Get groovy with the Hulu documentary of the summer that will take you from the NYC boroughs of The Bronx and Queens, to great heights of the Olympics.
Breakin’ On The One sheds light on the origins of breaking, also known as break dancing, it’s birth and evolution from the genre of Hip-Hop, the battle between the popular Rock Steady Crew and Dynamic Rockers, and it’s impact on the culture and community. See more of the film’s synopsis below.
On August 15th, 1981 when a large, excited crowd gathered at the plaza of Lincoln Center in Manhattan for the Out-of-Doors Festival. The highlight of the event was a breaking battle between the Rocksteady Crew and the Dynamic Rockers. What unfolded would prove to be a seminal moment in American culture, a showdown that has reverberated for decades across hip hop, dance, race, and politics. Utilizing a trove of archival material from the 1980s and interviews with those who were there, this is the chronicle of how breaking transformed itself from a niche urban activity to an Olympic sport performed worldwide.
Itโs the tale of how a handful of innovators from often neglected corners of a struggling city helped create a cornerstone event for a movement, one that grew from its devastated borough origins to influence the highest ranks of sports and entertainment. Spanning much of the half-century since hip hop emerged in New York and became a cultural phenomenon, this is the story of how the breaking battle of 1981 helped create the world as we know it today.
The Knockturnal spoke with Breakin’ On The One‘s director duo, Jamaal Parham and Bashan Aquart, also known as JamsBash, along with break dancer Tony “Mr. Wave” Wesley, as well as artist and writer Michael Holman about the documentary that releases on June 24.
See Knockturnal’s interview with the cast and crew of Breakin’ On The One below.
