Peace everyone! My name is Frankie from Supreme Beings crew, representing Queens, New York City.
Since I started breaking, my life has been focused on balancing my passion for bboying and my academic studies. There is a myth among bboys that one cannot be a good dancer and do well academically at the same time, but I don’t buy that. One of the reasons I never gave up academically (even after getting kicked out of high-school) and kept pushing so hard through college was to debunk this myth. I hoped that by setting an example, it would inspire other bboys to continue pursuing an education, while realizing it is still possible to compete at a world class skill level.
My message for anyone reading this blog, especially the younger generation dancers, comes from my direct experience and is dedicated to those bboys who are pursuing competitive bboying from a traditional aspect. Balancing competitive breaking with a lot of travel, while furthering your education at the collegiate level, is not always an easy task, but then again the best things in life are never so easy to achieve. I say this not with the intent of advocating the division of one’s energy in an uneven way – I am a big believer in focusing everything I do on a daily basis around my passion for bboying, and one of the worst things in the world is to put effort towards something you don’t want.
While going through the process myself of balancing competitive bboying and college, one of the things that kept me motivated to stay on the path to a college degree was seeing the experiences some of my crew-mates and friends were going through, struggling to make ends meet with limited education, and no clear path for their futures. This led me to realize early on that bboying is not yet in a place where one can generate a consistent income and do so with longevity. Part of my excitement with UDEF’s Pro Breaking Tour is that it has the potential to change the landscape for us, attracting financial support into our scene, creating jobs and income generating opportunities, not just for the bboys, but also for the many people who support our scene.
While I have always practiced with the same amount of intensity year-round, at this point in my career I see myself making as much of a push as ever to get to a point in my dance where I can honestly say that I’ve made a worldwide impact. Winning a major international title is a big goal of mine for 2014 – as I see it, an important contributor to reaching that goal will be physical training. Through my own intense training in 2014, I hope to help shed some light on the importance that training plays in competitive bboying at a world class level. Recently I have been working out with SupremeFitnessNyc, a fitness company specifically geared to the intense training we need as bboys. We need a combination of strength and power, combined with quickness, fluidity, flexibility, grace and cardio-vascular fitness, and the only way to maximize our performance on the day of a competition is to prepare in advance for it.
Peace to all of my family and friends and thanks to the UDEF Pro Breaking Tour for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts. Through competition and teaching, I have been blessed to dance in a number of different countries. I want to continue to compete and travel internationally, building and networking with like-minded people, so that we can all take it to the next-level collectively. I’m definitely looking forward to the Pro Breaking Tour energizing our scene this coming year!
Bboy Frankie (Frank Perez)
Supreme Beings
Email: FperezJr7@Yahoo.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Frankie Facebook: facebook.com/frankie.perez.sb
Supreme Beings Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Instagram: Frankie_sb_