From the streets of the Big Apple to the Coupole in Biel: the evolution of b-boying, otherwise popularly know as breakdancing, in a nutshell. The winners of the largest and most renowned dance events around the world in the past years came together to compete in a 1:1 battle for the first time ever at the Red Bull BC One. The venue was the Gaskessel Culture Center in Biel. And why there exactly? Since the mid-80s, the first generations of European b-boys have been meeting on these notable premises to partake in the so-called hip-hop jams.
Back to the present—there were as many favourites at the Red Bull BC One as there were contenders in the starting line-up. Jury member Coskun “Tuff Kid“ Erdogandan from Basel deliberated before the competition: “The boys are so good, anyone could win here! I hope that everything goes according to plan and that we’ll see some awesome battles!“ Coskun, who is a very prominent b-boy star performer himself, was not let down. The spectators, as well as Rahzel, the event’s MC who made the trip here from New York exclusively for the Red Bull BC One, were exhilarated. “It was great to be here, the guys had great flow, demonstrated incredible moves and were bursting with power,” exclaimed the man who grew up in the city where b-boying originated – in the heart of South Bronx. There has hardly been an event in the past where so many new moves and freezes, as the figures are called in dancers’ lingo, were demonstrated as at the Red Bull BC One. With such tough competition it came as no surprise that some, although regarded as the absolute favourite breakdancers among many spectators - like Bebe from Miami and Iron Monkey from Los Angeles – had to be eliminated in the first rounds.
Sonic (DEN) and Junior (FRA) were definitely the public’s favourites right from the very first battles. The Danish contender demonstrated an unbelievable sense of rhythm, while the French contender thrilled the crowd with hand acrobatics never seen before—indeed, often seeming to glide in weightlessness. With a tremendous amount of support from the exhilarated crowd, both b-boys advanced to the semi-finals, but then had to admit defeat to Omar and Ronnie from the USA—but not without protest from the spectators. Junior reflected on possible reasons for his elimination. Sonic took it in stride: “It was an honour for me to be here and to be able to compete against dancers like Bebe, who I personally like—extremely well. My final result here is actually secondary.”
In the end, two contenders were left to vie for the winning title in the finals: Ronnie, the 21-year-old US Star Search semi-finalist, and Omar from Del Valle, USA, who is only 18 years old. Both proved to be masters of their genre, with move and freeze combinations that often seemed to defy the laws of gravity. During the three minutes of the final round they outdid one another with acrobatic interludes. But in the end there was only one champion: Rahzel and the jury presented Omar, from Texas, the golden tracksuit especially made for the Champion of Champions.
Songlist for Battles:
Babe Rut
Mexican
Incredible Bongo Band
Apache
James Brown
Funky Drummer
Grand Master Flash
The Message
KRS-One
Step into World
Kurtis Blow
The Breaks
Nicole Bayers
Space Dust
Das EFX
Soul Sonic Force
Looking for the perfect beat
Silver Bullet
20 seconds to comply