Charleston B-Boy shares his passion for breaking ahead of Olympic Games debut

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – From the streets of New York to the world stage — breaking, also known to some as break dancing, is making its debut in this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.

“Once you start, you become a character,” explains Devante Powell, who has a passion for the art of breaking.

The urban style dance originated in the United States in the 1970s.

“It was invented by kids, it was invented by teenagers who when they did this, they were doing this to escape the hardship that was going on in their lives at the time and they had no idea it was going to go to the Olympics,” said Powell, who first took an interest in breaking 14 years ago.

“We saw this movie called ‘You Got Served,’ and there was a lot of dancing in the movie, but specifically when we saw people doing these handstands and headstands, we were like aw man, we got to do that and we would watch this movie back in slow-mo, fast forward, rewind so much that the disc would just get so many scratches on it. Our mom was so mad, but then she took us to go buy another copy of the movie. We did it all over again and we were just hooked,” shared Powell.

Now at age 28, Powell’s passion hasn’t skipped a beat.

“Me personally, I like the freezes, the holds, but I’m very much the type of person where if the music is right, I don’t know what’s going to come out of it,” said Powell.

You can sometimes catch Powell and his crew on Saturday mornings at the Charleston Farmer’s Market.

“What a lot of people that see us there don’t know is that we would dance at the square and people would come and, you know, they would leave tips in the bucket, and we would turn around, take the money and fly to events to represent our city, represent Charleston,” explained Powell.

When Powell started, he didn’t have a studio or practice space. With every beat the next generation dances to, he hopes his next steps help pave the way for those following his.

“My favorite advice that I would give my younger self if he was hesitant about starting breaking would be just start dancing and see what happens. That’s it and that’s again, it’s so freeing, so you could literally fall into a move, and this move leads into another move, and it leads into another move,” shared Powell.

Although excited about the new event taking the world stage for the first time, Powell does have some concerns.

“I don’t want the artistry to get lost in the physical ability because breaking is extremely athletic and a lot of times when people see breaking, they’re just waiting for the big moves, they’re waiting for the head spins, they’re waiting for the windmills, they’re waiting for this, but hopefully with it going to the Olympics and the people that are involved in it, they can educate the audience and show them like, oh this footwork pattern is very technical, oh this moment he had with the music was amazing, but the power moves are also incredible,” explained Powell.

The sport is much more than flips and tricks, it’s an outlet for breakers like Powell who say it allows him to express who he is through movement.

“It’s breaking and it’s here to stay,” said Powell.

Powell is co-hosting a hip-hop event next month. “The Elements” will take place on Saturday, July 20th at Charleston Pour House from 6 p.m. until midnight.

There will be performers, DJs, and a breaking battle for a 2 vs 2 battle for $2,000. Tickets are $25.

For more information click here.