Last week at the Red Bull BC One Cypher USA in Los Angeles, the most prestigious, global break dancing competition, crowned Olympic hopeful, Grace “Sunny” Choi, and Francisco “Ali” Acuna Flores as the U.S. National Finalists.
Both Sunny and Ali will be repping for the U.S. in the BC One World Finals, which for the first time in 13 years will be hosted in New York City, the birthplace of hip-hop and break. This year marks the 19th edition of the Red Bull BC One World Final, as athletes all over the world train for this moment and breaking’s Olympic debut. Red Bull BC One All Stars Logan “Logistx” Edra, who won the Red Bull BC One World Championship title in 2021, and Victor Montalvo will join the elite line-up of World Final competitors this November.
Spanning two months of electrifying battles and community events, Red Bull BC One Regional Qualifiers kicked off in Philadelphia before touring the country with battles hosted in Austin, Orlando, Boston, and Seattle.
Following an exhilarating 16-bracket bgirl tournament, the judges crowned bgirl Sunny as the 2022 Red Bull BC One U.S. Bgirl National Champion. Grace Choi began breaking in 2008 and has collected many international wins including the 2015 Outbreak Europe B-Girl solo battle, FISE Hiroshima in Japan, and made it to the finals of the 2019 WDSF World Breaking Championships in Nanjing, China. She is currently training for the Paris 2024 Games, where breaking will make its athletic debut.
“I’m super grateful to be here, super grateful to have won this event because it means that I get to represent New York in New York. It has been a really amazing experience – I got to let loose and just be me tonight on the dancefloor and I proved to myself that that works, ” said bgirl Sunny.
In the bboy category, Salt Lake City bboy Ali reigned supreme, dominating his way through the 16-bracket tournament. Francisco Acuna Flores represents the Body Roc crew and has been breaking for 20 years.
Bboy Ali shared, “I feel really excited about winning the Red Bull BC One USA cypher so I can go to the World Finals. I’ve never been to the Red Bull BC One World Finals so this is going to be a first for me and I want to dedicate this to my dad who passed away recently.”
The evening paid tribute to west coast hip-hop and break with a performance by legendary Los Angeles hip-hop collective, The Far Side, as well as a special exhibition battle led by Red Bull BC One All Stars RoxRite and Ronnie–both lauded breaking stars, whose journeys have deep roots in California.
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