Rio Breakers - The Wandering Pugilist

At its essence, Hip-Hop is about social change. It’s a symbolic stand against the social forces enveloping the lives of the dispossessed, and that message is very much alive and well in Rio de Janeiro. The following essay travels through three communities of breakdancers, each one dancing for their own reasons, but the core remains the same: to preserve their lives.

The history of this city is a layered one; a history that has added many complications due to its recent involvement in the controversial 2014 World Cup tournament, where the residual affects have directly and indirectly affected these communities of dancers. But as history tells us, Hip-Hop prevails against the most trying circumstances, as long as there remain those dedicated to living its truth.

“Pictured is Louis Carlos da Santa Pinta, a.k.a B-boy Luke, one of the original founders of the b-boy movement in Rio de Janeiro. At 46 years old, he continues in the community as an active dancer and mentor to younger generations entering the culture.”

“Dancers gather every Thursday night at the Fundação do Progresso cultural center in the Lapa district of Rio de Janeiro to practice. The space is reserved for dance sessions and graffiti classes throughout the week.”

“B-boys set up the music system and song selection before their practice session.”

“B-boy Eduardo Andre of the U.B.I Crew and Universal 1 sets off the jam.”

“Julio Cesar Caualcante Teixeira of the Grupo da Breaking Consiente da Rocinha Crew (GBCR) waiting his turn. Rocinha is one of the largest favelas in Latin America and today the GBCR crew teaches various elements of Hip-Hop to youth and handicapped children in neighborhood.”

“Douglas Barreto da Silva Alves, a.k.a B-boy Doug of the Ativa Breakers from Maré displays his footwork. Maré is a complex of favelas located in the north zone of the city and historically has some of the highest rates of drug trafficking. The commute from Maré to Lapa is between one to two hours, depending on the traffic hour.”

“B-girl Amanda Baroni Lopes practices a freeze in the corner. According to her, she is one of a handful of serious b-girls in the city, and despite ongoing gender issues within the culture, she says her 7 years in the culture has been a fulfilling one.”

“Douglas and Amanda began dating shortly after she first started dancing. A large part of their relationship has been rooted in their involvement with breaking, and often compete together in the same crew.”

“Rafael Rodrigues a.k.a B-boy Bala Machine is one of the principal dancers in Rio de Janeiro and often responsible for organizing jams throughout the city. According to him, the main vision of b-boy culture in Rio de Janeiro is to maintain the ‘true school’ spirit.”

“Evening dance class gathers at the Projeto Amo Salgueiro (P.A.S) in the Complexo do Salgueiro favela community in São Gonçalo, a city across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. São Gonçalo (specifically Salgueiro) has a higher recorded population living below the poverty line and a significantly higher presence of drug trafficking factions than Rio. PAS, established in 1995, offers various courses for youth in the area, from photography to music courses to breakdancing.”

“Participants are seen signing into the evening class attendance sheet. Regular sign-ins are required in order to gauge attendance and program efficacy.”

“Patrick Nunes de Castro of the Formicidae Crew is seen instructing two youth during the session. Castro, a resident of Salgueiro, has been dancing nearly all his life and has recently taken over as the new instructor at PAS.”

“Castro is seen going up against Daniel Erik Campos Pereira during the break session. Both are members of the same Formicidae Crew”

“Fourteen year-old b-girl Thais Alvres going into a six-step during the freestyle session.”

“Iago Henrique Bastos Souzu, a.k.a b-boy/MC Souzu finishes a chair freeze during battle.”

“Alvres and Souzu face-off during the jam.”

“Pereira freezes towards the end of the evening class. As one of the more experienced dancers in the organization, he is often seen mentoring younger dancers.”

“Pereira gives his best ‘b-boy stance’ after class ends.”

“Marcos Ramos de Oliveira sits in the back office preparing a storybook that is distributed monthly throughout the community. Oliveira’s main function in the organization is as videographer and photographer, but often adopts other roles from administratior to supervisor to media specialist, within PAS.”

“Pictured is Angelo Luiz at his home in Maré. Brazilian military forces entered Maré in late-May to stabilize the area in preparation for the 2014 World Cup. Since then, the original practice space for breakers has been used as a stationing area for military forces, and has therefore prevented practice sessions ever since.

Luiz finds solution by dancing on the top level of his home.”

(c) Nick Wong Photography