Breaking
The endless renaissance of Menno the hustle kid
Dive into the ever-evolving creative process of b-boy, photographer, painter, performer, designer and Red Bull BC One All Star Menno.
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It's not uncommon for b-boys and b-girls to be multitalented. Did you know DJ Lean Rock can hold his own in the cyphers? Have you seen rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s clean windmills? Lee does not only rock the cyphers but produces beats as well. Even in the early days of hip-hop, dancers were encouraged to hone other elements like DJing, MCing and graffiti.
But what about dancers that go beyond the boundaries of hip-hop? For Red Bull BC One All Star Menno van Gorp, creativity knows no bounds. From photography and theatre, to painting and fashion, he garnered a portfolio as diverse as Renaissance icons like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Could it be said that the late '70s hip-hop movement heralded a new Renaissance?
At least for the 'hustle kid' Menno, a childlike curiosity guides him wherever he needs to go. With each new frontier, a life lesson learned. In examining each of his many disciplines, we dig up the values that altogether make up the Renaissance b-boy known as Menno.
Menno is always looking for details in simple moves
© Little Shao / Red Bull Content Pool
01
Redefining breaking with a unique approach: the algorithm
When he first rocked the international breaking scene at the UK B-Boy Championships in 2007, the then-18-year-old Menno proved he was a prodigy, but unlike many young breakers that debut with profound displays of power, Menno made his mark with a unique style.
Everybody’s fishing from the same pool – and a lot of crazy fish are coming out
“Everybody’s fishing from the same pool – and a lot of crazy fish are coming out,” Menno fondly recalls of the early 2000s powermove era. “But my body can’t move that way, so it doesn’t make sense to even try to be better at what they do.”
Instead of training high-level moves, Menno explored movement as a whole. “Who’s actually like, really digging deep into just rolling on the floor? Nobody.” Menno took the most basic moves and connected them in complex ways. He took the concept so far that Poe One named Menno's style 'algorithm.'
It's no surprise that one of his earliest dance inspirations was Flipside Kings’ Lego, who popularised the 'storytelling' approach of the '90s, where dancers combined sets of moves – say a hook, a twist and a freeze – to tell a 'story'. However, rather than taking each narrative to a distinct conclusion, Menno wrote stories with open endings.
Flowing endlessly, this ever-expanding approach to movement bled into Menno’s personal life. As his success in breaking grew, so did the number of opportunities for him to further expand this concept.
5 min
Kazuki Rock vs Menno – B-Boys semi-final 1
Kazuki Rock and Menno battle head-to-head for a spot in the final of Red Bull BC One in India.
02
Photography: exploring beauty with childlike curiosity
Menno was a world traveller by the age of 20. Naturally, he would take pictures of his crew in all the cities they'd been to and gradually found a new hobby in photography.
Whereas Menno even contemplated enrolling in photography courses, he learned more than he needed by continuing this nomadic lifestyle and investing in books and camera equipment. It could be said that b-boys have a knack for still imagery, given their understanding of 'freezes', but Menno dug even deeper into the medium. He experimented with different film stocks and lenses, and became fascinated with capturing beauty.
“I wasn’t only shooting girls, but I was also looking at guys. You can tell when you look at a person – his eyes, his nose, he has something special.” It was that childlike curiosity once again that drew Menno’s camera towards its subjects. Even in the most ordinary settings, there was beauty to behold. Although he eventually lost purpose in photography, this eye-opening lesson would later aid him in his future exploits.
03
From film to canvas: embracing abstract art with painting
4 min
Alter Ego: Menno
Discover another side to Red Bull BC One 2014 and 2017 champion Menno, as he reveals his passion for painting.
Menno continued along the visual spectrum and became obsessed with painting. In contrast with his photos, his paintings immediately took on a more abstract form that perhaps better illustrates his dance philosophy.
“I would compare painting something very realistic to being able to do 30 ‘90s’,” Menno explains. “Physically, it’s extremely hard; but creatively, it’s just not so interesting to me.”
The common thread among his zany paintings is that they mostly consist of lines and patterns. Having doodled a lot in his early years living alone, Menno approached painting the same way he approaches breaking – by constantly connecting individual points until they formed patterns.
“It’s all about transitions. If you break down everything and only watch my power, or only my footwork, or only my freezes, nothing is really high-level. It’s about the way I compose it.”
In many ways, paint and canvas give us a fuller picture of Menno’s movement. Although his dancing could be permanently captured on video, it still can't be appreciated in its entirety. Aside from having no tangible form, videos rely on lenses and subjective viewpoints, no matter how many angles are shown.
“Everybody that can hold a brush can do what I do, but they can’t feel how I feel.” One might fancy Menno’s paintings as mappings of the mind. From concrete and photographic, to abstract and topographic, his art ascended towards the metaphysical. Always a b-boy, Menno took experiments back down with him to the dance floor.
Menno at the Red Bull BC One World Final 2019
© Little Shao / Red Bull Content Pool
04
Framing footwork: how Menno found a whole world in little details while exploring theatre
There is a fascinating story behind Menno’s seemingly effortless Red Bull BC One title win in 2014. The year prior, he ran the gamut and won practically every other major competition, including R16 and Unbreakable. Short of Red Bull BC One that year, Menno was determined to make a comeback, though his professional career had other plans.
Around that time, Menno was on tour with Guilherme Miotto, an avant-garde theatre producer who booked him for a one-man dance show. From cut-throat breaking battles in front of large crowds, Menno transitioned to small solo performances, sometimes in front of audiences as small as three.
You take one thing and dig more and more and then realise, damn that this ‘one thing’ is not just a thing, it’s a world
Entitled Rise Up, the show was a full hour of Menno dancing non-stop. “Even in the first 10 minutes, I’m already soaking wet and the whole show, I’m already in this state,” Menno recalls of the gruelling process. It all paid off, though and Menno received a Swan nomination, one of the highest accolades in modern dance.
Years of endless connecting had brought Menno back full circle into his original process. Dubbed a Red Bull BC One All Star the following year and winning another championship in 2018, you could say the rest was history, but Menno’s story is far from over.
This exhaustive and experimental gig turned out to be the perfect training ground for Menno to level up and finally claim the coveted Red Bull BC One crown. Not only did it force Menno to manage his stamina, it also pushed his creativity beyond the limit.
“It teaches you to dig even deeper into little details. You take one thing and dig more and more and then realise, damn that this ‘one thing’ is not just a thing, it’s a world.”
Menno at Red Bull Under My Wing
© Maurice van der Meijs / Red Bull Content Pool
05
Conquering the breaking fashion world with Menno Leisure
It seems with each new year there's a new frontier for Menno. In 2020 the b-boy-turned-businessman entered the fashion world with his streetwear brand, Menno Leisure.
A clothing company makes sense for someone with years of experience in the visual and tactile mediums. “A lot of people don’t know how much goes into the process of making clothes,” Menno explains. “I spend a lot of time just choosing material from around the world, then I sketch the designs myself.”
In this art form, many of the earlier lessons collide – the functionality of breaking, aestheticism of photography, tangibility of painting and versatility of theatre. Going into fashion has even motivated him to pick up the camera again and turn his subjects into models.
As a more collaborative medium, fashion encouraged Menno to turn his global dance network into an ecosystem of stakeholders. “I work with Taiwan and I work with Intact from Ukraine, so it’s a b-boy-connected brand all the way,” Menno proudly declares.
Menno is an all around B-Boy entrepreneur
© Marcel van Hoorn / Red Bull Content Pool
Today, the brand boasts everything from high-performance outfits like tracksuits to casual wear like t-shirts and sweatshirts. This foray into fashion not only served as yet another notch on Menno’s belt, it also catalysed his evolution into entrepreneurship.
“Within life, you never stay the same person. Your breaking should also grow with that.”
Within life, you never stay the same person. Your breaking should also grow with that
To call Menno a 'modern Renaissance man' would sound very cliched, but also very 'hip-hop'. With Knowledge as hip-hop’s 5th element, B-Boys and B-Girls are conditioned to draw wisdom from the dance and apply it to other aspects in life.
Menno’s childlike curiosity got him into dance and he has since lived a curious and creative life. As early as 17, he was already expanding basic moves into full body movements. Then, by connecting disparate art forms, he fashioned himself a full body of work.
Watch Menno dance
In dance, as in life, Menno is endlessly moving from one point to the next. From creating fashion to painting, winning Red Bull BC One thrice and participating in the first breaking battles at the Olympic Games in 2024. This article is merely a snapshot of Menno's life. There is no end to his story and it is even difficult to trace where it all began. To Menno, life is one big cypher.
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