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Exploring the art form of ''breakdancing''

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Copyright © africanews
JASON HALAYKO/AFP

Olympic Games

Meet Fabiano Lopes from Paraná in Brazil. The 33-year old breakdancer is on a mission to make society appreciate his skills as an amazing art form.

Better known to his 500,000 Instagram followers as 'B-Boy Neguin,' Lopes found breakdancing nearly 30 years ago. That was when he caught snippets of b-boys doing windmills on television.

"It takes years and sweat, blood and tears for us to create a movement, so I think like overall, society needs to understand a little bit more of how amazing this art form, just like as football, as a soccer, or a basketball player", he said.

Lopes hopes to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris but realizes he does not know what condition his body will be in at that point.

He coaches other dancers and looks forward to the games as either a contender or a coach.

''At the end of the day, everything that you do, it has been done in the past. So, you always go back to basics. The foundation. When you have the foundation of this art form, then you can create a million steps out of that. That's the most important thing, you know, because you bring something new to the table. This is like what I've done, you know, back then, because, like, OK, I have all this foundation from the New York style and then how can I introduce my Brazilian version to it, this art form", the breakdancer added.

Breakdancing will be called "breaking" at the Olympics, as it was in the 1970s by hip-hop pioneers in the United States.