Bombay (AFP)

Carmine red hair and fiery temperament, she dances in balance on her hands by performing arabesques of madness with her legs: Sarah Bee is a breakdance pro she discovered in her city and had to practice in secret before making his life.

Today, Sarah Bee is one of the best in her field and she is preparing to compete in the world finals in Mumbai, the Red Bull BC One.

"This is the most prestigious competition, it's just an opportunity + + + to be able to go, to represent his dance, where I come from and my person", ignites this small very tonic, which has grew up in Chenôve, near Dijon (Côte-d'Or), nurtured by Bollywood movies, the Indian cinema industry based in Mumbai.

At almost 30 years old, Sarah Bee - her name as b-girl (breakdance performer) - savor the path she has traveled.

Daughter of Algerian parents, she grew up in a sensitive neighborhood where she struggled until she was 11 and her meeting with breakdance, one of the branches of hip hop culture. It was watching her sister dance that she was interested.

At the first test session, it's "the kiff!"

"The break came to me, it's not me who chose it," she says.

"It was not easy 2, 3 years ago when I really struggled to do what I'm doing today, my brother did not want me to dance, I went secretly to workout If he found out, he would smash me in front of everyone, it was really that, really, "she says.

"It was related to the fact that you're a girl who grew up in a neighborhood, he did not want me to hang out, and while I was not hanging around, I was doing something good in the end."

- Escape -

Hands-on with endless energy, Sarah Bee has clung. Child very reserved, not talkative, often on the defensive and very nervous, breakdance was his escape, his best way to express himself.

"It's a sport, an art, it's all my life," says the b-girl, pro for 10 years.

Today, his brother does not say anything. And her parents, with whom she still lives, do not really know what she's doing. "My dad never saw me dance, he does not know what hip hop really is, I did not even try to explain to them, it's been like that since I was a little girl."

Sarah Bee trains every day to be at the top of the competition or at dance shows, when she is part of a company.

The most complicated is still to find structures for training. And fight against prejudices.

"It's all the time, it's boring, already I think I'm 15 years old, I'm dressed like young people so I'm told: what's in your bag? Do you have alcohol? They assimilate hip hop to things wrong while it's totally the opposite. I have never drunk nor smoked. They are completely next to the plate, "he says. -she.

"The cultures of hip hop dance is not at all that, we are in the sharing, it gets us out of the negative everyday," she says hoping that mentalities will evolve with the entry of breakdance to the Olympic program in 2024.

Meanwhile, she continues to travel the world dancing, discovering other cultures, as in India. "As a woman, it changed me a lot inside."

© 2019 AFP