An entry · Work · Life
Breakdancer
Cardboard, a beat, and a body that answers the music with everything it has.
From curious to committed
Your first steps.
A first visit can be enough. It can also be the beginning.
Meet the craft
A drop-in workshop teaches your first toprock and footwork on a forgiving floor, no experience needed.
Explore experiences →Give it another afternoon
Notice what you want to come back to. Ask the teacher what regular practice would look like, and what support you would need.
Keep a note for next time →See the working day
Breakers come up through local crews and open cyphers, learning foundation from older dancers and testing it in friendly battles.
Explore ways into the work →These are starting points. A workshop is not a professional qualification. Entry requirements and recognised training depend on the work and the country.
Before you walk in
A few things worth asking the host before you book.
- Is this session suitable for someone who has never tried it?
- What should I bring, wear or prepare?
- What is included, and are there any extra costs?
- Can you accommodate my access needs?
- What could I try next if I enjoy it?
Teach this craft? Share what beginners ask you →
Work it
Do the work.
Jobs, apprenticeships, and training that put a person in the room.
Places to begin
- Association
USA Dance, Inc.
USA Dance Breaking DanceSport Council
United States
Plug into USA Dance's Breaking council, the recognized national body guiding US breakers toward rankings, competitions, and the Olympic stage.
- Association
Breaking GB
Breaking GB
United Kingdom
The British non-profit body that builds competitive and performance pathways for breakers through funding, training, ranking events and a high performance programme.
Ways in
- Route in
Crew and cypher
Breakers come up through local crews and open cyphers, learning foundation from older dancers and testing it in friendly battles.
- Course
Dance studio training
Studios and community centers run breaking classes that build strength, foundation, and the vocabulary of moves step by step.
- Route in
Battles and competition circuit
With experience, dancers enter jams and competitions, some of which now feed a professional and even Olympic pathway.
Ways in, gathered by hand.
Add yours to the atlasLive it
Live the hour.
Experiences, classes, and places where the presence is the whole point.
Places to begin
- Class
PMT House of Dance
Beginner breaking class at PMT House of Dance
New York, New York · Weekly
Drop into a beginner breaking class in Manhattan and learn toprock, footwork, and freezes from working b-boys and b-girls.
- Workshop
Breakin' Convention at Sadler's Wells
Hip hop dance workshops at Breakin' Convention
London, England
Learn footwork and freezes from world class dancers at friendly one off workshops during London's biggest festival of hip hop dance theatre.
Ways in
- Workshop
Beginner breaking workshop
A drop-in workshop teaches your first toprock and footwork on a forgiving floor, no experience needed.
- Gathering
Watch a jam or cypher
Local breaking jams are open to spectators and are the best place to feel the energy of a live circle.
Ways in, gathered by hand.
Add yours to the atlasWhy the human is the point
Breaking was born on street corners and in community centers, invented by young people who turned a patch of floor into a stage and a challenge into an art. A breaker reads the music through their whole body, dropping from an upright rock into footwork and freezes that seem to argue with gravity. Every round is improvised, answered live to whatever the DJ spins, so no two battles ever look the same. It takes years of falling to make a single move look weightless, and the crowd around the circle knows it, which is why they roar. You are watching courage as much as skill, a person putting their whole self on the floor. That circle has held humans up for fifty years, and it still does.
Kept nearby
