It’s girl power all the way and so believes Johanna Rodrigues a 22-year-old B-girl from Bengaluru. In the past few years hip-hop has managed to make headlines for its quirky style and for being a revolution. However, breaking is one hip-hop dance style that has fewer female artists.
With a smirk on her face and swagger in her moves, breaking the social stigma B-girl Jo emerged as the winner of the 5th edition of Redbull BC One this year.
When asked about what drove her to breaking? “I was attracted to the fact that this dance form is a fusion of athletics and artistry,” she adds saying, “A lot more people should be open to welcoming B-girls and girls must stay strong, because we need more energy to make space in the hip-hop radius.”
Living in a society where how you look, what you wear, where you go and how you speak is being judged every step of the way, B-girls fight to express their talents in the most stylish dance form.
B-girl Jo thinks girls must explore their potentials to the fullest. She says “Fewer of us b-girls, have managed to explore this dance form. With only our love and passion for the art, we women have to support ed each other in this male dominated world. It is pretty difficult for us girls to give a deaf ear to those sleazy comments and just focus on our dance. To be honest the dance form itself is in a way curated for men, including the props b-girls don’t get much of anything.”
If you’re following your passion it is inevitable that a path of thorns is laid before you reach your goal. Now, apart from just dodging the obstacles women have to face a lot more. B-Girl Jo shares the problems she faces, “When I started, a lot of people would comment about my hip and say it’s too low, and a lot more discouraging things. But, the trick is to channelise all this negativity into improving and embracing our body type and the fact is we’re women and our hips are low.”
Spreading her courage and wisdom to aspiring B-girls Johanna says, “Believe in your style and your abilities to achieve, do not fall for degrading comments. There is no right or wrong, we all only learn from our mistakes to perfection.”
With poise, panache and vigour B-girl Jo signed off by saying, “We can do anything if we put our mind and body to it, and we can bring wonders to our lives. All we have to do is stand by, push hard and never give up.”
