Breakdancing in Australia

Hip hop has been a vibrant part of Australian cultural life for almost 40 years. Initially dismissed as a fad, hip hop has endured to become one of today’s most popular forms of musical storytelling.

During the early 1980’s, a new American dance craze made its way onto Australian television screens. Songs like ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by Sugarhill Gang (1979), ‘Buffalo Girls’ by Malcom McLaren (1982), ‘Rockit’ by Herbie Hancock (1983) and films Wild Style and Beat Street were an introduction to hip hop in the pre-internet era. Born in The Bronx, New York City, in the late 1970s, hip hop emerged as a multi-disciplinary art form, with DJing, MCing, dancing and graffiti as the key pillars. In Australia, dancing and graffiti were the first forms of hip hop to reach the mainstream, with MCing and turntablism remaining largely an underground scene supported by independent labels, record stores, community radio stations and fans until the early 2000’s. In Australia, the emergence of breakdancing had a significant impact on the lives of the young dancers who embraced the style. Dance crews sprung up across the country, and taught themselves the new moves by recording clips from television and playing them over and over again until they had the moves down.

Breakdancer Lino Ettia’s first exposure to hip hop was seeing the video for ‘Popcorn Love’ by New Edition on the television show, Countdown. The band performed dance moves that Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum dubbed ‘Rap Dancing’, a term that was picked up and used by dancers and the media. Lino was captivated by the unique way the dancers were moving and, along with friends Eugene Green & James Bennett, started skipping school and heading into Melbourne’s City Square to dance. Central Station Records at the edge of the square would play hip hop records with their doors wide open to allow the music to spill into the concourse. The City Square soon became a hub for the new dance craze and it was here that Lino and friends mastered the moves they had seen on television such as the Wave, the Helicopter and the Turtle. Each dance crew would arrive with big sheets of vinyl sprayed with Mr. Sheen floor polish to enhance their spins. Friday nights at the City Square were ‘challenge’ nights – crews would come from all around Melbourne in matching tracksuits in crew colours to compete.

 “We skipped school, we had our change of clothes, we had our tracksuits, and we had our little crop tops… ready to roll. And of course the big boombox. It was summer. The whole thing was summer - that was the best part of our childhood. No one was doing anything bad. The worst thing we did was challenge each other in dancing. There was no fights, you had your little groups around but everybody was there for the love of dance.”  
– Lino Ettia

Lino and Eugene’s first crew was made up of dancers from school, and friends they had seen dancing at the roller rink at the Jam Factory in South Yarra, including James Bennett, Alex Freins & John Gilmore. Their name, Energy Transfer, was inspired by the popular dance move ‘the Wave’ which, when the five dancers linked up and passed the movement through their arms, gave the impression of transferring energy. Energy Transfer’s first professional gig was a live performance on the high-rating variety show, Hey Hey It’s Saturday hosted by Daryl Sommers and Ossie Ostrich.

In 1984, Lino and dance partner Eugene were invited to provide live entertainment at various locations across Melbourne where American feature film, Breakdance was playing. They also performed alongside the film’s cast Lucinda Dickey and Timothy "Popin' Pete" Solomon at the after party following the film’s premiere.

 “Mum had to rush and make us our vest and our pants - she just handmade everything. And then we had a big expo in the city square where [the who’s who of] Melbourne was there. The City Square, it was packed. We came out for Melbourne and did our routine, and it was amazing.”  
– Lino Ettia

After the tour finished towards the end of 1984, Lino and Eugene formed a new crew, Backstreet Boogie, with James Bennett, Damien Karaitiana, Paul Bonet, Patrick Roussety and George Stassiou. Their new logo featured an illustration of the Melbourne city skyline, with Art Centre Melbourne’s spire, which had been built earlier that year, featuring prominently.

Olivia Jackson is a Curator of the Australian Music Vault