Forty years later, will Yannick Noah finally have a triumphant French successor at the Roland-Garros Central? It will not have escaped your attention, last spring, no Frenchman did better than Arthur Rinderknech (elimination in the second round). Racket in hand, we hear. Because on Saturday (6 p.m.), on an armored Philippe-Chatrier court, with 8,000 spectators expected, the world final of the Red Bull BC One could allow Guyanese Dany Dann, European champion and already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics, just like perhaps Khalil and Kimie, to shine in breaking at Roland-Garros.
The most prestigious global one-on-one breaking competition is indeed back in Paris (after 2008 and 2014), for a 20th edition organized in an iconic location to say the least. The 32 best B-Boys and B-Girls will therefore be taking part on the famous clay court on Saturday, after three days of battles, workshops and masterclasses at the Centquatre in Paris, as part of the Red Bull BC One Camp. Ultimately, this meeting in such a setting is as unexpected for breaking as its appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Already no more breaking in Los Angeles in 2028
“It’s clear that in both cases, I found it surprising,” confirms Kimie (17), who will try to qualify this Thursday (6 p.m. at Centquatre) for the grand final at Roland-Garros. At the same time, I was able to participate in the Red Bull BC One final last year and it took place at the Hammerstein Ballroom, a legendary performance hall in New York. » Quarter-finalist in Manhattan in 2022, the teenager from the Nîmes region, passionate about breaking since the age of 9 thanks to her big brother, is aware of being able to aspire to a sequence of madness, clearly unprecedented in the history of discipline.
“We have unfortunately just learned that breaking will not be continued at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics,” says Kimie. It makes you want to give yourself twice as much during the next qualifications for Paris 2024 which will take place in January. I am aware that there is an incredible opportunity to be seized. It’s a bit now or never because we don’t know if we’ll have another chance to be at the Olympics one day. We can clearly see that many dancers are only motivated by this Paris 2024 deadline.” This is not the case for this French high school student, who trains five hours a day in her garage, alongside classes taken remotely. and regular gatherings at the new French breaking center at Insep. Because Kimie still sees Red Bull BC One as “THE most prestigious battle competition in the world”.
“We were all perplexed twenty years ago by Red Bull”
This is also the feeling of the Lyonnais Lilou (39 years old), crowned world champion in the solo discipline in 2005 and 2009. “The Holy Grail of breaking has remained the Red Bull BC One for twenty years,” assures the former member, and co-founder, of the Pockemon Crew. The production of these events is grandiose, and seeing the 2023 edition arrive at Roland-Garros is crazy. At the same time, it’s even crazier to be at the Olympics. It will give us such visibility that we now have to surf this big wave. » Doesn’t this new (fragile) status of an Olympic discipline come with doubts from the purists of this hip-hop culture? “Some dancers consider that it distorts the discipline a little, given that the battle formats will not be quite the same at the Olympics,” confides Kimie on this subject. Not everyone adapts to these Olympic formats. »
Now president of the urban cultures association Street Off, Lilou draws a parallel with a previous turning point in breaking, twenty years ago, with the arrival of Red Bull. “The discussions and distrust that we can have today in breaking regarding the Olympics, we had the same then seeing a marketing giant descend into our passion. We were all perplexed and in the end, we were treated to some fantastic events thanks to Red Bull, still accessible to as many people as possible. [les places coûtaient entre 10 et 80 euros pour la finale à Roland-Garros]. So, you have to give the product a chance. Personally, I would have liked to be able to add an Olympic medal to my trophy cabinet. » Such a breaking medal could well be collector’s item, if we are to believe the new appetite of the Olympics for cricket, flag football and lacrosse.