Breaking took decades to make it from New York’s streets to the Paris Olympics. Despite a big sporting debut, its future still hangs in the balance

a person seen breakdancing (Credit: David Balogh—Getty Images)

Breaking, popularly called “breakdancing,” doesn’t require much—just some thumping beats and space to slide, collapse, jump and spin. 

That’s probably what turned the dance form, which emerged in New York’s Bronx borough in the 1970s, into a global sensation.