MILWAUKEE — In just a few months, the eyes of the world will be on Paris as the 2024 Summer Olympics begin. This will be his third time the Summer Olympics have come to the City of Love, but this year's Olympics will debut a new sport that's been around for decades…breakdancing.
Michael Silva is known in the breakdancing world as a B-Boy myth. On any given day, he's here at True School in Milwaukee, teaching breakdancing and breaking dancing himself. Silva describes breakdancing as a combination of multiple art forms, including karate, African dance, marange and salsa.
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Atumra Free, 8, loves it. He said, “That's how I can express myself.” Next year, the world will learn more about her dance style, which was born on the streets of New York in the 1970s. For the first time, the world's strongest athletes will compete for Olympic medals. Silva believes change is big and the city needs it, saying, “After the pandemic, the Midwest scene in general started to pick up. There were games, practice sessions, everyone came back hungry. I’m here,” he added.
In fact, Milwaukee has a deep history of breaking. Our TMJ4 archives of her covered stories from reporters in the 1980s that showed a growing interest in new dance styles at the time. In a 1984 report, a doctor talked about seeing injuries caused by people breakdancing in his hospital. One of the old school breakdancers is Ramon Candalaria. He also started his career in the mid-80s with Historic His Mitchell Street and gained fame. “Mitchell Street is where some people say we were born,” Candalaria said. He danced with his first group, the Magic Rockers, he says, for New Edition, the Green Bay Packers, and many other groups. Candalaria says, “You get paid to perform, and for me that was incredible!”
For today's breakers, that incredible journey could mean a trip to the Olympics. B-Boy Myth said he plans to try out for the 2028 Olympics. “I want to know how it's going to play out and what to look for. I don't want to just jump in.” I asked him, “What's the B-boy myth in the Olympics?” “It has a nice little ring to it,” Silva said. That's certainly true!
