Johannesburg: Taking center stage like a gladiator at bay, South African entertainer Courtna Paul warms up the Johannesburg crowd with jazz bobs and an infectious smile.
He was competing in one of the final events of our sport before the long-awaited Olympics.
In an eye-popping moment, the brown-blonde ponytail slides back with a tattooed arm on the reverse.
Breaking, short for breakdance, has been added to the list of the Paris 2024 Olympics after its great success at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.
The dancer was beaming as she lifted her second career trophy at the prestigious Johannesburg tournament last month.
The 32-year-old, born in the coastal city of Durban, is one of seven African dancers known as B-Girls and B-Boys, who will travel to Paris.
South Africa, along with B-Girl, hopes to break through the qualifiers in Shanghai and Budapest.
Paul said he started competing by accident, after practicing gymnastics, kickboxing, Muay Thai and other sports.
After moving to Johannesburg with dreams of a professional dance career, she began working as a choreographer, backup dancer, DJ and media entrepreneur.
He’s always been fascinated by the street dance style that’s developed over the decades, but it’s mostly a hobby, “doing random stuff until something comes out of it,” thinking he won’t make much of it.
“I had no place to take it, no platform,” he said.
Then in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic hit the lock, giving Paul enough time to devote to his passion.
That’s God’s way of saying, “Let’s go back to what we want.”
“You know, I want to be six years younger, but I’ll take what I can get.”
He has developed a unique style which he describes as a mix of “rough”, “knowledge” and “South African flair”.
Her coach, Joako Klaasen, described her as “explosive” and a “strong woman” who literally shoots herself during class.
In preparation for the Olympics, he said, a lot of work will be focused on fine-tuning stability and muscle tone for strength work.
Forty other female dancers from around the world are competing in this month’s qualifiers and next.
Only 16 people will go to Paris.
There, they will fight for gold in four individual skirmishes or shootouts lasting 60 seconds. The DJ will choose the music.
The performance will be based on critics as well as its musicality and originality.
Paul Paris said he was surprised to learn that Paris was on the cards.
But chasing his dream is not easy, because the nascent sport has not been able to attract big enough sponsors.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s all out of pocket,” Paul said, adding that he can attend many events a year and doesn’t have the money to travel more.
“In a perfect world I would be a professional athlete and get paid to train, eat and sleep, but unfortunately that’s not true in South Africa.”
Hopefully the visibility of the Olympics will make life easier for future athletes.
“The circuit built around the Olympic qualifiers is a game-changer,” Paul said.
“I’ve worked as hard as I can and I’m as ready as I can be. A man sure is dangerous!”
