Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
When it comes to breakdance, many people will think of "Northeast Dance King" Sun Honglei.
This dance originated from the streets of the United States and was once popular in China.
In the 1980s, the movie "Break Dance" was released in China, and "Sun Honglei" can be seen everywhere in the streets.
Boys who break dance are called "B-boys" and girls are called "B-girls". 16-year-old girl Liu Qingyi is one of the B-girls.
She started breaking dance at the age of 9, from the amateur club all the way to the provincial team, then to the national training team, and jumped to the podium of the world championship champion, reaching an unprecedented new height of Chinese break dancing.
Data map: Liu Qingyi in the game at the Shaanxi National Games.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
On July 11, Liu Qingyi passed all the way in the World Games and finally won the fourth place.
In the early morning of August 7th, Beijing time, Liu Qingyi once again won the women's championship of the 1vs1 world-renowned event "Outbreak Competition".
This is another breakthrough for her and for Chinese breakdancing.
A few days ago, China-Singapore Sports called Liu Qingyi, who was accompanying the national training team in foreign training and competition.
In a conversation with reporters, she said that in the future, she dreams of standing on the stage of the Olympic Games and letting the world see Chinese girls who can dance.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
From hobby to profession
On December 7, 2020, the International Olympic Committee agreed to make breakdancing an official sport for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
That day, Liu Qingyi's circle of friends was swiped by this news.
This means that hip-hop, which was once considered "unclassified", has entered the "hall of elegance", and dancers like Liu Qingyi have also been given the opportunity to turn their hobby into a career.
At the age of 9, Liu Qingyi saw a street dance performance for the first time in his hometown in Henan.
Cool movements and dynamic music formed a fatal attraction to her.
At that time, there was only one thought in Liu Qingyi's mind: "I want to learn too."
At that time, she was still in elementary school, and her academic performance was among the best in her class.
In her spare time, her parents sent her to learn taekwondo.
However, the routine practice of Taekwondo made Liu Qingyi feel boring and boring, and the unrestrained sense of freedom of breakdancing, like the brilliant fireworks blooming in the dark night, made her crazy.
Before the Shaanxi National Games, Liu Qingyi, who was already an "old driver" of breakdance, attracted the attention of the provincial team.
In the end, she represented the Henan team and won the gold medal in the women's breakdance competition.
And Liu Qingyi was also selected for the national training team and began preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Paris Olympics.
The World Games, which have ended, are the first games to earn points for the Paris Olympics.
Although he did not stand on the podium in the end, Liu Qingyi felt that he had gained a lot from going abroad: "The level of foreign (breakdance) is much higher than that of China, and I have gained a lot of experience by playing against the best players in the world."
Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
the only girl in the club
In the eyes of many people, the many supports and inversions of breakdancing test the dancer's skills and athletic ability.
This distinctive dance is also more suitable for boys to practice.
Compared with the number of B-boys, domestic B-girls seem to be rarer.
The first breakdance class of Beijing Sports University recruited students from all over the country, but none of the 11 students recruited were girls.
The loneliness of lack of same-sex partners has always accompanied Liu Qingyi's growth.
When she first learned to break dance, she was the only girl in the club.
Many children and parents are frightened by the "dangerous attributes" inherent in this dance, but Liu Qingyi is a girl who likes challenges: "I am an outgoing personality, and when I encounter something I like, I want to do it well."
The coach saw that it was not easy for a little girl to learn dancing, and he was extra gentle to this "only seedling".
After dancing for a summer vacation, the coach discovered Liu Qingyi's talent and encouraged her to keep jumping.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Some tricks in breakdancing are not friendly to girls.
In the past seven years, Liu Qingyi can't remember how many times he has been injured.
But she still remembers that the broken arm in 2018 almost ruined her dancing career.
It was an ordinary training session, and Liu Qingyi felt that his arms were not working hard.
After class, she went to the hospital, and the doctor told her to go home and rest for a day or two.
But a week later, her arm got worse and worse, and she didn't know until she went to the city hospital that it was broken.
The strong-willed Liu Qingyi rarely cries.
But that day, she burst into tears: "I'm afraid I won't be able to dance anymore." During the operation in the hospital, her mother stayed with her, watching her daughter suffer, she kept persuading Liu Qingyi: "Why don't you dance."
However, Liu Qingyi, who had persisted for three years, would not give up easily.
After the cast was removed from her arm and the nails were taken out, she resumed training.
Because of this injury, many of the movements that had been mastered before became unfamiliar to Liu Qingyi.
She had to start from scratch: "It took about two or three months to get back to the previous level."
Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Let the world see China's "B-girl"
In Liu Qingyi's view, dancing is an expression of one's own personality.
People with different personalities have different types of dancing.
Break dancing was born in the 1970s.
At first, it was the representative of "rebel" and "trend".
Later, with the development of the times, the art form of expressing individuality and self-expression in breakdancing has been preserved, and it has also become one of the characteristics of this dance.
The casual freedom in dancing just fits with Liu Qingyi's personality, which is why she falls in love with breakdance.
Having danced for so long, Liu Qingyi felt that life had a lot more fun and brought her more confidence: "Dancing to the end is to show what you think is good, to maximize your style, and then to get Recognition from others. I think that's what dancing is about."
This time abroad for training, many foreign players are also curious about Chinese breakdancers.
When they saw Liu Qingyi, who was young but very skilled, they would also be surprised: "There are very few girls who can dance like this."
"There are relatively few dancers of my type, and no one has seen them before. They also find it relatively new. I also hope that they can deepen their impression of Chinese breakdancing and increase our popularity." Liu Qingyi said.
Due to the late start of breakdance in China and its relatively small popularity, there is also a certain gap between Chinese players and the world's top players.
However, with the popularity of breakdance in the Olympics, the domestic B-boy and B-girl groups continue to expand.
In the future, we have reason to believe that more and more Chinese dancers will appear in the future world competitions.
(Reporter Xing Rui)