94-611: Breakin' (also known as Breakdance in the United Kingdom and Break Street '84 in other regions) is a 1983 American breakdancing -themed musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBevoise based on a story by Parker, DeBevoise and Gerald Scaife. The film's setting was inspired by a 1983 documentary titled Breakin' 'n' Enterin' , set in the multi-racial hip hop club Radio-Tron, based out of MacArthur Park in Los Angeles . Many of
188-531: A Volkswagen Golf GTi commercial featured a partly CGI version of Gene Kelly popping and breakdancing to a remix of " Singin' in the Rain " by Mint Royale . The tagline was, "The original, updated." The dance shows So You Think You Can Dance and America's Best Dance Crew arguably brought breakdancing back to the forefront of pop culture in the United States, similar to the popularity it had enjoyed in
282-555: A "breakdown". Then in 1898 he filmed a young street dancer performing acrobatic headspins. Some authors claim that breaking and capoeira have common African origin, while others claim that capoeira directly influenced breaking. There is also evidence of a similar style of dancing in Kaduna, Nigeria, in 1959. B-boy pioneers Richard "Crazy Legs" Colon and Kenneth "Ken Swift" Gabbert, both of Rock Steady Crew, cite James Brown and Kung Fu films (notably Bruce Lee films) as influences. Many of
376-433: A 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews. On August 5, 2003, MGM Home Entertainment released Breakin' on DVD . On April 21, 2015, Shout! Factory released Breakin' , along with its sequel, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo , as a double feature Blu-ray . Several months before the film's release, Shabba Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp, Pop n' Taco, Popin' Pete, DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Lollipop were all featured in
470-545: A Loose" by James Brown, "Apache" by the Incredible Bongo Band, and "The Mexican" by Babe Ruth to name a few. The most common feature of breakdance music exists in musical breaks , or compilations formed from samples taken from different songs which are then looped and chained together by the DJ. The tempo generally ranges between 110 and 135 beats per minute with shuffled sixteenth and quarter beats in
564-506: A breakdancing competition game show hosted by Jay Park , premiered in South Korea on March 18, 2022. A few video games feature breaking, including: Polydor Records Polydor Limited , also known as Polydor Records , is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group . It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in
658-514: A breakdancing event where she finds Ozone and Turbo in the midst of a dance battle that they eventually lose against rivals "Electro Rock." Adam convinces Ozone and Turbo to teach Kelly how to breakdance. After training for a while, the three defeat Electro Rock. Kelly convinces the troupe to enroll in a dance competition. Kelly's agent friend, James, sees what the group can do and agrees to back them. The competition requirements are traditional, socially respected styles of dance. The troupe walks before
752-416: A competition, who influenced local breakers to adopt this shift in style. Notable crews of that time were Fresh Sox from Melbourne and SKB (aka Street Kulture Breakerz), from Western Sydney , who recruited Korean breakers B-Boy Blond and B-Boy Blue. SKB were continuing to compete as of 2023. The breaking scene was peaking around 2010, but dipped between 2013 and 2017. After it was announced that breakdancing
846-521: A different country every week. I tell my story dancing... I've been all around the world, y'all been all around the world wide web... [my friend] Bebe once said that shit, and I co-sign that, Bebe said that. That wasn't me but that's the realist shit I ever heard anybody say. I've been all around the world, you've been all around the world wide web. Although there are some generalities in the styles that exist, many dancers combine elements of different styles with their own ideas and knowledge in order to create
940-651: A hip-hop dance studio called the Hip-Hop Street College. Born in Thailand and raised in the United States, Tuy "KK" Sobil started a community center called Tiny Toones in Phnom Penh , Cambodia in 2005 where he uses dancing, hip-hop music, and art to teach Cambodian youth language skills, computer skills, and life skills (hygiene, sex education, counseling). His organization helps roughly 5,000 youths each year. One of these youths include Diamond, who
1034-629: A home in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park in Harajuku, which still remains an active area for breakdancers and hip-hop enthusiasts. As hip-hop continued to grow in Japan, so did breakdancing and the breakdancing communities. Following the introduction of international breakdancing competitions, Japan began to compete and were praised for their agility and precision, yet they were criticized in the beginning for lacking originality. The Japanese began to truly flourish on
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#17327725586561128-553: A joint venture with Philips in 1962 creating the Grammophon-Philips Group, of which Polydor became a subsidiary label. Late 1960s, Polydor released albums of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers , Cream , The Who , Jimi Hendrix , Bee Gees and Eric Clapton . Polydor opened a US branch in 1969 (in years prior, they licensed their catalogue to Atlantic Records ), but did not become a real presence in
1222-403: A production point of view the style is visually arresting, instantly recognizable, and adducible to fast-editing, while the ethos is multi ethnic, energetic, and edgy, but free from the gangster-laden overtones of much rap-culture imagery. Its usability as a visual cliché benefits sponsorship, despite the relatively small following of the genre itself beyond the circle of its practitioners. In 2005,
1316-611: A regularly and nationally broadcast television show about Hip Hop—hosted by Sidney Duteil —with a focus on Hip Hop dance. This show led to the explosion of Hip Hop dance in France, with many new crews appearing on the scene. Breakdancing in Japan was introduced in 1983 following the release of the movie Wild Style . The release of the movie was accompanied by a tour by the Rock Steady Crew and many Japanese were captivated. Other movies such as Flashdance followed and furthered
1410-579: A resurgence in popular media as people have begun to remember, mock, and praise the film over 20 years later, with the sequel's subtitle in particular becoming a snowclone pejorative nickname to denote an archetypal sequel. In 2019, the documentary Boogaloo Shrimp by Taylor Golonka was released on Amazon Prime . It focuses on the life of Michael Chambers , who played Turbo in Breakin '. Breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking , also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women),
1504-641: A strong indie roster through the Fiction imprint with acts such as Ian Brown , Bright Eyes , Elbow , Stephen Fretwell , White Lies , Kate Nash , Snow Patrol , Filthy Dukes , and Crystal Castles . Polydor has also survived in Canada, becoming the home label for Drake . It also acts as the UK label for American-based acts under Interscope-Geffen-A&M such as Eminem , the All-American Rejects ,
1598-559: A subsidiary label under the new company. Throughout the 1970s, Polydor Incorporated became a major rock label, also releasing records by hit makers such as the Bee Gees , Gloria Gaynor , Atlanta Rhythm Section and Ray, Goodman & Brown . Into the 1980s, Polydor continued to do respectable business, in spite of becoming increasingly overshadowed by its PolyGram sister label Mercury Records . Polydor took over management of British Decca's pop catalogue. A&R manager Frank Neilson
1692-495: A time. The term breakdancing has become an umbrella term that includes California-based dance styles such as popping , locking , and electric boogaloo , in addition to the New York-based b-boying. Goofy A practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy , b-girl , breakdancer , or breaker . The terms b-boy ( ' break-boy ' ), b-girl ( ' break-girl ' ), and breaker were the original terms used to describe
1786-404: A unique style of their own. Breakers can therefore be categorized into a broad style, which generally showcases the same types of techniques. The musical selection for breakdancing is not restricted to hip-hop music as long as the tempo and beat pattern conditions are met. Breakdancing can be readily adapted to different music genres with the aid of remixing . The original songs that popularized
1880-439: Is a more aggressive dance style commonly performed between two partners that feature intricate footwork and hitting motions, mimicking a fight. As a separate dance style, it never gained the same widespread popularity as breaking, except for some very specific moves adopted by breakers who use it as a variation for their toprock. Uprock is also stated to have roots in gangs, as an expressive medium used to settle turf disputes, with
1974-462: Is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Bronx . Breakdancing consists mainly of four kinds of movement— toprock , downrock , power moves , and freezes —and is typically set to songs containing drum breaks , especially in funk , soul , and hip-hop . Its modern dance elements originated among the poor youth of New York during the early 1980s. It
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#17327725586562068-406: Is being shown in changing the traditional image of females in hip-hop culture (and by extension, breakdance culture) to a more positive, empowered role in the modern hip-hop scene. In 2018, Japan's B-Girl Ami became the first B-Girl world champion of Red Bull BC One. Although B-Girl Ayumi had been invited as a competitor for the 2017 championship, it was only until 2018 that a 16 B-Girl bracket
2162-559: Is known as the "Year Zero of Korean breaking". A Korean-American hip hop promoter named John Jay Chon was visiting his family in Seoul and while he was there, he met a crew named Expression Crew in a club. He gave them a VHS tape of a Los Angeles breakdancing competition called Radiotron. A year later when he returned, Chon found that his video and others like his had been copied and dubbed numerous times, and were feeding an ever-growing breaker community. In 2002, Korea's Expression Crew won
2256-439: Is regarded as Cambodia's first b-girl. There are several ways breakdancing came to Canada. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, films such as Breakin ' (1984) , Beat Street (1984), and the immigration of people from Chicago , New York , Detroit , Seattle , and Los Angeles introduced dance styles from the United States. Breakdancing expanded in Canada from there, with crews like Canadian Floormasters taking over
2350-649: Is tied to the birth of hip-hop, whose DJs developed rhythmic break for dancers. The dance form has expanded globally, with an array of organizations and independent competitions supporting its growth. Breaking became an Olympic sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris , as per a December 7, 2020 decision by the International Olympic Committee , after a proposal by the World DanceSport Federation . The origin of
2444-421: Is unfair to make a sweeping generalization about these inequalities because women have begun to play a larger role in the breakdancing scene. Some people have pointed to a lack of promotion as a barrier, as full-time b-girl Firefly stated in a BBC piece: "It's getting more popular. There are a lot more girls involved. The problem is that promoters are not putting on enough female-only battles." Growing interest
2538-631: The Rock Steady Crew has said, "We were known as b-boys"; hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa has said, "B-boys, [are] what you call break boys...or b-girls, what you call break girls." Co-founder of Rock Steady Crew Santiago "Jo Jo" Torres, Rock Steady Crew member Marc "Mr. Freeze" Lemberger, hip-hop historian Fab 5 Freddy , and rappers Big Daddy Kane and Tech N9ne use the term b-boy . Some enthusiasts consider breakdancing an ignorant, and even pejorative, term. Others use it to derogatorily refer to studio -trained dancers who can perform
2632-600: The Universal Zulu Nation to further his message. Some breakers argue that because uprock was originally a separate dance style it should never be mixed with breaking and that the uprock moves performed by breakers today are not the original moves but imitations that only show a small part of the original uprock style. In the music video for 1985's hit single " I Wonder If I Take You Home ", Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam 's drummer Mike Hughes can be seen "rocking" (doing uprock) at 1:24 when viewed on YouTube . By
2726-404: The minuet , Juba , the quadrille , and the waltz may have contributed elements. The Juba, for example, is an African dance where men had dance circles where one man at a time would go and dance, similar to modern-day breaking. This dance also inspired competition, also seen in breaking, because better treatment would be given to the slave who intrigued their master. In the 1877 book Rob Roy on
2820-544: The "robot" style. In the early 1990s, the country experienced a severe economic and political crisis. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the breakdance craze was over and breakdancing became dated. The next wave of interest in breakdancing in Russia would only occur in the late 90s. There are four primary elements that form breakdancing: toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes. … because everybody watches
2914-526: The 1970s and 1980s, the Polydor/PolyGram Senior VP (who was originally the first head of their new at the time rock department) was Jerry Jaffe, who also signed acts such as Motörhead , Dexys Midnight Runners , and The Jam . He also interacted with many famous and successful artists while in that position, including Nick Lowe and John Lennon , as well as going on to work with groups such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Saint Etienne
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3008-562: The 1980s. The American drama television series Step Up: High Water , a series focused on breakdancing and other forms of hip-hop dance, premiered on March 20, 2019. Since breakdancing's popularity surge in South Korea, it has been featured in various TV dramas and commercials. Break is a 2006 South Korean miniseries about a breakdancing competition. Over the Rainbow is a 2006 South Korean drama series centered on different characters who are brought together by breakdancing. Showdown ,
3102-824: The 80's scene, and New Energy opening for James Brown in 1984 at the Paladium in Montreal. Leading into the 90's, crews like Bag of Trix, Rakunz, Intrikit, Contents Under Pressure, Supernaturalz, Boogie Brats, and Red Power Squad, led the scene throughout the rest of the past two decades and counting. In the 2024 Paris Olympics men's gold medal showdown, Canada's Philip "Phil Wizard" Kim swept 3 rounds against France's Danis "Danny Dan" Civil with judges voting 23–4. Although social media such as YouTube cannot be used in China, breakdancing in China has been popular. Many people copy breakdancing videos from abroad and distribute them back to
3196-476: The BC One competition became Bboy Issei in 2016. Issei is widely regarded by many as the best Japanese breakdancer currently and in the eyes of some, the best worldwide. Female bboys, or "bgirls", are also prevalent in Japan and following the introduction of a female BC One competition in 2018, Japanese bgirl Ami Yuasa became the first female champion. Notable Japanese bboy crews include FoundNation, Body Carnival, and
3290-622: The Baltic , John MacGregor describes seeing near Norrköping a "young man quite alone, who was practicing over and over the most inexplicable leap in the air...he swung himself up, and then round on his hand for a point, when his upper leg described a great circle." The engraving shows a young man apparently breaking. The dance was called the Giesse Harad Polska or "salmon district dance". In 1894, Thomas Edison filmed Walter Wilkins, Denny Toliver, and Joe Rastus dancing and performing
3384-587: The Black Eyed Peas , Billie Eilish , Camila Cabello , Gwen Stefani , Dr. Dre , Lana Del Rey , Lady Gaga , Olivia Rodrigo , Selena Gomez and Sting . In 2006, Polydor launched Fascination Records , a music label dedicated to pop music. Both Girls Aloud and Sophie Ellis-Bextor transferred to the new label and created groups such as The Saturdays and Girls Can't Catch . Several pop acts from US label Hollywood Records , such as Demi Lovato , Jonas Brothers , Miley Cyrus , and Selena Gomez &
3478-475: The Charleston, echoing the style of Toprocking/Uprocking. He then executed a backflip, dropped face down to the ground, and transitioned into spins, rotating his body horizontally with the support of his hands and feet. Afterward, he stood up, spun, and performed an Eagle Rock-like jazz dance before exiting the circle. Many elements of breaking developed before the 1970s. Even Colonial American dances such as
3572-492: The Floorriorz. Notable Japanese bgirl crews include Queen of Queens, Body Carnival, and Nishikasai. Japanese B-girl Ami won the first ever Olympic gold medal for breakdancing at the Paris 2024 Olympics . Breakdancing was first introduced to South Korea by American soldiers shortly after its surge of popularity in the U.S. during the 1980s, but it was not until the late 1990s that the culture and dance took hold. 1997
3666-779: The German Deutsche Grammophon -Aktiengesellschaft record plant and company from the German government. The German state had taken over British-held Grammophon as enemy property during World War I. Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Polyphon - Grammophon -Konzern group. It was used as an export label from 1924. After the British and German branches of the Gramophone Company were separated during World War I , Deutsche Grammophon claimed
3760-523: The German branch of EMI . (In Germany, it was impossible to sell the trademark without selling the company.) Polydor remained Deutsche Grammophon's export label, including classical music, in France and the Spanish-speaking world for the remainder of the long-playing era, as a result of language and cultural concerns. DGG established a subsidiary in London called Polydor Records Ltd. in 1954. In
3854-606: The Mercury name. Today, Polydor, along with EMI Records in the UK and Australia and UMG itself in Canada distribute Lost Highway Records ' albums in the Commonwealth realms . In 1972 the British Polydor Records Ltd. was renamed to Polydor Ltd. In the early 1970s, the main source of income for the label was the successful UK band Slade as well as The New Seekers and The Who . At the time, between
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3948-711: The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. Famous breakdancing crews from Korea include Morning of Owl, Jinjo Crew , Rivers Crew and Gamblerz . In the 1980s the Soviet Union was in a state of the Cold War with the countries of the Western Bloc . Soviet people lived behind the Iron Curtain , so they usually learned the new fashion trends emerging in the capitalist countries with some delay. The Soviet Union first learned of breakdancing in 1984, when videotapes of
4042-488: The Olympics were b-girl Raygun (36-year-old university lecturer Rachael Gunn ), and 16-year-old b-boy Jeff "J Attack" Dunne. Neither made it out of the round-robin stage, and Raygun was widely mocked online for her creative "kangaroo hop" moves, with a video clip of her performance going viral, as well as discussed in the press. Both entrants chose to wear their team tracksuit rather than street clothes. Ismael Toledo
4136-926: The Polydor Records name and logo is mostly used on reissues of older material from its 1960s and 1970s heyday. Island Records handles the US distribution of most pre-1998 Polydor releases, including the reissues from the British Decca pop/rock collections, while Republic Records handles reissues from James Brown and the MGM Records and Verve Records pop catalog. However, starting in the 2010s, Interscope Records has been signing acts such as Azealia Banks and Lana Del Rey jointly to Polydor and its logo has been seen on both releases. Record producer Harold Shedd founded Polydor's Nashville, Tennessee , division in 1994, which specialised in country music . Among
4230-757: The Scene were also signed to Fascination. In 2008, A&M Records UK was founded as an imprint of Polydor UK. The same year Polydor obtained distribution of The Rolling Stones ' back catalogue as well as new releases. With the establishment of A&M Records UK, A&M Records' Canadian division became a separate entity for the first time since the formation of Universal Music Group. Polydor, meanwhile, continued to distribute Interscope, Geffen and selected Lost Highway releases in Canada through Universal Music Canada , as it does to this day. Polydor UK rejected British singer-songwriter Raye ’s album My 21st Century Blues and one of its lead singles Escapism for release under
4324-671: The US record industry until its purchase of the recording contract and back catalogue of R&B performer James Brown in 1971, and the absorption of the MGM Records label by its parent company PolyGram in 1972. In 1970, Polydor acquired the Hong Kong–based Diamond Records , which had been owned and founded by the local Portuguese merchant Ren da Silva in the late 1950s. In 1972, The Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG) reorganised to create PolyGram , from Poly dor and Phono Gram . The Polydor label continued to run as
4418-421: The United States. In turn, Polydor distributes Interscope releases in the United Kingdom. Polydor Records Ltd. was established in London in 1954 as a British subsidiary of German company Deutsche Grammophon/Schallplatte Grammophon GmbH. It was renamed Polydor Ltd. in 1972. The company is usually mentioned as "Polydor Ltd. (UK)", or a similar form, for holding copyrights. Notable current and past artists signed to
4512-490: The acrobatic moves, such as the flare , show clear connections to gymnastics. However, it was not until the 1970s that breaking developed as a defined dance style in the United States. These precursing elements began to take form in the early 1970s, as breaking began to grow at parties featuring DJs and instrumental records. It was at these parties that DJ Kool Herc , a Bronx-based DJ pioneer, developed rhythmic breakdown sections by simultaneously switching between two copies of
4606-589: The acts signed to Polydor Nashville were Shane Sutton, Tasha Harris, 4 Runner , the Moffatts , Chely Wright , Mark Luna, Clinton Gregory , Amie Comeaux , along with Toby Keith and Davis Daniel , who transferred from Mercury Nashville in 1994. The Nashville division was renamed A&M Nashville in March 1996 and closed in September of the same year, as PolyGram consolidated all its Nashville operations under
4700-543: The artists and dancers from said documentary, including Ice-T (who makes his film debut as a club MC), and Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers , went straight from Breakin' 'n' Enterin' to star in Breakin' . The film's soundtrack featured the hits " Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us " by Ollie & Jerry , "Freakshow on the Dance Floor" by The Bar-Kays and the UK Top 20 hit "Body Work" by Hot Streak. Breakin'
4794-439: The boardwalk at Venice Beach . Kelly is enamored with their dancing, and all three become friends. This leads to their becoming their own dance troupe. Franco tells Kelly that breakdancing is low-class and not a real art. He is disrespectful to Ozone and Turbo, and makes inappropriate advances on Kelly. She quits training with Franco. Later, Kelly attends a dance audition and is shut down by harsh directors. Kelly then wanders to
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#17327725586564888-608: The breakdance craze. Crazy-A, the leader of the Tokyo chapter of the Rock Steady Crew, was dragged to see Flashdance by his then girlfriend and walked out captivated by the dance form and became one its earliest and one of the most influential breakers in Japanese history. Groups began to spring up as well, with early groups such as Tokyo B-Boys, Dynamic Rock Force (American kids from Yokota AB), B-5 Crew, and Mystic Movers popping up in Harajuku . The breakdancing community in Japan found
4982-543: The capitalists", explaining that the dance was invented by Black Americans from poor neighborhoods. In 1985 the performance of Czech Jiří Korn was shown in the program "Morning Post", and became one of the first official demonstrations of breakdancing on Soviet television. With the support of the Leninist Young Communist League in 1986 breakdance festivals were held in the cities of the Baltic republics ( Tallinn , Palanga , Riga ). The next step
5076-451: The dance form borrow significantly from progressive genres of funk , soul , disco , electro , and jazz funk . A musical canon of these traditional b-boy songs have since developed, songs that were once expected to be played at every b-boying event. As the dance form grew, this standardization of classic songs prompted innovation of dance moves and break beats that reimagined the standard melodies. These songs include "Give It Up or Turn It
5170-402: The dancers who performed to DJ Kool Herc 's breakbeats. The obvious connection of the term breaking is to the word breakbeat . DJ Kool Herc has said that the term breaking was 1970s slang for ' getting excited ' , ' acting energetically ' or ' causing a disturbance ' . Most pioneers and notable practitioners prefer the older terms b-boying and breaking . Frosty Freeze of
5264-518: The early 1960s, orchestra leader Bert Kaempfert signed unknowns Tony Sheridan and The Beatles , credited as The Beat Brothers , to Polydor. Popular International entertainers such as James Last , Bert Kaempfert, Kurt Edelhagen , Caterina Valente and the Kessler Twins appeared on the Polydor label, as well as many French, Spanish and Latin-American figures. Siemens entered into
5358-465: The early 1990s, "Australia was a world leading power move country", according to 2020s award-winning breaker Kid Tek. Stars of the time included B-Boy All Stars from Brisbane , who appeared on the American talent show Star Search in 1992. During the 2000s, the style evolved from focussing on power moves back to foundational styles. Influential Bronx breaker Alien Ness visited Melbourne to judge
5452-412: The film also features the previously released songs "Boogie Down" by Al Jarreau , " Tour de France " by Kraftwerk , " Beat Box " by Art of Noise and "Tibetan Jam" by Chris "The Glove" Taylor. Breakin' opened in 1,069 venues on May 4, 1984 and outgrossed Sixteen Candles , which had more screens (1,240). The film ranked number one in the box office, earning $ 6,047,686. By the end of its run,
5546-474: The film grossed $ 38,682,707 in the domestic box office, making it the eighteenth top-grossing film of 1984. Roger Ebert , who reviewed the film while it was in theatres, gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, stating that the movie was "a stiff and awkward story, interrupted by dance sequences of astonishing grace and power." Ebert praised the dancing and the chemistry of the stars but slammed the movie's screenplay and supporting characters. Breakin' currently holds
5640-524: The films Breakin ' , Breakin' 2 and Beat Street got into the country. In the USSR these movies were not released officially. They were brought home by Soviet citizens who had the opportunity to travel to Western countries (for example, by diplomats). Originally, the dance became popular in big cities: Moscow and Leningrad , as well as in the Baltic republics (some citizens of these Soviet republics had
5734-536: The final financially profitable film released by Cannon. Breakin' was released to theaters on May 4, 1984, and despite receiving negative reviews from critics, it was a box office success. A theatrical sequel entitled Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo was released later in the same year. Protagonist Kelly "Special K" Bennett is a young dancer training under instructor Franco in Venice, California. Through her friend Adam, Kelly meets two street dancers, Ozone and Turbo on
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#17327725586565828-581: The height of breakdancing's popularity, Donnie Yen starred in a Hong Kong film called Mismatched Couples in which he performed various b-boy and breakdancing moves. The 2000s saw a resurgence of films and television series featuring breakdancing that continued into the early 2010s: Several documentary films have been made about breakdancing: In the United States, Breakdancing is widely referred to in TV advertising, as well as news, travelogue, and documentary segments, as an indicator of youth/street culture. From
5922-524: The international stage following the breakdancing career of Taisuke Nonaka, known simply as Taisuke. Taisuke began to dominate the international scene and led the Japanese team Floorriorz to win the BOTY in 2015 against crew Kienjuice from Belarus. Despite Taisuke's successful career in group competitions, he failed to win the solo Red Bull BC One competition, an individual breakdancing championship that had continued to evade Japanese bboys. The first Japanese to win
6016-452: The judges and win the competition. The troupe's popularity skyrockets, and all three members continue dancing professionally and in the community. In a mid-credits scene, Special K, Ozone, and Turbo meet James some time after the competition, who informs them about a new phenomenon known as "the electric boogaloo ." According to the 2014 documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films , Menahem Golan of Cannon Films
6110-399: The judges in tuxedos, top hats and white gloves to give the impression of traditional dancers. Just before the audition starts, they rip off the sleeves of their shirts and show their true style. The judges are initially shocked and disapproving, yet within two minutes of their audition, the judges recognize the troupe's talent and allow them to continue. The troupe earns a standing ovation from
6204-740: The label include Rainbow , Siouxsie And The Banshees , Yngwie J. Malmsteen , the Cure , James Brown , Ray, Goodman & Brown , Atlanta Rhythm Section , John Mayall , Deep Purple , Cream , the Moody Blues , the Who , Jimi Hendrix , Bee Gees , Lana Del Rey , Stephen Fretwell , the Jam , Style Council , the Shadows , James Last , Eric Clapton , Gloria Gaynor , Level 42 , Sam Fender , S Club , Girls Aloud and Ellie Goulding . Polydor Records
6298-766: The label, leading her to release the former independently. At the 2024 Brit Awards , Raye received 6 awards, all for works released with labels other than Polydor, breaking the record for the most nominations received by a single artist in a year. In December 2022, Universal Music Japan reorganized Universal J, which previously was known as Universal Polydor until 2002. The label was split into two record labels, UJ and Polydor Records. The changes took place on 1 January 2023. Polydor's Japanese division has three sub-labels which are Perfume Records , Asse!! Records ( HY 's exclusive label), and Utahime Records ( Akina Nakamori 's exclusive label). It also has distribution rights for NHK Records. The first release under Polydor in Japan
6392-557: The late 1980s and 1990s. Later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the label was also home to The Who and The Jam (as well as its successor act The Style Council ). Although Polydor's American branch is nearly inactive, in the United Kingdom Polydor remains one of the most prominent labels in the country—with artists such as Take That , Cheryl , Duffy , Girls Aloud , S Club , The Saturdays , Kaiser Chiefs , Ellie Goulding , Mabel and Lawson . Polydor also has
6486-476: The mainland. Although it is still an underground culture in China because of some restrictions, breakdancing was reported to be a growing presence in 2013. Breakdancing took off in France in the early 1980s with the creation of groups such as the Paris City Breakers (who styled themselves after the well-known New York City Breakers ). In 1984, France became the first country in the world to have
6580-435: The moves but who do not live a "b-boy lifestyle". Still others use the term breakdancer to disparage those who learn the dance for personal gain rather than for commitment to the culture. Many accuse the media of presenting a simplified version of the dance that focuses on "tricks" instead of culture. According to dance researcher Harri Heinilä, “It has been clear that the 'Breakdance' and other Hip Hop-related dances at
6674-411: The music video for Chaka Khan 's remake of the 1979 Prince song " I Feel for You ". Ice-T, who had a small role in both Breakin' and its sequel Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo and was featured on the soundtrack to both films (helping introduce his music to a worldwide audience), was quoted as saying he considers the film and his own performance in it to be "wack". Breakin' and its sequel have had
6768-628: The next few years, Polydor tried to keep itself afloat with new artist signings, new releases, and reissues, while still becoming more and more dormant. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by Seagram and absorbed into its Universal Music Group . During the consolidation of these two music giants, Polydor's United States operations were folded into Interscope-Geffen-A&M and Universal Records , while its overseas branch remained intact, with its records continuing to be distributed domestically through Interscope and A&M. Today, in North America,
6862-399: The now standard 16:9. Erik Abbey was the choreographer for the breakdancing scenes. The soundtrack of the film was released by Polydor Records in 1984. The album contains the first performance on an album by rapper Ice-T (who had previously released some 12" singles), produced by DJ Chris "The Glove" Taylor & David Storrs. Despite not being included on the official soundtrack,
6956-517: The opportunity to watch Western television). The attitude of the authorities to the new dance that came from the West was negative. The situation changed in 1985 with Mikhail Gorbachev who came to power and with the beginning of the Perestroika policy. The first to legalize the new dance were dancers from the Baltic republics. They presented this dance as the "protest against the arbitrariness of
7050-504: The percussive pattern. History credits DJ Kool Herc for the invention of this concept later termed the break beat . Similar to other hip-hop subcultures, such as graffiti writing, rapping , and DJing , breakers are predominantly male, but this is not to say that women breakers, b-girls, are invisible or nonexistent. Female participants, such as Daisy Castro (also known as Baby Love of Rock Steady Crew), attest that females have been breakdancing since its inception. Critics argue that it
7144-601: The prestigious international breakdancing competition Battle of the Year , exposing the skill of the country's breakers to the rest of the world. Since then, the Korean government has capitalized on the popularity of the dance and has promoted it alongside Korean culture. R-16 Korea is the most well-known government-sponsored breakdancing event, and is hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization and supported by
7238-677: The rights to the Nipper -dog and gramophone trademark for Germany, where HMV recordings were to be released under the Electrola trademark replacing the company lost during the war. In turn, Deutsche Grammophon records exported from Germany were released on the Polyphon Musik and Polydor labels . New foreign branches were founded, for example in Austria, Denmark, Sweden and France. In 1941, Deutsche Grammophon (including Polydor)
7332-599: The same record, creating " breaks ". By looping the records and their simultaneous breaks, he was able to prolong the break and provide a rhythmic and improvisational base for dancers: Herc tells Jeff Chang in his book Can't Stop Won't Stop (2005), "And once they heard that, that was it, wasn't no turning back. They always wanted to hear breaks after breaks after breaks after breaks." Breaking prompted dance battles and dance sessions known as "cyphers", competitive circles in which participants took turns dancing while surrounded by onlookers. The Five-Percent Nation first used
7426-422: The same videos online, everybody ends up looking very similar. The differences between individual b-boys, between crews, between cities/states/countries/continents, have largely disappeared. It used to be that you could tell what city a b-boy was from by the way he danced. Not anymore. But I've been saying these things for almost a decade, and most people don't listen, but continue watching the same videos and dancing
7520-515: The same way. It's what I call the "international style", or the "Youtube style". Luis "Alien Ness" Martinez, the president of Mighty Zulu Kings, expressed a similar frustration in a separate interview three years earlier with "The Super B-Beat Show" about the top five things he hates in breakdancing: Oh yeah, the last thing I hate in breakin'… Yo, all y'all motherfuckin' internet b-boys... I'm an internet b-boy too, but I'm real about my shit. Everybody knows who I am, I'm out at every fucking jam, I'm in
7614-498: The term breakdance is unknown. It was used by hiphop pioneer and breakdancer Kurtis Blow in a 1980 profile by Bill Adler in the New York Daily News . The term is frequently used to refer to the dance in popular culture and in the mainstream entertainment industry. The term break has been used in music, particularly jazz music since the 1920s, in which a solo musician is given a break in which to play solo for
7708-474: The term "cypher" to denote circles of people. Crews including the Rock Steady Crew or Mighty Zulu Kingz began to form, in response to the growth of competitive cyphers which sometimes featured cash-prizes, titles, and bragging rights. Breaking started as toprock , footwork-oriented dance moves performed standing up, but as dance crews began to experiment, a separate dance form known as uprock further influenced breaking. Uprock , also known as Brooklyn uprock,
7802-598: The umbrella of PolyGram Label Group (PLG), a newly constructed "super label" specifically designed to oversee the operations of PolyGram's lesser performing imprints, which included Island Records , London Records , Atlas Records and Verve Records at the time. In 1994, as Island Records recovered from its sales slump, PolyGram dissolved most of PLG into it. Meanwhile, Polydor Records and Atlas Records merged, briefly called "Polydor/Atlas", and began operating through A&M Records , another PolyGram subsidiary. In 1995, Polydor/Atlas became simply Polydor Records again. Over
7896-462: The very least resemble or even were inherited from earlier African American dances, which have been collectively called jazz dance since this term appeared by 1917 and was established by the end of the 1920s." For example, in 1942, ‘The Mills Brothers' short film The Caravan featured a dance sequence that bears a striking resemblance to modern breakdancing. The dancer entered the center of a circle formed by spectators, starting with movements similar to
7990-556: The winner deciding the location of a future battle. Although some disagree that breaking ever played a part in mediating gang rivalry, the early growth of breaking still primarily served to assist the poor youth of the Bronx to stray away from gang violence and rather expel their time towards an artistic dance. One example is former gang leader Afrika Bambaataa , who hosted hip-hop parties and vowed to specifically use hip-hop to support children away from gang violence. He would eventually form
8084-586: Was able to score a major top ten hit in March 1981 for the label with "Do the Hucklebuck" by Coast to Coast as well as signing Ian Dury and Billy Fury to the company. In 1984, the company name was parodied in the rockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap (whose soundtrack album was distributed by Polydor), where "Polymer Records" was the band's record company. By the early 1990s, Polydor had begun to underperform. PolyGram subsequently trimmed most of Polydor's staff and roster, and shifted it to operate under
8178-434: Was featured as part of the main event. In the past 50 years, various films have depicted the dance. 1975's (filmed in 1974) Tommy included a breakdancing sequence during the "Sensation" number. Later, in the early 1980s, several films depicted breakdancing including Fame , Wild Style , Flashdance , Breakin' , Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo , Delivery Boys , Krush Groove , and Beat Street . In 1985, at
8272-457: Was founded on 2 April 1913 by German Polyphon-Musikwerke AG in Leipzig and registered on 25 July 1914 (Nr. 316613). The label was founded as Firma Brachhausen & Riesener in 1887 by Gustav Adolf Brachhausen and Ernst Paul Riessner, for manufacturing their new mechanical disc-playing music box Polyphon , invented in 1870. During World War I on 24 April 1917, Polyphon-Musikwerke AG acquired
8366-465: Was going to be included as a sport in the 2024 Olympics , its popularity surged again. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–21, because of social distancing measures, breakers started doing battle online, via Zoom or Instagram. Australian breakers started developing more creative and innovative styles, and "pushing international barriers", according to Kid Tek. The qualifying Australian entrants to
8460-486: Was inspired to create this film after his daughter saw a breakdancer perform in Venice Beach, California . Golan pressured the production crew to complete the film before Orion Pictures released their breakdancing film Beat Street . Interesting trivia: Although the movie is released for home entertainment it is always only in the full screen version missing the full effect of the many dance moves and beach scenes of
8554-461: Was one of the final Cannon film productions released by MGM/UA . After release, MGM and Cannon dissolved their distribution deal, reportedly over the potentially X-rated content in John Derek 's film Bolero and MGM's then-policy of not theatrically releasing X-rated material, forcing Cannon to become an in-house distribution company once again. Because of this, Breakin' is considered to be
8648-460: Was one of the first breakers in Brazil. In 1984, he moved to the United States to study dance. While in the U.S. he discovered breakdancing and ended up meeting breaker Crazy Legs who personally mentored him for the four years that followed. After becoming proficient in breakdancing, he moved back to São Paulo and started to organize crews and enter international competitions. He eventually opened
8742-463: Was purchased by Siemens & Halske . Polydor became a popular music label in 1946, while the new Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft label became a classical music label in 1949. The previously used label, Grammophon, was disbanded. DGG gave, by an agreement dated 5 July 1949, an exclusive license from 1 July 1951 to use the Nipper-dog with gramophone to the original owner's company Electrola ,
8836-558: Was the spreading of the similar festivals to other Soviet republics. Festivals were held in Donetsk (Ukraine), Vitebsk (Belarus), Gorky (Russia). Breakdancing could be seen in Soviet cinema: Dancing on the Roof (1985), Courier (1986), Publication (1988). By the end of the decade the dance became almost ubiquitous. At almost any disco or school dance one could see a person dancing in
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