, the art form has grown worldwide.

At World Bboy Battle Championships or WBB, there were 12 dancers to start. To win the title, a bboy had to win four levels of dance competition. Each level consisted of three rounds each testing different elements of bboying – powermoves, footwork and freestyling.

Frankie “Sirswift” Hernandez founded WBB based in New York City in 2015 to expose breaking to more audiences, turn breaking from a dance into a sport and to promote the bboys. He incorporated into his shows a unique scoring system and cash prizes for the performers. Hernandez was a professional bboy who danced and toured with the legendary hip hop group Run DMC in the early 1980s as a member of the Magnificent Force Crew.

Between the dancing levels, event host and bboy pioneer Zulu Gremlin interviewed the bboys on stage and children who were aspiring bboys in the audience. Former WBB champion El Nino was one of the two dance judges alongside bboy Jiggz. DJ King Uprock played music on the turntables on stage.

Camera: Nikon D90. Nikon 18-55 mm zoom lens. Nikon 70-300 mm telephoto zoom lens.

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