Great Kiwi Break Off in Hamilton offers first steps to new Olympic sport

Sergey Chernyshev, the Russian breakdancer known as Bumblebee, won the gold medal for boys at the first Youth Olympic breakdancing event. The inclusion of unconventional sports in future Olympics is creating a new breed of aspiring medallists. Photo / Emile Ducke, The New York Times

Potential Olympians have the opportunity to take their first step towards Paris 2024 this weekend when the Great Kiwi Break Off takes place in Kirikiriroa.

Breaking (often previously referred to as breakdancing) has been chosen to feature on the Paris 2024 Olympic programme after successfully making its debut at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in 2018. Sixteen B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will face off in the Olympic competition and the first step for Kiwi dancers to that stage takes place at Victoria on the River on Sunday.

Organiser Dujon Cullingford says Sunday’s event is the first of four across the motu where competitors will be able to accumulate ranking points.

At the end of the four events, the Aotearoa New Zealand Breaking Association will nominate their top dancers to the New Zealand Olympic Committee and seek support for them to attend international qualifying events in the hope of doing enough to be selected for Paris.

However, he acknowledges it’s not an easy road.

“We hope our athletes use the opportunities well on the road to Paris and do the best they can. We’ll be bringing the community together to support our dancers’ journey,” he says.

Great Kiwi Break Off organiser Dujon Cullingford. The event is at 3pm on Sunday at Victoria on the River in Hamilton. Photo / Supplied

The Break Off format will feature one-on-one knockout battles, where “basically the crowd counts down three, two, one and the judges point to the winner. If there are 16 dancers it’ll get down to one pretty quick.”

He was always keen on Kirikiriroa hosting a ranking event.

“When I started breaking in 2000, the guys who were the best in Hamilton at that time were competing against the best in New Zealand and we’ve always had a strong scene here, pretty much since the 80s. So this one, we wanted to have it in the Tron to start the first event off.

“I think this whole Olympics thing, the competition is amazing but what it gives us is the ability to leverage off it, to kind of rekindle the flames of that hip-hop culture across the country.”

The Great Kiwi Break Off is free and takes place at Victoria on the River at 3pm Sunday. It is supported by the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival and the Hamilton Central Business Association.