Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance developed by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx borough of New York City. [1][2][3][4] Break dancing, also called breaking or B-boying, form of dance, fashioned by African Americans and Latinos, that includes stylized footwork and athletic moves such as head spins or back spins. Want to learn more about breaking?

Understanding the Context

Then check out our comprehensive rundown on the history of the dance style and discover unique facts about the art form. Breaking (also called b-boying or b-girling) is an urban dance style which originated during the mid-1970s in the Bronx borough of New York City. The earliest innovators of breaking were African-American and Puerto Rican youths. From the streets of New York to the biggest stage in sports: breaking (also known as breakdancing) is an urban dance style that originated in the Bronx borough of New York in the 1970s.

Key Insights

Breakdancing—more commonly called breaking, b-boying, or b-girling—is a style of street dance that is athletic, energetic, and improvisational. It’s composed of a few elements: toprock, drops, downrock, power moves, and freezes. But how did this dance come to exist in the first place, and how did it develop over the years? In this article we will tell you the full story of the history of breakdance. Australia's ‘Raygun' goes viral for performance in debut of Olympic breaking Following her performance in the new Olympic sport, Rachael Gunn's dancing quickly took over social media