Oleh Kuznetsov, who goes by B-boy Kuzya, performs the freeze ingredient, freezing for a number of seconds in uncommon and intensely troublesome positions.
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WARSAW, Poland — A rocking beat of energetic music fills each nook of a spacious, sun-drenched sports activities advanced within the Polish capital. After some stretching and warming up, three breakers and their coach are working towards advanced dance and acrobatic strikes.
Breaking, often known as breakdancing, is making its Olympic debut as a sport this week in Paris. A staff of feminine and male Ukrainian athletes, known as “B-girls” and “B-boys,” have gone by way of a three-year choice course of on their option to the Summer time Video games and eventually acquired collectively in a coaching camp right here final month.
Kateryna Pavlenko, 29, or B-girl Kate, checked out herself within the mirror as she danced, a glance of rising confidence on her face. “Once we simply knew that breaking goes to be within the Olympics, I had little doubt I’ll do all the things to finish up there,” she mentioned.
Kateryna Pavlenko, 29, aka B-girl Kate, was born in Kharkiv and moved to the U.S. in 2021. As quickly as she discovered that breaking can be within the Olympics, she knew she can be there.
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Pavlenko, one other Ukrainian b-girl, Anna Ponomarenko, and two B-boys got here right here to coach for the Olympic Video games. In a one-on-one breaking competitors, two dancers take turns showcasing their expertise, strikes, character, fashion, and musicality, every attempting to outshine the opposite. After all of the rounds are accomplished, the judges decide the winner.
Ukrainians have identified breaking since Soviet instances, when authorities disapproved of it, which gave it a particular enchantment as a sort of cultural forbidden fruit. They often first found it due to video cassettes of films resembling Breakin’ (1984) that had been introduced house by residents, usually diplomats, who had the correct to journey overseas.
After the Chilly Struggle ended, many youngsters watched battles — or competitions — of American B-boys and B-girls on pirated hip-hop music movies, pausing them to study the strikes and elegance.
Georgii Matiukhin, the staff supervisor, was a type of teenagers.
“We had been a era with none faculty,” Matiukhin mentioned. “We discovered VHS tapes, watched them, and tried to repeat. The primary tapes we watched had been American breakers, Rock Regular Crew from New York and elegance parts from the West Coast.”
Breaker Kateryna Pavlenko (from left), staff supervisor Georgii Matiukhin and coach Denys Semenikhin present their pleasure in representing Ukraine on the Olympics.
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Within the early 2000s, Ukrainian breaking made its option to worldwide battles and championships, the place Ukrainians confirmed good outcomes.
Matiukhin mentioned he believes breaking has gained such recognition and growth in his nation as a result of dance “has at all times been within the blood of Ukrainians.”
Breaking, which was born within the Bronx, now reveals many cultural influences, notably from South Africa and Brazil. Ukrainian people dances, such because the arms-crossed, foot-kicking hopak, are additionally an inspiration to many — particularly the three athletes coaching right here.
Denys Semenikhin, B-boy Gimnast, is the coach of the Ukrainian Olympic breaking staff. He began breaking in 2001 and was born and lives in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. He says the psychological state of athletes isn’t any much less vital than the bodily. The chance to characterize Ukraine through the battle is a good honor but in addition a problem for the athletes, he says.
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Oleh Kuznetsov, or B-boy Kuzya, age 34, says his footwork demonstrates how classical parts from Ukrainian people dances could be interpreted in fashionable breaking. For him, representing Ukraine is a good honor.
“I wish to present that we now have good huge and glossy souls and that I’m representing my nation and my tradition,” he mentioned.
On the Olympics, Ukrainian breakers will compete in teams of athletes in a battle format. The 9 judges will consider the athletes based on standards together with originality, method and “vocabulary” or the number of dance strikes deployed.
In contrast to in determine skating, the place athletes observe the identical choreography for months, even years, in breaking the athletes have no idea the music prematurely. So the power to adapt and improvise is vital.
Oleksandr Gatyn-Lozynskyi, B-boy Lussysky, the staff reserve (left), and Oleh Kuznetsov, B-boy Kuzya, work out and stretch as a part of their preparation for the Olympics.
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Denys Seminikhin, the staff’s coach, says the breakers’ psychological state isn’t any much less vital than bodily health, emphasizing that representing the nation through the battle is a good problem for the athletes.
“Shining is extra vital than profitable,” Pavlenko mentioned. Along with her efficiency, she says she needs to return the world’s consideration to Ukraine.
“In fact, I wish to win a medal,” she provides. “I really feel proud to characterize my nation and I wish to make my folks proud as effectively.”
Oleh Kuznetsov, B-boy Kuzya, trains for the Paris Video games. “I wish to present that we now have good huge and glossy souls and that I’m representing my nation and my tradition,” he says.
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