Check this out: there’s a new game in the hood

The new cultural intervention project “Breaking”, promoted by Porto City Hall, is changing the most vulnerable neighbourhoods in Porto. The national TV Channel RTP1 reported what changed in the lives of these young boys and girls that are now complete fans of this modality.

RTP1 went to the Bairro do Lagarteiro to check it out and found out young boys and girls, music mixed with laughter and athletic movements as the young dancers performed choreographies. “It means to dance with pride, with style”, or “the hardest is to do the handstand”, “you have to move really fast” are some of the comments young kids expressed to the news reporter.

This project made it to national news headlines as it offers youngsters new perspectives for the future and also a fun and best way to staying fit, fighting idle meaningless times with stamina and wellbeing, implemented by Porto City Hall and organised by Ágora - Cultura e Desporto do Porto and delivered by Max Oliveira and his team of 11 professionals, trainers of the Momentum Crew Centre, who make a living of this modality, regarded the same way as skating or climbing, at international level.

“The main goal is to show these boys and girls that there are alternatives in life, paths to follow that sometimes are not shown to them”, stated Max Oliveira to the news channel.

Breaking is showing the community an entirely new and engaging activity, and just a few weeks from the programme’s inception, not only in the Bairro do Lagarteiro, but also in other areas where the project is being implemented, the accession is huge and encouraging. “Kids sees us, they engage only if they want, when they want and they love it. Breaking comes along as the result for the need for cultural expression in the suburbs, among the poor section of the population”, Max Oliveira explained.

Breakdancing, aka breaking is a street dance original from the American city of New York and thanks to the municipal programme "Desporto no Bairro" [“Sports in the Hood”, free translation], it brings children in eight neighbourhoods in Porto an opportunity to unravel new perspectives in life.

The municipal programme "Desporto no Bairro" is targeted at promoting inclusion trough sport and is implemented in eight neighbourhoods in Porto: Aldoar, Fonte da Moura, Viso, Ramalde, Pasteleira, Pinheiro Torres, Lagarteiro and Cerco.

“The programme’s main target is that youngsters see Breaking as a way of practising sports and being in touch with culture and that they can follow a happy path”, Oliveira enhanced. This about sums it all up.