Quick answer: the dance is called breaking. The people who do it are called b-boys and b-girls. “Breakdancing” is what the media called it in the 1980s when they couldn’t pronounce the real thing.
If you’ve ever wondered which word to use, this is for you. And if you’ve ever been corrected by a b-boy at a jam — now you know why.
WHERE THE REAL WORD COMES FROM
The dance was named in the early 1970s in the Bronx. DJ Kool Herc was extending the breakbeats — the part of a record where the band drops out and the drums take over — using two turntables. Dancers waited for those breaks and went off.
Herc started calling them break-boys and break-girls. B-boys and b-girls.1 The dance they did during the breaks became breaking. Sometimes shortened to breakin’. That’s the word the founders used. That’s the word the Rock Steady Crew used. That’s the word the New York City Breakers used. That’s the word b-boys and b-girls all over the world use today.
WHERE “BREAKDANCING” CAME FROM
The early 1980s. The dance had spread out of the Bronx, gotten on TV, and ended up in Hollywood films like “Flashdance” (1983), “Beat Street” (1984), and “Breakin’” (1984).2 Mainstream media needed a word for it. They didn’t check with the people who invented it. They mashed “break” and “dancing” together and ran with it.
Breakdancing stuck because it was the word in the headlines, the movie titles, the cereal box ads, and eventually the Olympics media coverage. It became the term parents and teachers and journalists know.
The b-boys and b-girls never used it. Talk to anyone who came up in the culture — the OGs, the pioneers, the people who battled in parks before there were studios — and they’ll correct you. Politely or not.
Per Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew, the word didn’t even come from the media in general — it came from Rock Steady’s own British punk-rock manager and publicist, who misspoke once and the term stuck.3 The b-boys never used it. They were always b-boys.
SO WHY DOES IT ACTUALLY MATTER?
It’s not about being precious. It’s about three specific things:
1. RESPECT FOR THE PIONEERS
The people who built this culture chose a word for what they were doing. Using their word honors them. Using the media’s word does the opposite — it tells them their language doesn’t count.
2. ACCURATE CULTURAL VOCABULARY
“Breaking” comes with all the related vocabulary — b-boy, b-girl, breakbeat, break, cipher, top rock, footwork, freezes, power moves. It connects you to the rest of the culture. “Breakdancing” floats by itself, disconnected.
3. SIGNAL OF AUTHENTICITY
When you walk into a real Hip Hop space and use the right words, people know you’ve done your homework. When you use “breakdancing,” people know you got your information from movies. Words are how the culture identifies its own.
WHAT BREAKING ACTUALLY IS
Breaking is a foundational style in Hip Hop with a specific vocabulary. The four core elements of the dance itself are:
- Top rock — what you do standing up at the start. Style, swagger, setting the tone.
- Footwork (down rock / go-downs) — what happens once you drop to the floor. Six-step, CCs, knee-drops, sweeps.
- Power moves — the spins. Windmills, flares, swipes, head spins. The acrobatic side.
- Freezes — locked positions you hit on a beat. Baby freeze, chair freeze, air freeze.
Real breaking sessions don’t look like a music-video routine. They look like a cipher — a circle of dancers taking turns, each one going in for a round, the rest watching, hyping, and waiting their turn. That’s the format. That’s how the dance lives.
BREAKING IS NOW AN OLYMPIC SPORT
Breaking debuted at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The official word in the Olympic program is breaking, not breakdancing. The IOC actually consulted with the b-boy and b-girl community to get it right.4 That’s a small win for the culture.
It also means a generation of kids around the world is watching breaking on TV using the correct name. The next ten years should normalize the right vocabulary in mainstream conversation.
HOW WE TEACH IT IN AUSTIN
At Danzversity, we run a dedicated breakin’ program for ages 8–17. We teach top rock, footwork, freezes, and power moves — in that order. Beginners don’t start on power moves. They start on top rock and posture, because the foundation is what carries everything else.
We use the cipher format in class. We name moves correctly. We tell students who invented the move they’re learning. We respect the lineage. And no — we don’t call it breakdancing. (Though we’ll meet you where you are if that’s the word you searched. We just’ll teach you the right one.)
Our breakin’ class is part of why we hold the strongest local map ranking on “breakdancing classes austin.” The dance shows up in search under both names — we just believe in calling it what it is.
“Each one teach one. Pass the word. Pass the dance. Pass the respect.”
QUICK GLOSSARY
- Breaking / Breakin’ — the correct name for the dance
- Breakdancing — the media’s 1980s coinage; commonly used but not what the culture calls it
- B-boy / B-girl — a person who breaks
- Breaker — also acceptable, especially for adults or in international contexts
- Cipher — the circle where breakers take turns
- Round — one person’s turn in the cipher
- Battle — head-to-head competition between breakers or crews
- Crew — a team of breakers
Now you know. Use the right words. Honor where the culture came from.