The future of breakdance in the most important tournament in the world The new generation of urban dance at BOTY 2021 with the crew of Nike and Snipes

There was a particular energy at this year's edition of BOTY, the Battle of the Year in Montpellier, a breakdance tournament that, born in 1990 with the name of International Breakdance Cup has grown over the years to become the equivalent of the World Cup for the world of urban dance. Crews from all over the world gather every year in Montpellier to compete – and in the final of the tournament, held last Sunday, all the energy accumulated during a difficult year like 2020 came out on stage in which, as Flaminia Genoese, Italian dancer interviewed by nss magazine told us «has been very hard for all performers». An edition, that of BOTY 2021, which was not only an outlet for hundreds of breakdancers from all over the world, but also an opportunity to reflect on how the discipline and culture of urban dance have evolved in recent years and through different generations. When we asked Flaminia, who among other things was the first Italian dancer to teach in Los Angeles, what was the biggest difference between hers and the new generations of dancers she answered without a doubt: «Technology. This year we felt the new media erupted on our scene. Young people want views, contents, to go viral on TikTok». 

This continuity, which links the 80s sneakers to those of today, but which also links the OG generations of breakdancers with the new ones, was perhaps the brightest element of FLEUR's performance last Sunday – technique aside, of course. An element that however reconnects the importance of mentoring to the universal nature shared by the two parallel cultures of sneakers and dance and their ability to bring together under one roof, literal and metaphorical, people from all over the world and of all ages. Just the performance of FLEUR, which you can see in the video below, wanted to be a representation of this unity, incorporating the different styles of all its masters.