Popping, Locking and Breaking are common terminologies in hiphop that have generally been summarized to Breakdance a misnomer that makes Joe (Bboy Kay), the founder of StreetDance Kenya irate.
“These are totally different dances and an intergral part of Hiphop,” he says trying to outwit the popular delusions. “In fact, these dances came before the popular emceeing in Hiphop, yet emcees are popular than ‘breakdancing’” he adds. Joe believes in elevating hiphop culture in Kenya and at the same time, making break dance an intergral part of hiphop performance and not a sideline show. As the man behind Kenya’s Hiphop Dance Revolution, Bboy Kay is both locally as well as internationally recognized as the Godfather of Breakdance in Kenya.
It was one of those rare dance shows as The Breakfast Jam, hosted by Streetdance Kenya held the 2016 Breakdance Eliminations Competition in Nairobi. The event doubled up as the semi-finals for the Breakfast Jam finals to be held on November 19-20 Kampala Uganda. The Kenyan show proved to be a mighty showcase of amazing talent. Bboy Lin, was the star of the show as he outdid his competition clinching the top spot. Lin, who only about a couple of weeks before landed in Kenya from China, embodied remarkable talent, as he displayed jaw-dropping skills and got a befitting nod from the judges.
Another talent, Mifwit brought out his popping magic, much to the amazement of the charged crowd and finally laid to rest the shouts of encouragement with a resounding agreement from the judges. The two dancers will be representing Kenyan in the upcoming Breakfast Jam at the finals set to be held at the YMCA Wandageya in Uganda.Breakfast Jam is an annual event that brings together different elements of hip-hop & urban art, with the main focus on break-dance. The event features Rap, Beatboxing, Deejaying, graffiti/visual art, dance and photography through workshops, performances, hip-hop exhibition and a panel discussion on the relevance of hip-hop in the contemporary society.
This year’s event has brought in Freshlane which is an initiative that aims to empower youth through art, culture education and creative mentorship. Other partners include US embassy, Gagawala graphics, Streetdance Kenya, End of the weak Uganda and Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU).
Other performers of the night were Ugly Emcee, Nelly sade from Uganda and Keysha from Kenya.