Breakdancing Returns

　　While China's breakdancing scene lay dormant, hip-hop culture continued to evolve around the world. In the United States, hip-hop music was entering mainstream culture and diversifying into such styles as gangsta rap, G funk, jazz rap and trip hop. But more importantly, it was being exported abroad. From Kyoto to Calcutta, artists imitated American hip-hop style and dance to the approval of local audiences. Eventually, through these third-party countries, hip-hop culture and breakdancing found its way back into China.

　　"Korea deserves a lot of thanks," says Xiao. "Its mainstream pop music contains a lot of hip-hop elements. When this music arrived in China in 1998, it was the first time young people in China really understood what hip-hop was."

　　But pinning down an entry point for breakdancing into the Mainland isn't so easy. Jia Tao, a 24-year-old fitness instructor from Shanxi Province, picked up his breakdancing skills while living in Heilongjiang Province in 1999. "At the time, we didn't know what hip-hop or breakdancing was," Jia says, "We just knew it as 'street dancing'." After graduating from high school, Jia moved to Heilongjiang and was introduced to breakdancing through friends who worked in a bar. "I remember them saying that [breakdancing] had come from Russia," Jia recalls.

　　Chinese breakdancers acknowledge a third channel through which the dance form re-entered China, but it's more controversial: Aerobics instructors. The love/hate relationship centers around instructors who integrate the simplest dance moves into their routines, then inform participants they are breakdancing. When the aerobics classes are broadcast on national television, the purists shake their heads.

　　"There are those who say it's not breakdancing, it's aerobics," Xiao says. "But, after all, the shows are directed at average television viewers. If they made it more specialized, then nobody would be able to do it." At least, Xiao says, the shows have introduced the population to the concept of breakdancing and hip-hop.

　　Ideological Shift

　　"Sometime in 2000, breakdancing became very popular [in China]," recalls Jia. "And that's when I finally found out what I'd been studying all along was called."

　　By that time, Jia had returned to Shanxi to get a degree in Physical Education. While studying gymnastics at university, Jia was surprised to find other students with similar interests in breakdancing, as well as professors who, unlike their predecessors in the eighties, encouraged students to challenge themselves and breakdance. "[Our professors] were able to teach us basic skills to get the most strength out of each maneuver." In their free time, Jia and others would use the school's facilities as a breakdancing training ground, while professors would stand by, offering suggestions on how to successfully perform some of the most challenging moves.

　　Even though the demands of breakdancing and gymnastics are different, the skills required are similar," Jia says. "This is something we, as students, couldn't see. Only professors, because of their years of experience, were able to recognize this and instruct us."

　　Today, Jia teaches hip-hop aerobics in Beijing. He would like to teach breakdancing, but the majority of his clientele are simply too old. He does, however, find time to help promote breakdancing. "I was never formally taught breakdancing," says Jia. "So, it felt great to finally teach a few breakdancers last year. They weren't half bad!"