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I'm not saying my word is entirely correct, but from what I have been taught, Breakdancing did indeed spawn from Capoeira.

Rumor has it that not too long ago, a well respected Mestre de Capoeira took a group of street-children under his wing and attempted to teach them Capoeira in exchange for them "cleaning up their acts" (stop stealing, stop smoking and drinking, go to school, etc). The kids, however, only half-enjoyed the art. In an effort to not lose the childrens' respect, the Mestre challenged them to create their own art. The children then took away the martial aspects of Capoeira, and combined some Capoeira movements, along with dance movements and acrobatics, to create "breakdancing" (although it was not yet called "breakdancing"). Impressed, the Mestre told them to use their new art to busk on the streets to earn money.

Then, roughly around the 70's, breakdancing was finally named "breakdancing", because at dances and discotheques, while the DJ was taking a break to switch records, the "breakdancers" would open a circle, plug in a boom-box, and start doing the art of "breakdancing" to entertain everyone in the dancehall.

That's what I was taught. May not be entirely true... But it's a sound theory.

Capoeira, when performed in the Roda, can be more so described as "mock combat". This was the way that the slaves practiced Capoeira when in captivity, so the masters would not know they were practicing a form of combat. Then when the time came, they would use Capoeira in a much more agressive manner, very different and much more violent than that which you would see in most Rodas. So today, when we look at Capoeira, many see it as merely an art that is not martial. But hidden beneath its appearance is a dangerous form of combat that, if used properly, can do serious damage in a fight. But really, it depends on the person and how they use the art. This, of course, is merely my opinion. A little cryptic, but I hope it answered your question. neutral

a while ago Sieg linked me to some form of Motion subculture similar to Cap. and Brk. Dnc. I'll see if ican locate the link again, but its sort of like an inner city system of motion.

I have actually heard otherwise. If I recall, a good deal of the Rocksteady crew drew their influences from watching old kung fu films. I do tend to steal moves when I breakdance, but I'm slightly skeptical about this capoeira=breakdancing correlation.

Hiya!
I am NOT a mestre...just my fantasy name--right?
I'm only white corda...but I've been studying longer than I've been practicing, and this issue I'm not an expert on...however--perhaps I can shed some light. B-boy does indeed associate itself directly with breaking, coined at the parties that kool herc, who is one of the foremost pioneers of what we call hip-hop, threw in his neighborhood.

Back then, DJ's were the people who made the party go round, even before mc's.

HOWEVER, breaking refers to the "dance break" part of a song, where the DJ breaks it down and you hear the drums and what not. Kool Herc decided to splice the record and extend just the "breaks", and those were the beginnings of hip-hop's infatuation with cool beats and heavy bass and percussion.

Kool Herc was the first to start speaking over the mic and personalizing the party during these "breaks". He would "shout-out" his friends and basically give instructions to the crowd. There were certain dancers that would come to the party and loved these breaks. They would show off thier skills and creative style of dancing.

This is where I believe that capoeira comes in.
During this period in the 70's, the projects were where most minorities lived, and they were extremely poor and opressed. New ways to rise above the crime, opression and vice were constantly surfacing in these projects. During this time, it was noted that in the barrios and projects where immigrant hispanics, notably brasilieros (ppl from brazil) lived, they would practice Capoeira on the street--just like in Brazil, where the conditions were much the same. Blacks saw this and though it was cool...some learned, some immitated, but the culmination comes at these parties where structure goes out the window, and performance and expression is key.
Of course, battling comes into it, but it is important that you know that breaking comes in four distinct forms in which one is a mock fight. I believe this comes from influence of not just kung-fu films, but Capoeira on the streets.

Thus, back to b-boys. Kool Herc, being an immigrant himself, from Jamaica, was familliar with bringing one's own distinct culture to these parties. Talking over the music for him was a spin off of his jamaican roots where they call it "dubbing". He would call for these innovative dancers to get on the floor and get the crowd hype during the "breaks". Thus, he began calling them b-boys or break-boys.
wink
Hope this is helpful!