World's biggest breaking competition hits San Diego
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Don't try this at home. GIF: Courtesy of Red Bull Media House
If you didn't know San Diego has a big breakdancing scene, you're about to find out.
The big picture: The world's largest breakdancing competition, Red Bull BC One, is coming to San Diego this weekend, and our own local breakers are representing.
Driving the news: It'll all go down Saturday at the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier.
- Olympic bronze medalist Victor Montalvo will be there, along with hometown B-Girl Mar and B-Boy Lprad.
How it works: Red Bull BC One is one-on-one battles divided by gender. Judges decide who wins each battle and, ultimately, the National Champions title.
- Breakers earned spots through regionals or last-chance preliminaries, or received wildcard invitations from Red Bull.
- The winners this weekend will be announced as the USA National Champions and move on to the World Final prelims in Toronto for a chance to battle on the Red Bull BC One World Final Stage.
Mar (Marlene García) has been breaking for more than 10 years and said she first fell in love with it at Culture Shock in Old Town.
- She saw a breaker doing windmills and thought, "I can do that."
- Already an experienced contemporary dancer, she started taking breakdancing classes.
- During COVID, she went all in, training all day "because I had nothing else to do," she told Axios.
This year, she won a spot at the championships.
- "I felt really hungry, I just wanted it, and especially with it being in San Diego, I'm like, I have to represent," she said.
Inside the dance room: San Diego has deep roots with breaking culture, B-Boy Lprad (Luis Prado) told Axios.
- "We are very supportive of the arts, we make sure that not just breaking feels included, but all other styles of dance, or anybody that's a musician, a painter, a DJ," he said. "People can come, practice their art, showcase it, perform it and people will show up to support it."
It's a big deal for the city to host this competition.
- "San Diego's always like the little brother that people go to for vacation, but they never bring their big events there," he said.
Lprad won't be competing, but will host a preliminary competition Friday at The Soap Factory.
- He's been breaking since middle school, and said he started out just wanting to impress his friends at school dances.
- "But over time, you realize it's not just the performance of it all, not just the flashy tricks that you can pull out at a party," he said. "There's also culture involved, there's also a lot of community that goes into the art of breaking, and that's really what kept me around."