Synopsis
“Breaking is not about winning –I like the process that I have with myself.
When I grow as a person, I also grow as a dancer.
I am free in what I am doing.
It makes me happy to dance!"
Joanna (24, BGirl Joanna) and Serhat (26, BBoy Said) share the same passion: Breaking.
In 2024, Breaking will celebrate its Olympic premiere in Paris. They are happy about the opportunity to make their art form more visible to society. At the same time, it is a challenge to do justice to the Breaking Culture and the Olympic System.
From the street to the Olympic stage: Breaking, a new style of dance, was born in New York in the 1970s. Today BBoys and BGirls compete in battles that are judged by a jury. For the first time in history, the breaking scene meets the Olympic system.
Serhat is already in the German national squad. He discovered breaking at the age of six at the youth center in Munich's Kieferngarten.
Serhat has been a member of the "Sankofa" crew since 2008. For Serhat, being able to live and dance freely is not something that can be taken for granted. Serhat lives in Munich and was also born there, but he is Uyghur. The family comes from Xinjiang in north-west China and fled to Germany via Kazakhstan in 1995. Being able to train in the German national team for the Olympics means a lot to him and his family.
Almost every weekend he's on his way to a battle. Serhat wants to be present not only for the squad, but also in the scene. In addition, he has started his studies, teaches and earns money with performances. He wishes he had more time for his friends and family.
Joanna wants to get into the German national squad in 2023, so she has to collect as many points as possible in preliminary decisions, so-called "ranking battles".
At 17, she was accepted into the crew of The Saxonz. She is the only BGirl in the dance group and trains in the state squad for Saxony.
Joanna lives with her family in Dresden. Her friend Felix, BBoy Rossi is a founding member of the "Saxonz". He brings his daughter Feenja into the relationship. So Joanna bears the responsibility as a mother early on, because Feenja's birth mother has died. At the same time, Joanna is doing her masters in psychology. As a child of Bulgarian parents, she appreciates how much her parents have invested in a good education. Now Joanna faces the challenge of dividing her time between family, studies and her passion, Breaking.
Joanna and Serhat push their limits. To what extent do they manage not to lose their passion for the original culture with the ever-increasing performance requirements?