SLO Breakers, Cal Poly’s breakdancing club, hosted SLO Underground: Reborn 2019, their first jam in nearly six years.
Participants competed for cash prizes of up to $300 on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the Multiactivity Center.
“I like how it brings people together and brings a lot of different skill sets. For many of the participants, it’s their first jam, so it’s good experience,” business administration junior Sarah Stevenson said.
The jam included three categories: three vs. three with 52 competitors, one vs. one with eight competitors, and six competitors in the special power move initiative. The battles lasted under a minute, but the training leading up to the competition went beyond just dancing.
“I definitely do a lot of cardio, so you got to engage the core. You got to listen to music a lot, and you also have to kind of figure out where your limits are and how to push past your limits,” recreation, parks and tourism administration senior John Balido said.
Even when waiting for their turn to compete, the students almost never stopped dancing.
“Right now I’m practicing headstands, so hopefully once I get that down it will be my signature,” Stevenson said.
The club’s founder and Cal Poly alumnus John Duch attended the jam.
“I can’t help but be super proud of the people who organized it because those guys I’ve known them since they were freshmen and to see them all grow that much and learn how to manage and plan and coordinate everything together and bring this all to life,” Duch said. “I’m almost speechless.”
The club plans to make the competition an annual jam in the future.