Alessandrina, breaking champion: «I started when I was six. My first coach was dad “

The district Barona as the Bronx of New York: to the Barrio’scultural and artistic center of Milan South, the Red Bull BC One Italy Cypher 2022the event of breaking most prestigious in the world. 24 breaker – 16 b-boy and 8 b-girl – they challenged each other with passion, dedication, adrenaline and creativity to have the opportunity to represent Italy at the 19th Red Bull BC One World Finalwhich will take place on November 12 in New York.

The breaking – more popularly known as breakdance – is a dance born in the street during the seventies precisely in the Bronx, and over the last few decades it has evolved as a real culture and art form, spread internationally, to such an extent which has recently been recognized as a sport that will debut in two years a Paris (for more information, scroll down to the end of the article).

To triumph in this edition was the Sicilywith the B-Boy Dagger and the B-Girl Alexandrina, respectively of Syracuse and Messina. Both are in their second victory: B-Boy Daga had already won the title of Italian champion in 2015 in Rome, while B-Girl Alessandrina had won the 2019 edition in Pisa.

In particular she, one of the first B-Girls to conquer the scene in Italy, when breaking was not so widespread even as a culture: B-Girl Alessandrina has 22 years old (per century Alessandra Chillemithis is her name at the registry office) is Sicilian, from Messina in fact, and she grew up in the crew Marittimafunkwhich she landed when she had 6 years. We had a chat to get to know her better: she has a crackling laugh and is all energy, which is why she was nicknamed Alexandrina, focus on petrol.

You are very young, but you are already a veteran of the national (and international) breaking scene …
“My father was in the Navy Army, so we lived in a protected area and I could walk around alone in our neighborhood. Well, at the age of 6 I had the electrocution: I saw two boys who danced this strange dance and it was love at first sight. I remember going home and saying to my parents: “I want to dance like this, I want to train like this”. I began to spy on them and copy them into moves. Today I’m in the same crew as me ».

And how did your parents make your decision?
“My parents they have always supported me in all respectsmostly my father Carmelo. They immediately helped me to look for a dance school, at the age of 7 in one of the first contests in which I participated, I ended up challenging myself against the strongest breakers in Messina. It was there that I asked them to be able to train at the Marittima station (hence the name of the Marittimafunk crew, ed) with them. They agreed and my dad started commuting to take me to training. He then shared with me every trip, even around the world … He was my first coach“.

Ever cheated on breaking with other sports?
«I’m a super sportswoman, I’ve also practiced snowboarding, I’ve been a football referee, but I can’t explain what I feel when I’m breaking. For me, breaking is everything: when I get up I think about this, when I fall asleep I think about this, when I walk I think about this. It is more a disease than a passion ».

You don’t just practice breaking though, you also study at university, right?
“Yes, I study Economy at the Bicocca in Milan, the city I chose to live in, also for the prominent breaking scene. Economics was another passion of mine, then I chose Milan to keep both roads open. In the future, I don’t know which one I will undertake, even if now breaking has absolute priority ».

And where do you meet in Milan? What are the breaking zones?
«Breaking is culture, art, soul, heart. For this reason, I chose Milan: because here there is street culture, from which breaking comes and where every now and then I go to breathe and find motivation. The roots, in short. I still love to train a lot on the street, and today the breaking scene is at Moscova, outside the metro station. Then I also tour many gyms ».

I guess you train practically every day …
“I train 6 days a week out of 7, morning and evening, often with my personal trainer Flavio, who takes care of the physical part, from cardio to power and endurance. Then, in the afternoon, I train breaking, technical part and dance, for three to four hours ».

What was the breaking scene like when you started? And how is it today?
“15 years ago the B-Girls could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Nice today to hear that some girls started breaking because they were inspired by me. Today the level is getting higher and higher, breaking has evolved a lot. It is really a sporting discipline, with a preponderant physical part, which must be taken care of in all respects ».

Breaking is a male-dominated environment: never suffered discrimination, never felt or made to feel “out of place”?
“Never. Indeed, as a child I was considered the mascot and these 25-year-olds took me with them on trips, taking care of me. I was just raised by them, in one big family. It is a healthy environment, where we are all equal, all friends. I’ve only ever been supported. The beauty of breaking is that you can challenge yourself with the big names on the scene, do battles with the champions, something that for example in football is unthinkable: it is not possible for a kid to play in a match against Del Piero! In breaking instead we all know each other and respect each other: fire and flames on the track, during competitions, but then everything is over, we all go together to have a beer ».

Here, what are the values ​​of breaking?
“Sharing: even among bitter “enemies” we help each other to improve, we compare; respectalways, and loyalty: we challenge ourselves to the “last blood”, we give everything on the track, but then once the battle is over, we embrace each other ».

Who are your reference breakers?
“Precisely because of the climate that I just explained, where we all know each other and we all respect each other, I don’t have any big names to mention, but I am inspired by those around me, therefore also mainly breaker of my crew. How Mowglywhich I admire for his attitude and energy, or Pesto, both winners of numerous Red Bull BC One Italy Cypher. If I have to name some Big, I think of Yaio oa Kacyowho are among the absolute kings ».

But in all this breaking, is there room for… others?
“Currently I’m single and I’m totally focused on my sporting goals. But in the future, who knows ».

Interested in learning the breaking? This energetic dance style it includes everything from turning on the hands or head to various movements and footwork. But breaking not only involves more complex and acrobatic moves than many other forms of dance, it also has one culturea unique jargon and story.

Breaking, in fact, is a style of street dance incorporating coordination, acrobatics and intricate body movements, style and aesthetics. Old-fashioned breaking became popular in the late seventieswhen the Freak, a style based on the debut album “Freak Out!” by the band The Mothers of Invention. In 1980 a new breaker group was formed called Rock Steady Crewwhich introduced acrobatic moves, which had never been practiced before, such as headpins, hand plan and backspin. It was around that time that breaking really started to take off, especially after that Michael Jackson adopted the Moonwalkgiving it global prestige.

But what was breaking inspired by? Some say it was the singer’s performances James Brown to kickstart the breaking culture. Others argue it was a way of settle the scores on the street between rival gangs.

There musicas you can guess, it is a fundamental ingredient for this type of dance: the basics borrow other genres, including funk, jazz, soul, disco, electro and R&B. The most common feature is that there are breakswhich must be respected, if we want to talk about breaking.

If you want to find out what the most popular moves of breakingkeep scrolling the article to the end.

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