The Red Bull BC One is an annual international breakdancing (B-Boy) competition, established in 2004. The competition is organised by the beverage company Red Bull. Its first event was held in Biel, Switzerland in 2004.
The competition's main event is a knockout tournament, featuring sixteen break dancers. The format involves one-on-one battles judged by a panel of five experienced judges
Red Bull BC One's has regional finals held in various parts of the world, including North America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. These regional winners compete in the World Finals, representing their regions internationally.
In the 2004 and 2005 events Red Bull BC released an official video that has been criticized due to restrictive music playing rights, as the live music played during the competition had to be dubbed over.[1] From 2006 onwards, Red Bull stopped releasing DVDs and made the videos available online for free.[2] In 2007, Alastair Siddons directed a film about the Red Bull BC One 2007 competition. The film was released in 2009 under the title, Turn it Loose'.[3]
Since 2014, Red Bull BC One has partnered with the World B-Boy Series to help create Undisputed, which crowns a solo world B-Boy champion.[4]
| Year | Location | B-Boy Winner | Crew | B-Girl Winner | Crew | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Biel, Switzerland | Omar | Jive Turkeys / Mighty Zulu Kingz | |||
| 2005 | Berlin, Germany | Lilou | Pockemon Crew | |||
| 2006 | São Paulo, Brazil | Hong 10 | Drifterz / 7 Commandoz | |||
| 2007 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Ronnie | Full Force / Super Cr3w / 7 Commandoz | |||
| 2008 | Paris, France | Wing | Jinjo / 7 Commandoz | |||
| 2009 | New York City, United States | Pockemon Crew | ||||
| 2010 | Tokyo, Japan | Neguin | Tsunami All-Stars | |||
| 2011 | Moscow, Russia | Renegade Rockers / Squadron | ||||
| 2012 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Mounir | Vagabonds | |||
| 2013 | Seoul, South Korea | Drifterz / 7 Commandoz | ||||
| 2014 | Paris, France | Hustle Kidz | ||||
| 2015 | Rome, Italy | Squadron / MF Kidz / Backyard Funk | ||||
| 2016 | Nagoya, Japan | Issei | Foundnation | |||
| 2017 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Hustle Kidz | ||||
| 2018 | Zurich, Switzerland | Lil Zoo | Lhiba King Zoo / El Mouwahidin / Flying Steps | Good Foot Crew | ||
| 2019 | Mumbai, India | Hustle Kidz | Kastet | 3:16 | ||
| 2020 | Salzburg, Austria | K.A.K.B. | Kastet | 3:16 | ||
| 2021 | Gdańsk, Poland | Predatorz | Underground Flow | |||
| 2022 | New York City, United States | Victor | Squadron / MF Kidz / Backyard Funk | India | Hustle Kidz / Heavyhitters | |
| 2023 | Paris, France | Hong 10 | Flow XL / 7 Commandoz | Ami | Good Foot Crew | |
| 2024 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |||||
The Red Bull BC One took place in Paris at the Roland-Garros on October 21, 2023.[5]
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Location: Paris, France
Location: Paris, France
In 2022, the 19th Red Bull BC One took place in New York City on November 12, 2022.[6]
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Location: New York, United States
Location: New York, United States
The 18th edition of the breaking competition took place for the first time in Gdańsk, Poland, on November 5 and 6.
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Location: Gdańsk, Poland
Location: Gdańsk, Poland
The 17th edition took place in Salzburg, Austria.
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Location: Salzburg, Austria
Location: Salzburg, Austria
In its 16th edition took place on November 9, in Mumbai, India.[7]
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Location: Mumbai, India
Location: Mumbai, India
In 2004, the first Red Bull BC One was held at the cultural centre La Coupole in Biel. Fourteen years later, it to Switzerland. This time, at the Hallenstadion in northern Zurich.
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Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
The 2017 Red Bull BC One was held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 4, 2017.
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Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Red Bull BC One held camps around the world that featured traditional cyphers. It no longer held the six regional finals from previous years. Camps were held in Austria, France, South Africa, Italy, Japan, and Ukraine.
In 2016, Toronto also held the first direct Canadian qualifier for the world final in Nagoya, Japan.[8] [9]
The winners of each cypher competed in a Last Chance Cypher to qualify to the World Finals in Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, Japan on December 3.[10] With the winners of the Last Chance Cypher going against each other in Nagoya alongside fifteen Wild Card entries, chosen by an international team of B-Boy experts.
The 2016 event was the final BC One that would feature Taisuke, as he announced his retirement from this competition. Thus, Issei's victory making him the first Japanese champion of Red Bull BC One.
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Location: Nagoya, Japan
On November 14, 2015, the Red Bull BC One World Finals, took place in Rome's Palazzo dei Congressi.
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Location: Rome, Italy
In 2014 Red Bull BC One took place in Paris, France with a round-by-round judging system used by Undisputed. The round-by-round judging format allows boys to see the judges decision after every round. The battle is set for 3 rounds (Finals is 5) but can end if a boy beats his opponent in 2.[11]
However, this judging system received a lot of criticism from Red Bull BC One fans throughout social media following the event. Bboys and fans alike, both disagreed with the judges's decisions after many individual battles.
Many argued that it was the worst Red Bull BC one competition since its initiation. Due to Menno's victory and Chelles Battle Pro, Gravity was awarded the final spot at Undisputed at the end of the year following Red Bull BC One.
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Location: Paris, France
Red Bull BC One took place in Seoul, South Korea, on November 30, 2013.
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Red Bull BC One took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on December 8, 2012.
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Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Red Bull BC One took place in Moscow, Russia on November 26, 2011.
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Location: Moscow, Russia
Red Bull BC One 2010 took place in Tokyo, Japan on November 27, 2010. This marks the first time the competition was held in Asia.
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Location: Tokyo, Japan
Red Bull BC One was held on November 18, 2009, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Tickets went on sale at midnight, October 9, 2009, and were sold out within 30 minutes.
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Location: New York City, United States
For 2008, Red Bull BC One was held in Paris on November 5 at the new 104 Cent Quatre avenue.
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Location: Paris, France
For 2007, qualifiers were held in May and June in 10 countries: Algeria, France, Japan, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, United States, Sweden, Taiwan, and Russia. The winner from each of these nine events, along with four wild card entries and the top 3 finishers from last year's 2006 main event, are the final 16 for the 2007 main event. However, two of the breakdancers – Baek, a wild card selection, and Niek, who won the Germany qualifier – had to withdraw from the competition due to injury.[12] They were replaced by B-boys Cico and Jed .[13]
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Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
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Location: São Paulo, Brazil
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Location: Berlin, Germany
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Location: Biel, Switzerland
Red Bull BC One All Stars is a crew of thirteen internationally renowned dancers. Together, they showcase the art of B-Boying in all of its many forms. Each of the 14 B-Boys has competed in the Red Bull BC One.
They travel the world to teach workshops, judge competitions and battle.
Each crewmember brings a certain style and skillset, and one new member is added every year.[14] Some notable achievements are the following:
| Member | Crewbase | |
|---|---|---|
| Roxrite | Renegade Rockers / Squadron / Break Disciples | |
| Pelezinho | Tsunami All-Stars | |
| Cico | Spinkingz | |
| Hong 10 | Drifterz / 7 Commandoz | |
| Ronnie | Full Force / Super Cr3w / 7 Commandoz | |
| All Area Crew / Flooriorz / Mighty Zulu Kingz | ||
| Lilou | Pockemon Crew | |
| Neguin | Tsunami All-Stars | |
| Lil G | Speedy Angels / Vinotinto | |
| Wing (left) | Jinjo Crew / 7 Commandoz | |
| Menno | Hustle Kidz | |
| Victor | Squadron / MF Kidz | |
| Issei (left) | Foundnation | |
| Junior | Wanted Posse | |
| Ami | Good Foot Crew | |
| Lil Zoo | Lhiba King Zoo / El Mouwahidin / Flying Steps | |
| Sunni | Soul Mavericks | |
| Logistix | BreakinMIA / Underground Flow | |
| Shigekix | KAKB / Bboy World Asia | |
| Kastet | 3:16 | |
| United Rivals / 7 Commandoz | ||
| Lee | Ruggeds | |
| Issin | Body Carnival / Okayama Bboyz / Never Enough |
Breaker in Bold denotes former Red Bull BC One champion.