Video: Dartmouth Break Dancer Attempts To Set Guinness Record At Tiverton Dance Studio

An original b-boy came to Tiverton and left the dance floor smelling lemony fresh.

on Main Road was blasting early 1990s hip-hop break dance music in its studios on Tuesday afternoon. However, it was not for a regular dance class. Instead, the owner opened up her studio so her little brother could work toward attaining a lofty goal in his craft: setting the Guinness Book of World Records in backspins.

Taylor Lomba, 17, of Dartmouth, MA, is mailing Guinness his latest videos taken on Tuesday of him breakdancing, particularly, doing the backspin (where a break dancer sprawls then quickly curls up in a tight ball on the floor while spinning fast).

Lomba, his break dance group Swift Charakterz Crew, and his supporters, are staking the claim that he owns the highest number of backspin rotations in the world. Awaiting a response from Guinness, Lomba reached 55 and 61 spins on Tuesday. He needed 50 backspins to set the record, he said, but knows he needs to surpass 83, a number he reached last June.

Lomba’s dedication and swagger are that of a b-boy, or break-boy (hip-hop vernacular for a male breakdancer). The acrobatic scene of break dancing started over two decades ago in the boroughs of New York City, as the entire hip-hop music scene started to grow.

In 2011, there are b-boys and b-girls worldwide. Individual dance styles mimic the dancers’ region and influences. As the moves continue to expand, the culture’s roots are grounded: expressing one’s style over a looped, or remixed, hip-hop beat.

Lomba started his quest for the record in August 2009. He began breaking in 2005 when Matthew “Razz” Rasmussen, of Gardner, MA, met Lomba’s older sister Sara Couto. Rasmussen has been teaching hip-hop dance classes at the Tiverton studio since 2006.

“I gave him 12 to 13 moves to think about,” Razz said. “He was awkward in the beginning.”

Razz said Lomba went into the family basement and practiced repeatedly. He would also go to the Community Development Recreation Center in Fall River and practice.

“He perfected it,” Razz said. “With his mentality to innovate, he created new moves in the process. It’s when you see people completely manipulating gravity from the hands to the feet to the elbows. He’s a beast.”

Lomba, Razz and the Swift Charakterz Crew have competed regionally against other b-boy crews in Boston and New York City, but want to expand their reach. Their crew is comprised of break dancers from Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fall River and Providence. Lomba attaining the Guinness Record should aid that cause, as well as bring more attention to their video and online contributions to YouTube, www.bboy.org and other forums.

Before attempting the record, Lomba said the world record was stated to be 35 backspins.

“That made me think, ‘I can do that,’” he said.

Last spring and summer Lomba reached 71 rotations in a backspin, then 83. He posted the videos online and said the only attention he’s received is mostly from b-boys in Korea.

“It was unofficial on YouTube,” he said. “Someone in Bulgaria argued it.”

When he approached Guinness about the record in 2009, they said there was not a category established and were not interested in creating it.

After last summer, Lomba had their attention and sent him a packet.

“They ask for a whole bunch of stuff,” Lomba said about Guinness.

Couto said she’s proud of her brother and that he’s an unbelievable athlete.

“He’s so smart, what he sets his mind to,” she said. “He has an amazing drive.”

Couto added that her brother's a top student at Dartmouth High School and has already been accepted to some colleges and universities. He returned from a competition in Ohio last week, playing percussion in the school’s indoor band.

Lomba continues to practice, with Razz coaching him. The backspins are done best when he has a puddle of water on the dance floor and a decent beat to break to. Razz also adds extra lubrication and sprayed Pledge on Lomba's back, with the hopes of gaining more torque and more rotations.