B-Girl Sunny Shoots Her Olympic Shot As She Heads to the Red Bull BC One World Final
The Olympics added breaking (also known as breakdancing) as an official sport for the 2024 Games. Showbiz Cheat Sheet chatted with breaker B-Girl Sunny. She’s shooting her shot for a chance at the Olympics by participating in competitions.
One battle B-Girl Sunny is getting ready for is the Red Bull BC One World Final. She will be only one of two people at the competition representing the United States. She spoke about her dance career and what she has planned next.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet: Why did you become a breaker? How did you learn?
B-Girl Sunny: I was a gymnast for 15 years and then had some knee complications/surgery that led me to quit. I was supposed to join a university gymnastics team but that all ended before I graduated high school. When I started college, I was searching for a new activity to keep me fit and challenge me like gymnastics had and running on the treadmill just wasn’t cutting it.
My college had a breaking group on campus, Freaks of the Beat, that happened to be dancing outside really late one night and they were asking people to come take a free class so I thought to myself, “why not?” I went to the class and then stayed after with some of the members of the group to try some other moves and tricks. And that was the beginning of my breaking career!
I learned the basics from a few workshops with local dancers in the Philadelphia scene and then from there, I became more involved in the community and started training with friends and other breakers in Philly. A lot of my breaking is “self-taught,” but I’ve had help along the way from many different people.
CS: How would you describe your breaking style?
BS: I think my style is pretty dynamic. However, it seems that the one thing people talk about and notice the most about the way that I dance is that I’m always smiling. I really enjoy breaking and I think it shows in the way that I dance. Breaking, particularly in battles, tends to be very aggressive and confrontational so it’s not very common that you have dancers on stage who are smiling!
CS: Have you been treated differently for being one of the few women in the sport?
BS: Absolutely, especially when I first started, guys were so eager to teach me or take me under their wing, even when I didn’t want it! Being one of the few women or the only woman in a room full of men definitely means you get a lot more attention than others. That was really difficult for me in the beginning because I’m often shy around strangers and have a hard time saying “no.”
It took many years before I felt I was really a part of the community and respected as a dancer and as an equal. I think if you ask some B-boys, they’ll still say that they’d throw a harder round against me than a similar B-boy because they don’t want to lose to a girl!
You can watch the live event below on November 28. Stay tuned for more from our chat with B-Girl Sunny.
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