Project Overview and Takeaways

          In order to develop an understanding of the foundations of double dutch and breaking, I conducted a series of interviews with four breakers and four jumpers and organized a week-long workshop. In the interviews, I asked the same set of questions to each interviewee, regardless of their sport, and saw how their answers relate to each other. My week-long workshop in the Bronx, New York consisted of three jumpers and five breakers exchanging skills and moves to incorporate the two sports back together. All of this was documented through film and virtual interviews.

           Throughout my project, the breakers and jumpers stressed the importance of human connection through their expression. The breakers explained that breaking serves as a political and cultural act of artistic rebellion for those whose voices have been marginalized by the white hegemony. In bringing my own knowledge of jumping and my eagerness to learn about the historical roots of both forms, I was able to show the breakers that I was there to appreciate their art form, not appropriate it. This journey was challenging; however, we understood the importance of telling a story about the history of our once conjoined activity, and how these art forms help enrich the human experience by providing a means of exercise, cultural and personal expression, and a supportive community.