February 20th of 2023

Sunny Sundays reveal a more human Bogotá. The rolos (people born and raised in Bogotá) and other shades that make up the third-highest capital of the Americas take to the streets, wearing vivid colors like Gabo's yellow butterflies. With my bike, crossing the avenues and highways of the northern region, I appreciate the landscapes composed of the surrounding mountains and the neighborhoods of narrow streets, adorned with their colorful houses. Some residents drink their coffee on the sidewalks, while others catwalk the striking beauty of the Colombian people. I feel like I'm in one of Kali Uchis' music videos.

Dozens of streets further north, I arrive at the Coliseo Servitá, to celebrate my student David Trejos, who here, among the other dancers, is known and respected as Beat Real. Little by little, competitors from different regions of the country gather in front of the facilities, waiting for the doors to open while protecting themselves from the intense rays of the sun sent by the Andean God. From the street in front of the Coliseum, the first songs can be heard in the speakers of the competitors, who are anxiously waiting for the moment to start dancing. Children, youngsters and adults, dressed in comfortable costumes for the amazing maneuvers they will unveil later, timidly launch the first retracted steps, their bodies eager to burst into intense movements.

Right there, before the doors open, Pitu One, a competitor and educator from Ibagué, in the department of Tolima, and I start a philosophical conversation, which seems to please Inti, who toasts us with even more intense rays.

Finally, the doors open and we are called to enter. I decide to wait for the arrival of Beat Real, who invited me to get to know the world of hip-hop in Bogotá. Since he was a bit far away, and urban transportation is not always fast, he asks me to join the festival in order to appreciate his brothers and sisters who are already lined up at the door of the coliseum. The facility is part of a cultural complex in the Usaquén district, where the Servitá Public Library is also located.

The architecture of the complex follows the pattern of many other public buildings in the city: the orange bricks, a legacy of the English style brought by early architects, and the wide plazas between the buildings, an Arab influence brought by the Spaniards and Moors who lived together for 800 years in southern Spain.

It's 11 o'clock and Beat Real announces his arrival by sending me a cell phone video, filming the coliseum from outside and singing "Eu só quero é ser feliz / Andar tranquilamente na favela onde eu nasci / É / E poder me orgulhar / E ter a consciência que o pobre tem seu lugar". At a bakery across the street, I join him to taste a typical cake filled with egg and rice. He is accompanied by Purita, an indigenous competitor from Guaviare, in the department of Vaupés, located in the Amazon region of the country. Purita has come to Bogotá especially for the contest. Beat tells me that Colla, his first breakdance teacher who now lives in the United States, taught him something that is permanently registered in his mind:

"ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD

IF THERE IS HIP HOP

THERE IS FAMILY".

This gym-arena-coliseum, although it is the scene of a competition between some of the best b-boys in Colombia, is set up as a big family reunion. Everyone is my bro. Hugs, handshakes, smiles, jokes and a huge respect among the competitors reveal that the culture of breakdance and hip-hop revolves around communion and cooperation. 

Warming up begins on the sides of the gym, while on the central stage, judges Bboy Tintin, Bboy Giova and Bboy Ricky Rulez, the hostess and the deejay also prepare for the battles. First the little ones are introduced, and I am already amazed by the skills of boys and girls who I think are 3 or 4 years old. Teenagers also perform in this first phase. Beat Real explains to me that this is the filter, and that only a few will go on to the next phase.

In the middle of a hailstorm, from which some ice stones come out and go through the ceiling and reach the stage where the most experienced dancers perform, Pilot, one of the pioneers of breakdance in Colombia, is presented and enters the stage under a distinctive bow. In this category, men and women compete as equals.

Pirouettes, spins, somersaults and the most varied acrobatics characterize the presentations. Next to me, Beat comments on the competitors and the steps, bringing me references of competitors, even from other countries, who inspired the moves we are watching.

In one of the last trio battles, Beat Real performs with his group. For the first time, I see him dancing in person. Wearing a black and white Adidas jacket and baggy pants with graffiti decorating the sides, he starts the performance with his irreverent manners and that enveloping malandragem that could be a Cali heritage, his hometown, mixed with his wanderings in Brazil. Playing with wobbles that recall the vadiagem of capoeira, Beat Real confuses the audience with his "I-go-I-ain't-goin", "you-think-it's-a-yes-but-it's-a-no".

However, he makes one thing crystal clear: hip-hop is commitment, hip-hop is freedom, hip-hop is family. Hip-hop, the art inherited by our African-American brothers in the United States, is a powerful expression of bodies prepared to live without fear.

Watch the presentations of Festival Efecto Corporal here.

#hiphop #breakdance #bogotá #bboys #unitedstates #brazil #colombia #capoeira #africanamericans #blackculture