From Bronx house party to Prince Charles: The evolution and unifying power of breaking

What a feelin’: The evolution of breaking moves While the poster card image of breaking nowadays is a B-Boy or B-Girl doing a spin on the floor, initially the dance was all about “top rock” and footwork. Bronx duo Keith and Kevin Smith, known as The Legendary Twins, were the ones who took the moves to the floor, hailing the emergence of “down rock” – a mix of power moves such as spins, twists, and the iconic freeze. Whatever the moves that the dancers brought, the common element was the sense of going to battle on the dancefloor. Fuelling off that raw competitiveness, some prominent crews started to emerge. The Rock Steady Crew, Zulu Kings, Dynamic Rockers and New York City Breakers were among the first to latch onto that battle mentality. They also expanded the range of the dance form with never-before-seen moves like headspins and hand glides. Pop stars and Hollywood took notice. In 1983 – the same year that Michael Jackson set off a global sensation with his moonwalk – Rock Steady Crew were featured on cinema screens in the dance blockbuster Flashdance. One of the crew members, Crazy Legs, aka Richard Colon, even served as Jennifer...