Cap City Jam demonstrates breaking at its finest

According to Ozay Moore, executive director of All of the Above Hip Hop Academy, breaking is a fundamental part of hip-hop culture. 

Originating in New York City in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, breaking served as a precursor to many hip-hop dance styles. It was itself inspired by several different dances and martial arts, from capoeira and kung fu to tap, jazz and beyond. It eventually spread all over the globe, reaching its height in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and has continued to be passed down from generation to generation.

“You have four to five generations deep of breakers and crews from all over the world who passed the legacy on in their respective communities,” Moore said. 

All of the Above works to pass that legacy on to local youth not only through its classes, but also through its Cap City Breaking Jam, returning for a fifth year Saturday.

“The work that we do at All of the Above centers various different hip-hop elements as a way for youth engagement, community development, skill transfer, and cultural preservation and advancement,” Moore said. “Breaking is one of those elements of hip-hop that kind of brings all the pieces together. It brings the MC, brings the DJ, it brings the dancer, it brings the visual art.”

The term “breaking” — sometimes referred to as “breakdancing,” though Moore said that term was coined by someone outside of the community — comes from the “break” in a song, the moment when the rest of the music cuts out and only the drumbeat remains.

“The break is actually a foundational element for hip-hop culture in general,” Moore said. “It’s where the music comes from. It’s where the style, the swag, the flavor, the essence of hip-hop music come from.”

Breaks were especially prominent in funk music, Moore noted, before being picked up by hip-hop musicians.

“Breaks have evolved into people taking the pace of the music or the tempo of the music and adding other elements to it,” he said. “You hear it in hip-hop music, but it was really, really prominent in funk. So, funk was kind of the musical soundscape for breaking in its earlier stages and has gone on to be a staple in the type of music that you will hear at a breaking jam, mixed with some more modern takes on it as well.”

Though there is often a competitive aspect, and there may even be prizes, Moore stressed that breaking jams are, above all, spaces for the community to gather.

“At the core of breaking jams is this opportunity for dancers and breakers to get together and commune with each other, and I think the heart of that is the cipher,” he said. “The cipher is kind of this exchange. It’s essentially like a circle, and people go into the middle of the circle and dance for each other. But that cipher is a conversation between dancers. So, the breaking community is used to kind of being nomadic and traveling from jam to jam, state to state, city to city, country to country in search of great music, great community and those ciphers for the exchange.”

Jams range in size from major events like the Red Bull BC One to qualifiers, freestyle sessions and beyond. All of the Above’s Cap City Jam attracts youth competitors from across the country as well as high-caliber judges, some of whom even competed in the 2024 Olympics.

“It definitely attracts like some of the best of the best in the world, and definitely in our nation,” Moore said.

This year’s jam will be held on the patio at Lansing Shuffle. DJs Ohmega Watts, Yz and Foojin will be set up out there, as will the event’s primary floor. There will be other floors scattered around for ciphers and for people to practice on throughout the day.

The event will kick off with an all-ages workshop led by Bboy Orb, aka Orbitron of Circle of Fire in Seattle. Then comes the youth preliminary round, with the winner taking home a cash prize of $500 and a trophy created by local welder Andrew Sandstedt. Judges for the youth preliminary include Bgirl Shade of Creative Genius Academy in Ontario, Bboy Rama of Chicago’s Brickheadz crew and Bboy TV Breaks of Michigans’ 99 Stylez crew, which is co-hosting the event alongside AOTA.

After some art therapy led by Bgirl Shade, attendees will reconvene for the adult preliminary. Participants will compete for a cash prize of $2,500 and a trophy made by Sandstedt. Judges include Bboy Orb, Bgirl Baby Girl of Houston and Bboy Seoul of Indianapolis.

“It’s just going to be a great time,” Moore said. “Good music, good vibes, family-friendly. Some of the highest level of athleticism and dance and rhythm and ability, right in the heart of our own downtown. It’s cool, it’s attractive, and it’s such a gift for dancers to put these displays on for the community.”