Show me what you got
In Athens, b-boying or breaking or break-dance was developed mainly since the ’00s, as a youthful, working class, mostly immigrant culture. Breaking has a dynamic presence, an active role within the hip hop community. It is a scene with its own –relatively independent– life next to the (dominant) rap scene.
Between 2014 and 2017 I photographed the hip hop dance community of Athens: mainly the b-boys, the b-girls and some poppers. I hung out with them or went to places they used to train themselves, such as the Athens Conservatory. I spent time at Syntagma Square while they were cyphering, as well as in battles and street shows. The b-boys and the b-girls dance low on the floor during the “breaks” –the rhythmic breakdown parts of the songs that are played repeatedly by the dj.
The pictures I have taken depict my impressions from these two-three years of hanging out and communicating with this community of break-dance and hip hop dancers. In my images I tried to condense and get across the relationships, the people, the atmosphere of a lively situation as I experienced it.
“Show me what you got” is an expression that is used between b-boys and b-girls, mostly during battles. It means something like “show me your skills as a dancer, your experience, your talent, your personality”.