Theater of performances by high-level artists and athletes, the station wagon wants to take advantage of the Olympic exhibition

Lahouari Maachou compte sur « le coup de projecteur olympique ». Crédit Nassir Mokhtari

Montpellier Breaking Métropole rêve des JO à travers son champion de France Khalil Chabouni. Son coach, responsable du club, Lahouari Maachou, évoque l’évolution d’une discipline sur laquelle on porte un autre regard depuis son entrée aux Jeux.

At Montpellier Breaking Métropole, Lahouari Maachou – aka Bboy Law –, pampers his nuggets. Not long ago, this breakdancer from the first southern generation renovated a small business in Crès. Unrecognizable, the place accommodates 40 children, represents 120 members including the first official French champion Khalil Chabouni : "A pioneer, the structure supports these artists who have become athletes while maintaining our social identity ", explains Lahouari Maachou, referring to the French Dance Federation.
By Budapest in June, Chabouni will know if he is part of the Top 7 promoted to the Olympic Games: "This new status as a high-level athlete changes everything. Salary, national teams, training at Insep… Lever also for feminization: I already imagine the opportunities for the level of an eleven-year-old dancer with us.

Since the announcement of the entry of the station wagon into the Olympic Games, the invitations have been flowing: "The station wagon was already filling zeniths, on a smaller scale. We are breaking out of this social straitjacket: the general public perceives the artistic and sporting dimension while honoring the belonging to the street arts which is dear to us. Federal competitions serve the international ranking, the battles popular recognition. "Repetition discipline, we cannot reach a certain level without physical preparation. The battles allow you to test yourself, to engage in artistic research. Performance is not enough, you have to make a name for yourself".
After thirty years of commitment to its development, Bboy Law dreams of breaking as a leisure or even career choice. "The day after the Olympic events, children will want to practice. We must offer opportunities to young people living post-covid, whom I find tired, distant from the movement. It is vital to talk about healthy sport.

At the Games, jurors, speakers and DJ’s will supervise "one against one to imposed and unknown music. It is a framed improvisation of sets of figures. Judgment is made on these combos and passages and on the so-called character part: creativity. Risk-taking must be very clean. We keep the identity of musical and sartorial freedom. It’s a war with respect for others. It is in this sharing that my place is, concludes Lahouari Maachou: bringing together all the people and institutions capable of serving this development. From an urban culture, our dancers are by definition self-taught. Their future begins with a place and time for them.