Symposium: Breaking & The Olympic Games

On March 9, 2024, the symposium "Breaking & The Olympic Games: From Hip-Hop Culture to High Performance" will take place for the first time at the Institute for Dance and Movement Culture of the German Sport University Cologne. We warmly invite researchers, practitioners (coaches, teachers, officials, etc.), and members of the scene to participate in this interdisciplinary exchange.

Breaking, also known as "Breakdance," will be represented for the first time at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The competition format will be an individual competition, with 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls competing for the gold medal. The inclusion of Breaking as an Olympic discipline brings about many structural changes and developments, including adapting a previously informal organized subculture sport to the structures of international Olympic sports. National teams have been formed worldwide, consisting of the best breakers in each country who are preparing for the Olympic Games under the guidance of their respective national coaches.

Due to the diversity of movement culture, an increasing number of researchers are studying Breaking from various disciplinary perspectives. All disciplines in sports science and related fields are explicitly invited to contribute their work on the topic of Breaking. The conference aims to serve as a forum for interdisciplinary exchange between researchers, practitioners (coaches, teachers, officials, etc.), and members of the scene. We would like to extend an invitation to young researchers as well as students to present their research work (e.g., dissertation topics, master's or bachelor's theses) at the German Sport University Cologne. At the same time, there will also be an opportunity to participate in the conference in a hybrid format.

Please find more information on the website of the institute.