Paris gets in breakdance groove ahead of 2024 Olympic bow

Dancers executing backflips and freezes, gyros and headspins with gravity-defying agility in front of an adoring audience – welcome to the world breakdance championships.
The staple of urban street culture is set to make a splash on its Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 Games.
And on Saturday night a 4,000 crowd came to be mesmerised by the moves performed by some of the most skilled exponents of ‘breaking’ at Battle Pro in the French capital.
One b-boy, Stephane Sabotinov, took time out before going on stage to celebrate Thursday’s announcement by Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet that breaking was set to become “a future Olympic sport”.
“Breakdance is impressive,” Sabotinov, kitted out in white and black and baseball cap, told AFP.
“There’s the battle side of it, we’re here to engage, but with respect.
“We bump fists at the end even if we’re going to war.”
Sabotinov, one of 120 dancers competing on Saturday evening, hopes breaking’s elevation to the Olympics will erase any “negative sterotypes” surrounding it.
“We come from the street so we’re linked to violence. And because we wear baseball caps we’re clearly delinquents!
“But it’s the opposite, we put all our aggression into dance,” he says.
There’s a family atmosphere at Battle Pro, parents and children mingling with tracksuited teenagers.
Deborah Lombo has turned up with her nine-year-old daughter, Cassie.
“This is the first time we’ve come to watch breakdancing. There’s a warm side, it’s not like classical dance,” said Deborah.
“I think my eyes are going to be opened. The boys are watching football back home so we’re on a girls’ night out” smiled the 29-year-old customer relations manager at a bank.
As the music pounds out, one father takes a precautionary measure and fits his two little daughters with ear plugs.
“The DJ is really important, he’s the one who dictates the tempo and rhythm for the dancers. Almost 80 per cent of DJs are former dancers,” recounts Zoubir, founder of Battle Pro 19 years ago.
One spectator on hand to watch RedBull All Stars win the team competition was Brahim Zaibat.
A celebrity French dancer/choreographer who performed alongside Madonna at halftime at the 2012 SuperBowl, Zaibat gave a cautious welcome to breaking’s Olympic admission.
“It’s good for the dancers, it’s progress, but we’ll have to see how it’s staged, how it’s judged. We’re waiting to see.”