AAs thousands of athletes, spectators and officials gather in Paris for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics next Friday, Nicolas Guillotto dreams that he can achieve something unexpected and special that the world will always remember as a ” Magical moment”.
However, his Olympic events are not parallel bars, javelin or 100 meters. If the 41-year-old Frenchman is selected from the shortlist, he will perform with two turntables and a box of vinyl records – not as an athlete but to soundtrack the album under his pseudonym DJ One Up one of the disc jockeys.
Breakdancing, more commonly known as “breakdancing” among athletes, is one of two new Olympic sports at the Paris Games, which in the form of a DJ introduces a new twist on the rules and conventions of ancient multisport disciplines. A completely new character: someone who is neither an athlete nor an official, but an artist.
For one thing, unlike traditional Olympic sports such as figure swimming and figure skating, which require musical accompaniment, breakdancers cannot choose their own soundtrack.
DJs like Guilloteau believe that their task is not only to support dancers (i.e. b-boys and b-girls) with familiar tunes, but also to surprise them.
“For me, the most important thing about the game is creating the atmosphere. We do that by providing a classic comfort zone,” he said. “But the role and responsibility of a DJ is also to create a magical moment, and we do that with music that no one knows about.”
As one of the five pillars of the hip-hop movement that emerged in the Bronx in New York City in the 1970s, break’s evolution is inextricably linked to music: its name refers to the “break,” the instrumental part of a funk track. — DJ Kool Herc, the originator of the genre, would loop the song by switching between two turntables spinning simultaneously.
In modern break competitions, DJs still use the same “carousel” approach to creating soundtracks on which dancers can perform their top-rock, stop-motion, or head-spinning power moves, although software programs are now typically used to identify black Percussion section on vinyl record.
Unlike a DJ playing at a party or nightclub, a competitive disc jockey cannot focus solely on inserting the needle into the correct groove. “Sometimes you only have five seconds to react because you never know when the dancers are going to end their turn,” says professional DJ Marcin Przeplasko (aka DJ Plash) from Krakow, Poland. “You have to be on top of everything.”
’70s classics like James Brown’s “Get Up,” “Get Into It,” and “Get Involved” remain part of the standard repertoire, although Guilloteau insists that the art of competitive break DJing still has to take a curveball Come challenge athletes like 1970s British progressive rock band Babe Ruth’s The Mexican or Nina Simone’s jazzy Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter.
“Some dancers like funk, and some dancers prefer electronic music,” Guilloteau said. “But to me, improvisation is the key to breaking culture. We DJs are not here to choreograph.
Still, turning breaking into an Olympic sport requires the imposition of rules and restrictions that don’t always come naturally to a culture that grew out of parties and social gatherings.
In Paris, DJs must curate their mixes from a limited playlist of approximately 390 tracks, the rights of which have been pre-licensed to be played on live television. World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) spokesman Martin Gilian said the content of the playlist was highly confidential but included more than just familiar songs. “Some of these vandals have been heard of before, and some are more rare.”
At traditional hip-hop boy and hip-hop girl gatherings, dancers often compete against each other in teams or “teams,” which Jillian describes as “the essence of breakthrough, the cream of the crop.” However, at the Olympics, 32 athletes will compete in singles at two separate events at Place de la Concorde, the women’s event on August 9 and the men’s event on August 10.
Most DJs competing in Break have developed a perfect feel on the dance floor, not behind the stage, but on the dance floor. Przeplasko was a hip-hop boy before becoming a DJ. “Every two years I try to master another element of hip-hop,” he said.
But in Paris, DJs will no longer be allowed to mingle with their former peers. Jillian said that as “International Technical Officers” (ITOs), “they are allowed to greet dancers but are not allowed to loiter” to minimize the chance of dancers trying to influence the stage.
Some dancers will no doubt find other ways to give back. “Of course, there are hip-hop boys and hip-hop girls who don’t like my music. Sometimes you can see it on their faces – ‘I really don’t like this,'” Przeprasko said.
But disc jockeys have to stick to their own lane. “During the competition, I have to put aside friendships and focus on treating every dancer fairly,” Przeprasko said. “Everyone must have good music. Everything here belongs to it.
