Breaking
Dance
B-Girls Jeskilz and Logistx on empowerment and evolution in breaking
Jeskilz and Logistx talk about gaining empowerment through breaking, leveraging the opportunities it brings them and what changes they envision for upcoming generations.
The B-Girl scene in 2020 is fire. From locking down sponsorships to speaking on panels beside hip-hop heavyweights then tearing up battles across the globe: B-Girls are making noise, flexing their skills and cementing their status on and off the floor.
How would you sum up the vibe of the B-Girl scene when you started?
J: I wasn’t lacking in women to look up to. When I started, B-Girls were already making noise. They were already representing, battling in competitions and winning cyphers. You had B-Girls who were household names for the scene like Asia1, Hurricane, Mega, Renegade to name a few.
L: When I started dancing in 2011 I was eight years old. The B-Girl scene might have already been fire, but where I was in San Diego... there really weren’t many girls breaking. I had me, B-Girl Peebles and my mentor B-Girl Val Pal.
What's been the most pivotal moment for you when you felt empowered?
L: The first time I watched B-Girl Val Pal do her thing, she was just so good. Seeing her break in front of a room full of B-Boys showed me that it could be done and that empowered me. When she moved to LA that was hard, because now it was my time to do the same. I had to decide at that point to not be intimidated. This was a test for me to push and train to be good for myself, not just good for a B-Girl. It was a test to see how much I really loved breaking and it showed me that it wasn’t easy, but it also proved how passionate I was for it. From that moment I felt empowered.
Logistx with Ami, Dassy, Angyil and Kyoka
© Little Shao
Did you ever imagine when you started that, a decade or more later, this is where you'd be today?
J: If you want to break, you need a strong mindset, thick skin and to be motivated constantly to not give up. When I came to New York I was a kid from France with no papers. There were a lot of times when I had to ask myself if I was making the right decision. A lot of times when my family would see me struggling, or open my fridge to find there’s no food in it. I knew it was my passion and why I was doing it, but that’s not always easy to explain. But I never gave up. What started out as one year in New York turned into 18 years and I went from breaking with Rock Steady Crew to travelling around the world as a B-Girl, judging, speaking on panels, having my own events and building my brand. The most important thing is that I wouldn’t have done any of that if I hadn’t followed my own path.
L: No way. I couldn’t imagine being the person I am now, or getting the opportunities to travel like I do now. When I got into dance I was so scared. I remember my dad trying to tell me that I should get into hip-hop dance and I was like “NO! I’m going to be too nervous and too shy.” He tricked me into going to my first class. But when I started dancing there was this thrill that still keeps me coming back. One of my favourite quotes is “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek” which is by Joseph Campbell. I always remember that, because facing that fear made me who I am today.
I couldn’t imagine being the person I am now, or getting the opportunities to travel like I do now
What do you consider your biggest challenge now?
L: My biggest challenge now is not getting too attached to the compliments and the critiques. I think that as I’m doing more and more, there’s going to be people talking. If I’m trying to make noise, noise is going to be there. So I have to stay focused and on my path and stay true to myself despite what some people may say or think. That’s been a huge challenge for me because as I’m paving my way, I need to be selective with who I’m listening too.
How do you use breaking as a tool for empowerment?
J: That's a big question, but a good one. When I started breaking I was completely mesmerised by it and that’s all I thought about. Over time, and as the scene changed, I wasn’t as inspired anymore. I would complain that the scene wasn’t what I hoped it would be. Then one day it’s like I woke up! I decided I wasn’t going to wait around for anyone to serve me what I wanted on a platter. Now, I was cooking. I was going to do something for myself and others and start my own event. I was going to pave the way. I became empowered because I was in charge and I had a purpose. That’s when breaking became a tool for me. That’s when I realised how powerful hip-hop was.
B-Girl Jeskilz doing Swipes
© Marcel Valko
How does it feel to know that B-Girls and B-Boys coming up now are looking up to you?
L: It’s always very weird for me to think about that, because I’ll always see myself in them. Inspiration always seems to be a full circle. In the end, we all look up to each other. We all inspire each other. So yeah, when little B-Girls, B-Boys and even grown-ups now come up to me and say that I inspired them, that inspires me too. It lets me know that I’m on the right path and drives me to keep going.
In what way have you seen yourself evolve the most as a dancer?
L: I would say my confidence was a huge thing. One of the keys for me in feeling more empowered and gaining that was by doing things that I was afraid of. Breaking is one of those things that always challenges me physically and mentally. Whether I was doing a scary move where I could get injured, or whether it’s battling breakers I looked up to at a really high level; by doing those things over and over it’s allowed me to break out of my shell and become more confident as a person. It's made me fearless and that’s very important because breaking is one of those things where you can’t allow yourself to get into the fear if you want to achieve your dreams.
Confidence was a game changer for Logistx
© Dean Treml/Red Bull Content Pool
What advice do you give the new generation of breakers stepping on to the scene?
J: My first advice is don’t do what I did. Don’t completely dive into breaking without looking outside the box. Train the physical side of your dance as much as the artistic and mental side, and from there build your brand. If tomorrow the world goes blind and they can’t see you dance, ask yourself how will you matter. Don’t be a slave to just the physical side of the dance, because one day you can be on top of it, the next day a new hype breaker can be in the spotlight and you’re back down at the bottom. Ask yourself what do you do for your community? What are you giving back to the culture? Why are you breaking? Is it a hobby? Is it a passion? Do you want to create your own clothing line? Do you want to start your own event? Do you want your own YouTube Channel or your own blog? Find out your purpose and once you figure it out, you’ll be driven by something bigger.
Don’t completely dive into breaking without looking outside the box
L: I would say know your place. If I go back to when I first started I felt intimidated and like I needed to prove something because I was a girl. So I tell B-Girls now to them know that you deserve to be there as much as the B-Boys and you shouldn’t feel any extra pressure due to being a female. Pressure is good if it’s to push yourself, but it shouldn’t be because you're a girl.
Other girls will come up and ask me similar questions and I always tell them to push your standards. If we continue to raise our skills and push the standard of what’s expected then the level of respect we receive will only get stronger.
There's a lot of things that are scary for B-Girls in such a male-dominated scene, but I encourage young breakers to do the things that might scare them. That’s how they’ll achieve what they want and that’s how they’ll empower more B-Girls to be like them.
What have you seen evolve the most in the scene when it comes to empowerment and what would you say still needs to change?
J: When I started, female empowerment wasn’t something B-Girls had to harness, acquire or for that matter gain, they already came with respect. B-Girls were put on a pedestal because of how dope they were. They weren’t getting an easy pass. Every bit of fame and hype they got towards their rep they got from putting in the work They got props because their talent was undeniable, they never gave up, they were tough. I empowered myself with my purpose, I never had the idea that I needed anyone or anything else to feel empowered
When we’re talking about this movement of 'empowerment' in breaking in 2020, I think that concept is more about business. Today’s B-Girls are powerful, but with more competitions and opportunities out there we need to make sure as females it’s fair. We’ve been underestimated, undervalued and not been paid the same in the past.
Us finding empowerment now is not to do with the dance, it’s to do with letting it be known that, “look, we’re here, we’re putting in the same amount of work, we have the same fanbase, the same hype and made the same amount of sacrifices to try and become the best that we can… we want to be paid the same”
Jeskilz works for gender equality in the dance business
© Carlo Cruz/Red Bull Content Pool
How do you make noise and utilise your fame and social status beyond the dancefloor?
J: At first, being a B-Girl for me meant “I need this in my life. I need to break to feel better. I need to be a B-Girl to feel that I belong and that I matter.” Once I realised that breaking was so much more for me, I not only saw how I could use that power as a tool but as I said, I found my purpose. It was like “You know what? This passion that I have is not just about me, I can help others.” I started my event Cypher Addicts and I used that platform now to inspire others to step up and change things if they aren’t happy with the way they are. To inspire others to support the culture and also to show B-Girls how dope they are, how much they are capable of and can achieve.
This passion that I have is not just about me, I can help others
L: Right now I’m in this interview and you’re listening to me. When I’m speaking on a panel, people have to pay attention. In the breaking scene, and when I'm teaching a class, dancers hear what I say. I know I have eyes and ears on me, but when I go outside, I’m still just a kid. There’s this lack of respect that feels a bit challenging when you want to be heard outside of the dance community and breaking. But I want people to know I’m trying my best with what I’m doing and I’m hoping that by having a rep, or status in this platform that I can spark change in breaking and hip-hop, within the culture and be heard. As the generations go on and on, just as the girls before me paved the way, I’m also continuing the path, and hopefully, the girls after me will carry that on as well.
