Repetition of elements, perfection of plasticity, instructions of the coach - young pupils of the theater of variety dance are preparing for a demonstration performance at the opening of the championship of Turkmenistan in breaking.

… It is difficult to imagine what the participants themselves experience directly, who are about to enter the parquet of the capital's sports complex "Kopetdag" in order to identify the strongest representatives of breaking in the country.

Breaking is a street dance direction that was formed in the 60s of the last century in New York. A few years ago, the movement began to develop under the auspices of the World Dance Sport Federation. Already in 2019, the International Olympic Committee approved the inclusion of breakdance in the program of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

So, at stake in the domestic championship of the country was getting into the national breaking team, which will represent Turkmenistan at the stage of the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympics.

Among those who took part in the event is Jeyhun Aga-Tagiyev, who is known not only to the Turkmen public, but also to the CIS countries, having become a finalist of the children's international television music competition "You are super".

Having experience on the big stage, Jeyhun and his team demonstrated dance techniques, presenting several numbers as part of demonstration performances. According to him, the stage has become his home.

The championship of Turkmenistan provided an opportunity for all participants, who gathered from all over the country, to show their body control skills through complex acrobatic movements, the ability to spin on their heads. According to the regulations, anyone could take part, regardless of age.

― Last year we held the first championship of Turkmenistan in breaking. During this period, one can observe how this type of sports dancing has developed, - says the organizer of the tournament, coach of the Turkmenistan national breaking team, Mukhammed Bayramgulyev, in an interview with ORIENT.

This championship was held in a two-on-two format. Each battle (a duel in which four participants determine who is the best with the help of a dance) consisted of a two-round duel. The qualifying stage, which revealed the best duets, formed the semi-finalist bracket, which included four tandems.

Dance battles that unfolded on the floor created an atmosphere of contagious drive in the room. The spectacular techniques used by the breakers made the audience gasp and freeze at every "fly" or "helicopter", which requires good physical preparation. To learn how to do them, you need to have a good stretch, strong arms, normal abs, a lot of patience and strength for long workouts!

According to the results of the semi-final battles, Ali Geldymukhammedov / Ovez Gokhanov from the Mary region and Khovas Meredov / Islam Begenchmyradov from the Balkans made it to the final, where they had to determine the strongest in the confrontation. The bronze medalists of the tournament Gadam Ataev/Eduard Aganov (Mary) are one step away from the final.

A real sports drama, coupled with a dance extravaganza, unleashed in the final duel. Time after time, the breakers surprised the audience with improvisations, giving "heat".

Easily and spectacularly, the b-boys demonstrated cool sports breakdance tricks with rotations, falls, jumps, somersaults, fading on the arm, head, elbow and other parts of the body, which is called friezes, sometimes dumbfounding the audience with a series of such tricks, bypassing all the laws of gravity.

As a result, the panel of judges, consisting of experienced breakers and the chairman of the Sports Dance Federation of Turkmenistan, had a difficult time choosing the winners.

The jury was divided. In this case, the finalists had to play one more duel for the judges to vote again.

The optional round did not produce results, and the participants again met in an additional stage. At the end of it, the judges gave preference to the victory in favor of the representatives of the Balkan region - Khovas Meredov and Begenchmyrad Islamov, who was also the champion in the first national tournament.

“I dream of raising the flag of Turkmenistan at the 2024 Olympics,” Begenchmyrad says. - I have been training since I was seven years old, now I am 32 and I myself teach breaking in Turkmenbashi.

According to the coach of the Turkmenistan breaking team, teams from all over the country will compete in the next domestic championship, and the best breakers will have training sessions in Uzbekistan.

Artur PETROSYANTS