KOCHI: With the potential inclusion of a new breakdance event in the 2024 Olympics, artists who once rocked the stages in Kerala are hopeful of a new wave. Kerala’s history of breakdancing took birth in the 1980s. Noted for its acrobatic moves, the western dance form eventually gave way to cinematic dance in the mid-1990s.Breakdancing has every chance of a strong comeback even if not for the Olympics inclusion, feels Johnson master, a pioneer breakdancer and trainer based in Fort Kochi in Ernakulam.
“People are bored of movie dance routines which are a mix of elements from many dance forms. As an art form, breakdance is original and still has the power to draw crowds. Just a couple of good shows will be enough to rekindle people’s interest,” he says. Johnson, 60, started performing as a teenager. He started with disco and switched over to breakdancing after being inspired by a video in 1982.
“That was the time when VCRs were a wonder. Along with some friends, I went to the house of an expatriate returnee at Choornikkara where we saw a breakdancing choreography for the first time,” he said. Days of intense training followed and their first performance at the local church heralded a breaking wave in Kerala. Johnson later established the Cochin Disco Boys troupe and also served as a trainer at the Cochin Kalabhavan for eight years.
He trained thousands of dancers before retiring from an active coaching career. Johnson now runs a repair shop of high-end cycles. Society’s patronage for cinematic dance triggered the replacement breakdancing easily, feels K Santhosh Kumar aka Babu master, founder and chief trainer of Footloosers, Kerala’s first breakdancing academy in Thiruvananthapuram. “Those who showed interest in breakdancing were mostly from low-income groups and many of them attended classes without the knowledge of their parents. There was some sort of an ill perception about breakdance in the society,” he said.
Babu, 53, choreographic director for a few popular Malayalam flicks is still providing training. The transition from disco to breakdancing to cinematic dance and now hip-hop is amazing, says Babu who does not hide his special love for breaking. “Unlike cinematic dance, you cannot become a good breakdancer with the help of YouTube videos. Perfection of moves is key,” adds Babu.
Filmmaker Vinod A K, who has done extensive research on breakdancing opined that the dance form has a special place in Kerala’s history. However he is unsure of its revival. “Breakdancing was once highly popular and youngsters were its biggest fans. It was a transition from disco and now you have versions like hip- hop.” Vinod’s soon to be released ‘Moonwalk’ is based on Kerala’s breakdancing tradition. Vinod co-authored its script along with Mathew Varghese and Sunil Gopalakrishnan.