Korea's acceptance of breakdancing

"Wing got his big break after winning first place at the prestigious Red Bull BC One competition in Paris in 2008. Then in 2010, Jinjo Crew went on to win the Battle of the Year competition. They emerged as one of the hottest B-boy crews in the world and continued to win at major competitions across the globe.

Since then, the B-boy craze in Korea has skyrocketed. It is now not only a well-recognized type of dance, but a popular form of entertainment enjoyed by both younger and older audiences, attracting local and international spectators alike.

Today, there are countless nonverbal plays featuring interludes of break dancing and even plots based entirely on B-boying, including shows like “Ballerina Who Loved a B-Boy,” “Jump,” “B-boy Musical Marionette” and the popular “B-boy Kung,” the only B-boy musical in the world to have an exclusive theater.

“I can’t even begin to explain the huge boom in the B-boy movement in Korea over the past several years,” Wing said. “The B-boying culture has become so popular in Korea that even many senior citizens here have heard of it and know what it is, which was unthinkable to me years ago.”

“Even though break dancing was invented by Western dance crews, Asian B-boys have created a reputation for elevating the level and complexity of the dance moves,” he added. “Something about our body type allows us to make for the ideal B-boy dancers.”

The country continues to make great strides in promoting local break dancing and creating an internationally recognized reputation for its pool of talented B-boys and fiercely competitive dance crews.

Capitalizing on the dance form’s substantial popularity here, the Korean government established in 2007 the R-16 Korea, an annual international B-boy competition hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism."

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