Youth Competitive Breaking – Is it right for your child?

Youth Competitive Breaking – Is it right for your child?

I am not only one of the owners of School of Breaking, I am also the mother of a competitive breaker. My name is Tweezy (Le’Toya Garland) and my son ZoZo has been dancing and training at School of Breaking since 2014. When he started, we did not have any aspirations of him becoming a competitive breaker, we just wanted him to have fun dancing and to learn about Hip-Hop Culture. He loved music and moving. School of Breaking was a perfect fit.

In the beginning, he was the child that was nervous about being in class. He was the child that showed up dressed in jeans and not comfortable pants. He was the child staring at the art on the walls instead of practicing his moves. He was the child socializing and trying to make new friends. All of these things were important for his development.

Over time, he became more confident and self-assured. He wanted to learn new challenging moves and realized the wrong outfit restricted his movements. He loved the graffiti artwork and wanted to start creating his own. He made many new friends and created a community of supporters at School of Breaking and beyond.

Competitive breakers (youth or adults) may lose more battles than they win. If there are 16 or more competitors, there will only be one winner. The final outcome of a singular event does not define the dancer. My son had a moment when he was frustrated and disappointed that he could not advance past prelims in competition. We talked about how he felt and what was most important about the competition. He followed up with his coaches for help with how to keep getting better. His support group provided encouragement and constructive feedback to stay focused on his individual path of growth and development. We helped to protect his self-image and confidence. He keeps working hard and having fun.

Our coaches and staff at School of Breaking challenge our students. We also uplift and encourage them to grow at their own pace, in their own way. Our goal is for every dancer to have opportunities for long term development that allows them to continue to be better humans. For us, Hip-Hop culture and dance is one very effective pathway.

We want to invite all of our youth beginner breakers to give Competitive Breaking a try. This upcoming 4-week training course is the perfect event to see if this is the right fit for your child. Participants will have 3-weeks of training and practice with Coach Raw and Coach Chase in addition to attending one weekly beginner breaking class. On the 4th week everyone gets to put their new skills and training to use in a showcase battle. Give competition breaking a try and sign up your dancer today!