Breakers have historically been exploited by companies and expected to dance in unsafe conditions and without pay. As a leading company involved in the breaking scene, Red Bull should be prioritising the safety and wellbeing of dancers at its events.
At the UK Cypher on Saturday 21st September 2024, dancers were expected to compete at top level in a space that was filthy (hands were blackened from touching the floor), crumbling, cracked, uneven concrete, with the smell of urine. The location is a railway tunnel frequented by homeless and drunken people and had not been cleaned. Considering that breaking involves dynamically pushing ones head, back, elbows, shoulders and hands against the floor, this is completely unsafe, unhygienic and disrespectful to the scene and the dancers who worked hard to be able to compete. There was a high risk of injuries to the eye from shrapnel on the ground as well as other bodily and head injuries from the uneven tough concrete. Not only does this not provide a fair ground for competitors, but it presents a significant hygiene and health and safety risk.
While concrete jams are a part of the underground dance scene, dancing on concrete involves certain risks that are up to the individual to take, and the style of dance has to be adapted to enable the dancer to jam safely. At an international competition like Red Bull BC One, which dancers work for years towards, there is pressure to compete with the highest level moves. On Saturday dancers were under undue pressure therefore to compete in a space they did not feel safe in. This is exploitative and disrespectful of Red Bull.
We call on Red Bull to apologise and to commit to providing safe and appropriate facilities for dancers at its future events, including a clean and appropriate floor for high level breaking, as well as toilet facilities which were not provided. Red Bull, as a global organisation involved in breaking, needs to set an example for the safety of artists.
