“She's phenomenal. I love her style. [...] To tell you the truth, I really thought she will take the gold [in Paris],“ says one of the first breakdancers and former special agent Douglas Colon about Lithuanian superstar breakdancer Dominika Banevič, known as B-Girl Nicka.
From a B-Boy to a G-Man
Coming from Harlem, New York, the American was part of the breakdance culture from the very beginning.
“I am one of the very first breakdancers. In the beginning, there were four of us – Trixie (Lauree Myers), Wallace Dee, myself, and Teenie-Rock. We were the very first B-Boys that started dancing back in the Bronx in 1973.
“The breaking started as a rebellion. When we started, it was a disco era and we were like – we do not want to do that ‘Stayin` alive, stayin` alive’,” he laughs and shows the dance moves to the popular song of the Bee Gees. “We did not want to ‘stay alive’ like this, we wanted to get on the floor and get funky. And they would throw us out of the parties – they were like: ‘Get off the floor, what are you doing?’ So we were rebels. It started as a rebellion, and now it is engraved in our culture to be rebellious.”
He emphasized that the breakdance was created accidentally – no one back then thought that they were creating something that would 50 years later be included in the Olympic Games.
“It wasn’t the idea. See, what happened was – we used to dance to the music back then called ‘R&B’ – soul music. In the music there was a break, where they would do hard drums and hard horns. And DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) would take that one part and cut it over and over and over – in that way they were breaking the song. So, we became break-dancers (Colon smiles). It is that simple, it is not really complicated.
“We used to dance, and we would call it a burn move – like you would do something embarrassing first, for example, you would take the person’s hat and spin it over, or throw it in the air, grab the crotch, whatever. That was called a burning move. So, when the break part came, you would do your best dance moves on the break of a song.
“And every week, when we would go to the Kool Herc parties, you would have to think of something new to do. Back then, everybody had signature moves, it wasn’t like right now where you do the same moves just in different ways. Everybody had to have their own moves, you couldn’t do somebody else’s, because that would cause a fight. I would do like Charlie Chaplin or I would take off a sombrero and when the song The Mexican came on – which was one of the favourite B-Boys songs, – I would throw it on the ground and dance around it.”
Colon also underlined that the breakdance he used to dance is very different from the breaking of today.
“It was more entertainment. We used to dance, you couldn’t just break. You needed to be a good dancer first because they played the whole song, you danced the entire song and then you did your breaks. It wasn’t like now where you do a little break here and there.
“We called ourselves The Herculoids, there were also a group of breakdancers called the Zulu Nation (Zulu Masters/Kings). In the beginning, we were about 18 to 20 B-Boys and we had B-Girls,too, there wasn`t just mostly guys. Say, about 12 guys and seven or eight girls who were really good. And now we have 30 million all over the world – that is my pride and my joy.
“Another thing – a lot of people who started breakdancing came from abused homes. They would go to the dance floor to let out their rage. That was the escape to get away from everything else. You get on the dance floor, and everything just blurs – you see a big crowd around you, but you don’t see any faces, you see a blur, because that is how caught up in the moment you are. And that is what breaking is. That is why I love it,” said Colon.
Colon danced until 1977, then he decided to become a special agent.
“I was a B-Boy and then I became a G-Man. I was a street guy, so it was easy for me to be around some guys from the streets. I didn’t go to any undercover school, I just went right into it. I worked undercover for two years, during that time I was known as ‘Blackjack’. After a long hard work, I arrested multiple criminals and received several awards from the US Justice Department and when I retired, I got an award from US President George W. Bush.
“Since I went into law enforcement, I was out of the culture for a while. I started dancing in 1973 and I stopped in 1977. When I saw people dancing in 1980-1985, I was like: ‘You are still doing this?’ And the breakdancing just kept getting bigger, bigger and bigger, it never stopped. So, it is a proud thing to see it going into the Olympics. Because when you think – this dance went from the underground to the mainstream,” shared Colon.
‘Mockery’ and statement
“When I heard about it, I was like wow, the Olympics?! There were people who said: ‘Oh, I knew it was going to the Olympics.’ No, you didn’t. We were only doing this for fun – no money, no fame, no commercials. It was just for fun, something to do after school – I was only 15 years old. Everyone in high school said: ‘Oh, Dancing Doug.’ Back then we were loved by girls, and it was enough.
“There were also some people who got mad – they said that it's not our culture, and my answer to them was: ‘It's evolution.’ We do the analogy here – there is no ‘Lamborghini’ without a ‘Model T Ford’. Now they do the stuff that is totally different from what we did back then. It is dynamic, now it evolved from running around in circles, spinning on your back to spinning on your head, spinning on your elbow, spinning on your wrist. It evolved. And you can't stop evolution – you got to be able to respect the fact that things change over time and each generation puts their own input in it,” said Colon.
He excitedly watched the Paris Olympics, where the breakdance was introduced for the first time as an Olympic sport. However, he was not entirely happy about some of the performers.
“There was one thing that was a little bit problematic to me, the one that everyone talks about – the girl from Australia. [...] Only because a lot of people – they look at that [...] and they will think: ‘That is breakdancing?..’ It looks crazy, it's like a mockery. And I don’t think that was her intention, obviously. But I don’t think she should have been on the stage with them. Other than her, everyone I saw was good in their own right.
“Also, I saw a video of her before, and she actually was pretty good. She wasn’t as good as Nicka and the rest of them, but she was okay, she could breakdance. Should she have been on the Olympic stage? No. I mean, I can breakdance, could I go on the stage and dance with those kids now? No. I am sixty-six. I can get out and do my thing.
“There are levels. If you are this level (shows bottom), stay at it, don’t try to get on the highest level, because there are levels in between and you cannot even get to them. So, to get on the Olympic stage, where everyone is watching you and you are representing your culture and your country, and you do some really – hopping around like a dog or a kangaroo or a bunny rabbit or whatever that was supposed to be – that was really embarrassing. That’s my opinion, I am sorry, but I am entitled to have my opinion,” Colon commented on the B-Girl Raygun's (real name Rachael Gunn) performance at the Olympics.
Meanwhile, B-Girl Talash (real name Manizha Talash), who participated in Paris with the Refugee Olympic Team, channeled the rebellious side of her when she appeared with the cape saying: ‘Free Afghan Women’. Later she was disqualified because of the political message.
“Unfortunately, when culture collides with politics, people may get offended. But when you got a platform where the world can see you and you want to make a statement, because in your heart you know something is wrong, then you make your statement. Even if it leads to the point where it may get you disqualified,” said Colon.
He also believes that the breakdance should have been included in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“It should have been in the US. If they have been waiting, they should have waited for LA, because that is a celebration – the culture would be coming back to where it began.”
‘She is going to be good for a long time’
Colon was very excited by the performance of Lithuania's B-Girl Nicka, Dominika Banevič.
“She’s phenomenal. I love her style. What is interesting about Nicka is that Nicka has a long frame, when most of the breakdancers are kind of short. I am short myself, and therefore my moves are compacted. But with her it looks more elaborate, because you can see her frame, because she stretches out, her legs go out, so it looks more elaborate, you can see the moves, they are more distinct now. I love Nicka’s style. I thought she will take the gold, to tell you the truth, I really thought she will take the gold [in Paris].
“I don't like comparing people – I don’t see anyone's better than the other. I just say the styles are different. Nicka’s style is different from Ami. I personally think Nicka was better, if I were a judge, I would have thought so. But I was not a judge,” said the former breakdancer.
Colon also believes there should have been more judges from the US.
“I believe there was only one judge from the US, which I think was kind of problematic. The bottom line – breakdance started here, and we have a better perspective of it, I could see how it developed, as opposed to others who were watching it only now for the last few years. You see the evolution, so you can appreciate it more. But personally, [in the final] I favoured Nicka. That's my opinion as a breakdancer.
Also, Nicka catches the beat, I love that about her. She catches the beat, she dances on the beat – that is very important to me. To me, that's truly as the old style. Because a lot of people when they do a six-step, they go off the beat on the fourth or fifth step. But she goes more to two steps and stays on the beat the whole time,” Colon described Banevič's style.
He also believes the Lithuanian dancer has a bright future.
“I think she is going to be good for a long time. She is only 17 and she trains like a martial artist, like a boxer, like a weightlifter. I couldn’t do some of the stuff that she does. She is an athlete, so as long as she stays with her regime, she is going to be good for a very long time.
“And figure this – it will be 8 years before breakdancing comes back to the Olympics – maybe, because from what I heard, Australia is pushing to have breaking again in the 2032 Olympics. That means she will be what – 25 years old, she will be in her prime. And I think she will be able to take the gold there,” said Colon.
‘She can put an afro wig on, I don’t care’
During and after the Games, people were also discussing Banevič's outfit – on social media, she was widely criticized for wearing a durag.
“That is the most ridiculous, stupid thing in the world,” Colon believes.
“First of all, our culture has been all over the world. That is part of the culture. I got on 'Instagram' with some guy because I had to defend her – not only because I like her, but because it's wrong. They are trying to make it a racial thing, and the thing is – we are breaking; breakdance transcends everything – race, language, religions, because what unites us is the dance.
“I saw a few years ago in Brooklyn a kid from Ukraine dancing against a kid from Russia. They had just invaded Ukraine and they got on the floor to dance against each other and they hugged each other when it was over. And I said – that is what separates us from everything else.
“So, for Nicka to do that – to wear a durag, so what? Do I wear suits? If I am African American and I wear a suit, does that mean I am selling out because I am not wearing a dashiki? Because suits are European. That is stupid, it makes no sense. [...] She can wear whatever she wants, as long as she is on the floor doing her thing – she can put an afro wig on, I don’t care,” said Colon.
He also emphasized that people should be grateful that someone else keeps their culture alive.
“I think it was a few years ago, there were an event where we had two hundred kids from South Korea and two hundred from Japan and they danced against each other. The announcer said: ‘Yo, we got Seoul over there, and we got Tokyo on this side.’ But everyone was dressed like they lived here, in the Bronx. Everybody. Until the camera showed them, you wouldn’t know. So why is that different from Nicka wearing a durag? If you are not going to attack them, why are you attacking her?
Evolution of breakdance
Like everything, breakdance is changing and Colon does not believe it is any worse for that. “Things are going to evolve [...] whether you like it or not. Some people say that now breakdancers don't dance anymore – they only show a couple of quick steps, and they go for the ground. But before you danced the entire record. So, there is a distinction between the old and the new breakdance. But that's how it is. That is just how it evolved. That's the evolution. I don’t have a judgment to say it should be this or that. I can only say this is what it is now, and this is what it used to be back then.
The breakdance left the US in the 90’s and it spread all around the world. That is one of the reasons why there are so many judges from Japan, as opposed to the US, because it is heavier in Asian countries than in the US. I was hoping that the Olympics would help to bring it back to the States, because now it feels like a lost culture,” said Colon.
Right now he is doing a documentary about breakdancing.
“I did one hundred and eighty interviews with people around the world. I am working on it right now, it is in the editing stage. Hopefully, it will be released by the end of the year.
“During the interviews, one guy told me that in Peru they couldn’t breakdance, because the dictator thought it was an American thing and said you cannot do that in this country. Or a girl from Uruguay used to dress as a boy for seven or eight months because they didn’t let the girls do it. And one day it got so hot that everyone danced in shirts and she had to take her shirt off, so she had to reveal she was a girl.
“That’s how much it influences people around the world. So, when I see people, even like Nicka – you see someone from another country and all the people there are involved in this and you think – this is crazy, you never thought that it could go like this.
“When I was a special agent, I worked undercover for two years as a truck hijacker. When I was working with the guys on the street, I couldn’t take a shower for like two weeks, because the guys I worked with were dirty guys. So, if I put dirty clothes, but I took a shower, you can smell it, because your brain gets one signal from your eyes, but another signal from your nose. Same thing with breaking – if you are dancing, I hear the beat. If you are not on the beat, something is not right. And when you start feeling the beat, you can hear it, you can see it, and you can dance better.
“Breakdance is going to keep evolving. I told Nicka’s mom – I said what my boss told me years ago – it is always better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in the big pond. And there is pride in Lithuania – she brought a medal. That's pride, that is a national pride. That means kids are going to say: ‘Oh, I want to try that.’ And the parents will think: ‘Do I put my kid in football or in breakdance?’ And that's how it starts to grow,” said Colon.
