On Saturday, July 31, spectators flooded into Maria Hernandez Park to watch dancers duke it out on the floor.

It was the fifth rendition of “Break for Justice,” an annual event put on by the Bushwick Leadership Center of El Puente, a local organization focused on youth and community development.

“Break for Justice promotes health and fitness through dance, which is a viable form of exercise, as well as fits in with our theme of peace and anti-violence because the history of breaking battles is rooted in finding alternatives to settling ‘beef’ or disputes,” said Luis Minuve, program director a the El Puente Bushwick Leadership Center. “It celebrates the spirit of exchange that is so prevalent in hip hop culture and is critical to the sustenance of peace.”

Starting at 2 p.m. and going until about 7 p.m., dancers competed in one-on-one battles in both breaking and all-styles.

“The difference is that breaking is one of the four elements of Hip Hop, and all-styles can be any form of dance, like modern dancing, voguing, etc.,” said Bboy Nasty, El Puente’s breaking facilitator and event co-organizer.

Check it out.

Breaking finals: Roflow v Kid Black.

Winner: Roflow (red shirt)

All-styles finals: The Engineer v BboyMuayTai

All-styles finals winner: The Engineer

All-styles runner-up: BboyMuayTai

Even the judges jumped in

Featuring breaking judges: @waaakone (orange face covering), @wondrous.gin (tan hat) and @bboyflonetik (black hat).

“It is a pleasure to bring the breaking and dance community together to highlight how much of a tight culture we are,” said Bboy Nasty. “And to have bboys and bgirls come from all over the city to share their talent, energy, power and creativity with Bushwick at Break for Justice’s fifth edition was very special. Just as important was having local community members come and support the event and be exposed to a culture they don’t see everyday.”

El Puente offers free breaking classes to all youths ages 12 to 21. These classes will start up again this September. Those interested in finding out more should follow @elpuentebushwick on Instagram.

All videos and images: © Rafael Fuchs.
Instagram: @fuchsprojects
Website: www.rafaelfuchs.com

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