Get ready to watch award-winning dancers “break it down” at The World Games 2022 through DanceSport competitions

You may think you know the ins and outs of every sport of The World Games 2022, but do you know about the dancing competitions? Get ready to enter the world of Breaking and DanceSport—a place for highly-skilled dancers to show the world what they’re made of. Are you ready to break it down?

The wonderful world of dance

Before you watch athletes twist, turn, leap and tumble—here are a few things to know. The World Games Organization has put together a beginner’s guide to DanceSport—so you know exactly what the sport entails.

Athleticism, technique and aesthetics are all key with professional dance. The trick that most of us don’t have—making the routine look effortless. However, dance isn’t a “one size fits all” sport. There are various styles of dance, all that have their place within The Games. Here are the category in which athletes will be competing.

• Latin: samba, cha-cha-cha, rumba, paso doble and jive
• Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll: just like what you pictured—jumps, throws and flips are involved.
• Standard: waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot and quickstep
• Breaking: athletes face off to heart-pounding music as they compete in 1:1 dance battles with nimble footwork, coordination, fitness and acrobatic moves

Some categories you might have seen on your favorite episode of Dancing With the Stars, but most are new. This is the first year Breaking will be in The World Games—so get ready to hold onto your hats (and get those tix).

About their venues

Over the span of 10 days, The World Games 2022 will be home to world-class athletes and visitors from around the country. Luckily, Birmingham came prepared with venues to host the traveling crowd. Want to see these competitions for yourself? Check out where DanceSport will be held.

Breaking will be held at Sloss Furnaces—just east of downtown Birmingham. From 1882-1971, this place was a pig-iron producing blast furnace. Now, it’s one of Birmingham’s most beloved spots to host events, learn about history and even take a walking tour. There’s truly no cooler venue to host this fascinating competition.

All other DanceSport competitions will be held at the newly renovated Legacy Arena of the BJCC, home to Birmingham’s basketball team—Squadron.

Why it matters

Not only do these athletes work extremely hard, but they have fun while doing it. Just take it from Sunny Choi—a a top finisher at the World DanceSport Federation’s 2021 Breaking Championship and a Cookeville, Tennessee local

“I think my style is pretty dynamic. However, it seems that the one thing people talk about and notice the most about the way that I dance is that I’m always smiling. Breaking, particularly in battles, tends to be very aggressive and confrontational so it’s not very common that you have dancers on stage who are smiling!”

-Sunny Choi, breakdancer + athlete, The World Games 2022

Choi isn’t the only one to have her game face on at the DanceSport competitions. Married couple Anna Matus and Gabriele Goffredo are representing Moldova in the Latin category. They’ve won 79 dance sport medals in their career including gold at Latin dance at The World Games 2013 and 2017, and they’re not looking to stop anytime soon.

“Let there be no doubt, these are world-class athletes who will be competing in Birmingham. You must be an elite dancer and undergo years of rigorous training to compete at this level.”

-Nick Sellers, The World Games 2022, CEO

Ready for The Games to be here? You’re not the only one. As the official media partner of The World Games 2022, we’ll be sharing the latest news of The Games, the city and beyond.

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