Breaking for Gold

You might recognize Jeffrey Louis, who competes in the dance sport of breaking under the name B-boy Jeffro, by his long T-shirt, sweatpants and low-rise sneakers. Or you might recognize the 2018 University of Houston sports kinesiology grad by his Team USA gear — the red, white and blue Ralph Lauren swag American Olympians rocked in Paris for the 2024 Summer Games.

As breaking made the leap from hip-hop party dance to the Olympic stage, so too has Louis. He has been one of the top B-boys (that is, a male breaking competitor) for years and came up through the youth scene in Houston. He was born and raised in Alief, a half hour west of the UH campus, and has been breaking since he was 12.

When he tells his story, Louis, who is Haitian, credits his hometown’s diversity and energy for the distinctive flavor he brings to the floor.

“Coming from Houston, we have a lot of mixed cultures, vibes and communities. It’s just a melting pot of flavors and style,” he said in a previous interview. “I have a lot of pride to bring Houston to a world stage ... especially with the people I came up with, like my coach, [UH professor of hip-hop dance] Joel Aguilera.” 

Louis and other breakers draw from established dance traditions such as bachata and merengue, as well as from gymnastics, martial arts and variations on hip-hop culture that have evolved in different countries around the world. The iconic hip-hop party dance turned global art form has carried an element of competition ever since the early 1970s, when Kool Herc was DJing sets in Bronx apartments. 

Breaking — you may (mistakenly) call it “breakdancing” — debuted in Paris as the newest Olympic sport, following the likes of such 2020 additions as skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and freestyle BMX. The Olympics showcased the sport in 2018 during the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and its governing body, the World DanceSport Federation, held its first world championships in 2013.

B-boy Jeffro took second place in the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in late 2023 and secured his spot in the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest, Hungary, in June. He entered the Olympics as the fifth-ranked B-boy in the world and made it to the quarterfinals in Paris.

Olympic judges evaluated B-boys and B-girls on their creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality. If that sounds like a party in a bottle, well, you’re not wrong. In competitions, Louis told NBC Olympics, everyone present is part of the event — as surely as if you were at a house party.

“It’s the whole hip-hop presence,” he said. “The crowd is dancing to the music. You don’t even have to be a performer. You could be on the side, just grooving. You’re making noise. As dancers, we need to feed off the crowd.”

And if you’re part of the UH crowd, congrats: We’ve got another Olympian in our midst. Make some noise.

Read more about Jeffrey Louis’ experience at the 2024 Summer Olympics and other Cougar Olympians.