Courtnaé Paul is hoping to tumble, handstand and spin her way into the global spotlight of the Paris Olympics.
Paul, 32, from Durban, is one of 40 global B-girl (breaker) dancers who will compete for a top 10 spot in the qualifier series in Shanghai and Budapest in May and June, after an announcement that breakdancing will make its debut at the Paris Olympics in July.
Paul — who is also a choreographer and a DJ — and Midian Leah Ganyaza, another breaker from Gqeberha, are hoping to represent South Africa on the world stage.
“It’s a completely different thing to compete on stage, and obviously you are not just representing yourself as a brand but also a whole country. I’m so excited, and obviously I’m working really hard to make sure I’m well prepared and ready for the qualifiers. I returned to the sport only in 2020 during lockdown after a long break, and everything has been moving very fast, but my previous work has prepared me for this kind of challenge,” Paul said.
Breakdancing is a style of street dance originating in the mid-1970s, performed to rap and hip-hop music and characterised by intricate footwork and gymnastic movements.
Paul, a former Northlands Girls' High School pupil, said her journey from gymnastics to breakdancing started when she was just 11 during a chance concert.
After realising that she had some rhythm, she took dancing seriously and started learning more about it. At 15, she became a professional dancer.
“From there things just happened so fast. I started getting contracts, from Golden Horse Casino to the Durban ICC event. At 21 I decided to move to Johannesburg, and that’s when I got to understand more about the dance and the culture behind it. From there I never looked back. At first my family didn’t understand what I was doing, and I remember my parents would always tell me to focus on something else rather than breakdancing.
“I got to do the intro for an SABC TV programme called Yo TV. They used dance moves to the alphabet and I was the Y. When my family saw that they were so proud of me, and that’s when the support started coming through.”
But due to the lack of breakdancing events and competitions, Paul took a break and focused on other careers including music, TV shows and choreography. She said that at that time breakdancing had become nonexistent and no-one recognised or supported the sport.
During the Covid lockdown, she started training again and got back into breakdancing when Red Bull hosted a global online street battle competition.
After making it to the top 32 in the world she hasn't looked back, and has had a busy four years filled with travelling around the country, the continent and the world.
She said it was difficult to compete with athletes from other countries, especially the US, as they have all the support and infrastructure, and competitions the whole year to sharpen their skills.
Paul said the sport was male-dominated globally, and it was even more difficult in South Africa as there was almost no recognition of breakdancing.
“It was hard at first, but after I put my work out there and started winning national championships and competing on the continent things got better. I started getting brands, and that made my life easy. Right now I’m 100% focusing on breakdancing and obviously, with the Olympics coming up, I want to make sure I bring my A-game,” she said.
For Paul, coming up against the best breakdancers, especially from the US, will not be something new, as she has been recognised among the best in the world over the years.
Some of her highlights in her breakdancing career include opening for international stars like Lil Wayne, being the 2021 Red Bull BC One winner, and other international breakdancing competitions.
This month she performed at the G-Star RAW x Burna Boy Johannesburg Launch. She was also one of the speakers at the Forbes Africa leading women summit held at Emperors Palace Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
“It has been an amazing journey, filled with challenges. Being part of the Olympic Games and representing my country would be the highlight of my career. I certainly look forward to it,” she said.
Leon Fleiser, South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) general manager: high performance, said it was amazing that South Africa stood a chance of competing in the new sport in the Olympic programme, and he has high hopes for the women.
“We did take youth breakdancers with us to the Youth Olympics recently and so now this means it won’t be the first time we are taking them to the game. We really are looking forward to it.
“Breakdancing is male-dominated and we have a gender commission that is pushing to ensure we have female representatives in all codes. More medals equals more investment in sports and games. Once it becomes more popular it will attract more younger people. We are really hoping that someone will qualify and that will inspire even the children to join the sport,” Fleiser said.
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