Dance brings Kent home

Ex-Papatoetoe High student returns home

Ex-Papatoetoe High student Kent Christensen has been back in New Zealand over the last week to promote break-dancing and his organisation, The Breaks NZ.

Currently based in Sydney, the breakdancer of 20-years says competition dancing is an improvised art form.

‘‘Breaking is a real freestyle so everything you see is not rehearsed.’’

The art doesn’t require any special expensive equipment or space, Christensen says.

‘‘You can just do it wherever, you can just pull a table away and dance right there.’’

From opening for Missy Elliot in front of 40,000 people, to lecturing at Universities, Christensen doesn’t take what he does for granted.

‘‘I would say my biggest achievement is that I’m still dancing and that people I have helped along the way are still dancing and doing what they love doing.’’

Christensen first learned to dance by watching VHS tapes when he was a teenager in the 90s.

‘‘That’s how we kind of learned. Somebody travelled to America, brought one over and dubbed it, and all of Auckland pretty much got that one dubbed version until it was worn out.’’

Learning the art formwas all about ‘‘trial and error’’ which inevitably involved a lot of bumps and bruises, he says.

Four years ago Christensen founded The Breaks NZ, an organisation working to connect and create opportunities for Kiwi breakdancers and hip-hop artists.

The Red Rat Battle of the Year International Pacific Qualifier was on August 13 and if you’re interested in finding out about more break-dancing events go to: thebreaksnz.com