AUSTIN, Texas — Dancers faced off in the finals for the BBOY City breakdancing competition at Waterloo Park in Austin this weekend.
Fellow B-boy Romeo Navarro started the event in Austin in the late 1990s.
“BBOY City was founded in 1998 to bring all the crews together and kind of create a movement of – just have a bigger voice for our culture,” Navarro said. “All the dancers come together and at the same time to see who is best.”
Breakdancing gets its roots from the hip-hop movement in the '70s.
“The original element, dance, of hip-hop is breaking,” Navarro said.
During the week’s competition, hundreds of dancers from nearby and far came to battle it out. The competition was split into three categories: Youth 3vs3, All Styles battles and crews.
Just recently, breaking was added as a medal event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Navarro said some competitors this weekend are trying to make it on the Olympic circuit.
But he said beyond the competition, getting to see all the crews come together to dance is the best feeling.
“It’s kind of like a reunion, a celebration, you know. It’s like a tribal celebration, and it just brings the whole community together,” Navarro said.
During the event, they also had graffiti art, deejaying and emceeing/rapping because Navarro said those are all elements of breaking. But he said the energy that dancers young and old brought to the stage was unmatched.
“It’s an amazing electrifying energy that gives you a burst to last you for a couple, like maybe the whole year,” Navarro said.