[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by villager7591

If that holds, ballroom dancing, etc., should be in the Olympics...and they got rid of baseball and softball ???
Tells me what I need to know with their 'last supper' skit. NBC just can't help themselves...

1. Had nothing to do with NBC, the NBC is an American media company and the Olympics this year was hosted by the city of Paris, in France.
2. It wasn't a "last supper" skit. It was a presentation of a bacchanal, which is a celebratory tribute to the fact that the Olympics is a GREEK tournament of athleticism. Perhaps people who wrote the bible or painted Christian paintings took their inspiration from the bacchanal.

[PurePeach]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Coming soon to an olympics near you.


This girl is 9 years old.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNYYf2Mc5ro

She is amazing!!!! Forget the Olympics — she could start making money TODAY with Cirque du Soleil.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by GATORBILL66

Dancing id not a sport!

I certainly hope not! Imagine Swan Lake as an Olympic event because it pleases the “old people”. Nureyev could compete with many a gymnast with his jumps. (I saw it myself). I can see skate boarding as a valid sport, but break dancing… not so much.

[SoCalGal]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

This is interesting but I probably would have liked more to see River Dancing or maybe line dancing. Seems like more of an art than a sport though.

It's akin to ice dancing and figure skating.

[Joe C.]

The olympics used to be 100% entertaining. Now it's 20%. What used to be sports derived from ancient combat, is now diluted beyond recognition.

[Kathy Hefflefinger]

But that isn’t break dancing. Tumbling.

[mbene]

Wow, watched the medal competition in break dancing, never paid attention to it before. The athleticism, coordination and strength needed were impressive.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I'm not fond of breakdancing, it's not rhythmic, and my brain just can't wrap around arrhythmic dance to rhythmic music. The moves themselves are impressive and admirable. But spinning on your head just - doesn't really do it for me.

Plus, it's very disappointing that the womens' breakdancing event didn't include a single woman of color. That is culturally insulting. If they can't find black bgirls, then they really need to not have a breakdancing event. It's like having the Olympics and rejecting Greek representation. Or attending a Catholic Church that only has atheists sitting to hear the liturgy. Or going to a dog show and only allowing cats to compete.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by mbene

Wow, watched the medal competition in break dancing, never paid attention to it before. The athleticism, coordination and strength needed were impressive.

I guess it depends on perspective. If there was a skill involved, I am not familiar with it.

[Marathon Man]

It's 'breaking' not 'break dancing'. It's not meant to appeal to everyone. I don't care for figure skating, but I don't make fun of it.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I'm not kidding at all. Breakdancing is a culturally black American (or African-American to those who prefer that term) style of dance, just like salsa is a culturally latin style of dance. To have a global tournament for a particular kind of dance, and not have anyone who represents the culture that invented it - is disappointing.

If it’s folk dancing it is inappropriate to be in the Olympics. I mean is it not cultural appropriation?

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Joe C.

The olympics used to be 100% entertaining. Now it's 20%. What used to be sports derived from ancient combat, is now diluted beyond recognition.

Yes, I think pretty soon there will be a division in the Olympics just like there is Winter and Summer Olympics there will be Sports and Entertainment Olympics.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

Who invented basketball? See many white guys on the us team?

Springfield College didn't allow black students until the early 1900's. The first basketball court was built there, in 1891. It wasn't "culturally white." It was "culturally collegiate" and because of racism, black people were disqualified from participating.

Compare with breaking - which was created by black kids living in the Bronx, NY, in public, where no one was legally excluded from participating.

Also, "breaking" is a synonym, or nickname, or shortened version of "breakdancing" or "break dancing" or "break-dancing." They all refer to the same style of dance.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

I think the Olympics jumped the shark when they included ribbon twirling and fancy swimming...and now break dancing. I agree, it's an art not a sport.

See capoeira. Then look at break dancing. See any similarities?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Velvet

If it’s folk dancing it is inappropriate to be in the Olympics. I mean is it not cultural appropriation?

If salsa, merengue, polka, tango, hula, and bellydancing aren't Olympic competitive dances, then breakdancing should also not be an Olympic competitive dance.

But I wasn't arguing that the dance shouldn't be in the Olympics at all. I don't care if it is or not, since I wouldn't watch it anyway. It IS a culturally black-American form of dance expression, whether people want it to be or not. And it is disappointing, to me personally, that since the Olympics chose to have breakdancing this year, that there were no black female breakdancers competing.