Upwardly mobile b-boys Kickspinned by Olympic dreams, Graffiti Gallery breakdancing program throws down for much, much more By: Conrad Sweatman Posted: 2:00 AM CST Friday, Jan. 31, 2025

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This article was published 31/01/2025 (540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Youth Olympic Games hopefuls kickspinned, helicoptered and baby freezed inside the Graffiti Art Gallery last Saturday at the Get Back event.

The young breakdancers — vying at the qualifying event for a chance at nationals in Ontario and then, if they’re successful there, a spot on Team Canada at the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics — have had good instruction.

Some of the best, even.

Many are students of Gordy Lopez, whose b-boy name, Flexum, rings out well beyond the studio at Higgins Avenue and Gomez Street where he teaches breakdancing.

The Winnipegger is a past member of the California-based Jabbawockeez crew, the closest thing hip-hop dancing has to a household name. (They were winners of the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008.)

“We’ve got one of the top 10 b-boys on the planet living in Winnipeg, teaching classes,” says Stephen Wilson, the Graffiti Gallery’s founder (with Pat Lazo) and executive director. “He met a girl from Winnipeg!”

Since its establishment in 1999, the Graffiti Gallery has blended hip-hop culture, exhibitions and youth outreach with a focus on serving the downtown and North End communities.

When breakdancing’s inclusion in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics was announced, the gears started turning in Wilson’s head.

“It just got everyone in the community buzzing,” he says. “So, now a kid can aspire to go to the Olympics with breakdancing? And the idea was that’s going to inspire a whole generation of young people that they can have that Olympic dream.”

“In one year, we’ve excelled above anybody’s expectations. We’re way above Ontario, we’re way past what people thought we were gonna do. I’m really happy about that.”–Gordy Lopez

When Wilson discovered Lopez had moved to Winnipeg, the stars seemed to align.

So, I approached (philanthropist) Jim Richardson,” says Wilson, referring to the great-grandson and namesake of the founder of James A. Richardson & Sons. “And I said, ‘Mr. Richardson?’ (He said), ‘Call me Jim.’”

For the past few years, the Graffiti Gallery and the Manitoba Breaking Alliance, of which Lopez is an organizer, have been working with the Siobhan Richardson Foundation and other supporters to help bring the Olympic dream to life.

Wilson singles out Richardson’s patronage as particularly vital to this project, which has shifted focus somewhat in the past year, after host city Los Angeles announced it wouldn’t program breakdancing at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

For the time being, the collaborating parties are working to cultivate a crop of young athletes for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar, Senegal, which will feature the sport.

Lopez says there’s lots of local interest in the sport, but until recently, comparatively little infrastructure to meet that interest.

“But in one year, we’ve excelled above anybody’s expectations. We’re way above Ontario, we’re way past what people thought we were gonna do. I’m really happy about that.”

Lopez says it’s also about much more than competitive results and excellence, and points to the positive impact that breakdancing can have on self-esteem and discipline.

“I’ve had parents saying, ‘There’s been a huge change (in my child),” he adds.

This approach is also reflected in the Graffiti Gallery’s eclectic programming, which covers music production, DJing, podcasting, rapping, dancing, graffiti and other forms of visual art.

Many of these activities take place at the Graffiti Gallery’s satellite space, Studio 393 inside Portage Place, which runs a drop-in studio space for participants aged 12-29.

The Graffiti Gallery proper, at the corner of Higgins and Gomez, likewise hosts workshops and classes. The space has also exhibited some of the top graffiti artists in the world, who, during their time in Winnipeg, tend to offer mentorship focusing on personal and artistic growth.

“I’ve had parents saying, ‘There’s been a huge change (in my child).”–Gordy Lopez

This includes figures like Erni Vales, an American pioneer of the 3D lettering style now firmly associated with graffiti, and Cey Adams, a legendary graphic designer and founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings, New York hip-hop’s most significant record label.

Wilson says the Graffiti Gallery also draws from a local roster of “amazing instructors,” and on the music side highlights such veteran rappers as Patrick Skene (Pip Skid) and Elliot Walsh (Nestor Wynrush), among others, as formative forces at the gallery.

Becoming a rapper, graffiti artist or breakdancer may not have the connotations that surround gymnast or concert pianist.

But artists and athletes of all disciplines still require resources and mentorship, says Wilson, even if the Graffiti Gallery’s goal isn’t necessarily to make professionals out of everyone who passes through its doors.

“The research is very clear that if you get your (child) involved in some kind of theatre, visual arts, music or dance, that on average, they score about 18 per cent higher in the core subjects,” Wilson says.

“And when you’re talking about these neighbourhoods that we serve in the North End and downtown, you’re talking about high school graduation rates at around 64 per cent.”

Mickey Thai, 25, is someone who became involved with Studio 393 as a teenage participant, and now splits her time between dancing and teaching. She graduated from university in 2023, and now works full-time as an educational assistant at Sherwood School while helping to lead the 393 Dance Troupe in her spare time.

“I’m very grateful for GAP (Graffiti Art Programming) and Studio 393, because without them, I don’t even know where I would be,” says Thai. “Recently, we got the opportunity to meet (and perform for) the Governor General of Canada … I feel like dance for me is just never-ending, like it’s gonna be with me for the rest of my life.”

Osani Balkaran, also 25, is another former Studio 393 participant who’s taken on a mentorship role in the organization.

“I loved the early days of 393, because I loved rapping, and it was really cool to find other like-minded people,” he says.

“The regular system let me down … I felt kind of isolated. And with that isolation comes despair. And then when you see other youth going through the same things — and taking that tumultuous situation and trying to be proactive — it inspires you.”

Balkaran, who raps and produces the instrumentals in his music, can regularly be seen performing at venues across the city and is currently working on a record called Social Currency.

He says the album’s title is a reminder that “how you present yourself, your upbringing, what you wear and how you talk are all going to influence the way that you’re treated by society.”

Wilson feels that the Winnipeg hip-hop community is entering into a special moment in its evolution.

In a scene dominated nationally by Toronto, naturally he’s hopeful that Winnipeg may someday soon produce an Olympic breakdancer or star rapper whose voice will resonate on a more international scale.

But before that can happen, and much more importantly for Wilson, young people in Winnipeg who feel voiceless will have to speak up.

“If you engage (youth) in some kind of an art project that allows them to speak about themselves, their situation, their neighbourhoods, their school, their friends, that’s really where some of these young people shine,” he says.

“I want them to be confident in their creativity, because they use it every day in life. It’s not about making paintings or dance. It’s about being creative and how you move through your day.”

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca