Breaking
Dance
Meet Dora, the B-Girl who's rocked jams around the world for over 20 years
Hungarian B-Girl Dora breaks down two formidable decades on the scene and how she’s inspiring the new generation of breakers.
Aaliyah might have told us “age ain’t nothing but a number” back in the ’90s, but Hungarian-born and now Austria-based B-Girl Dora personified the R 'n' B mantra this year when she stormed competitors nearly two decades her junior and cemented her status as a force to be reckoned with at 2019’s Red Bull BC One World Final.
Some dancers are born to battle and to perform, and some to educate and nurture the talents of others. Very few possess the skills, let alone the dedication, to master all three, but Dora makes it look easy. Blending her old-school origins with new-school flavour, a deep passion for the culture and a seemingly endless amount of drive and persistence to continue to improve, she’s not only stayed at the top as a competitor but fast become an inspiration to the many that she teaches.
Throughout our Rise of the B-Girls series, we've talked to B-Girls from across the globe who are making big moves on the scene, as well as the legendary queens and pioneers who paved the way. We’ve yet to talk to a B-Girl like Dora, who bridges the gap between both worlds. Following her win at the Red Bull BC One Cypher in Austria, we caught up with the champ to find out what’s kept her in the game for 20 years, her advice for the new generation and what she’s bringing to battle in India at the world finals.
Dora shows off her trophy
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
What did the B-Girl scene look like in ‘97?
When I started as a B-Girl, I was more or less alone. I tried to persuade girls to break and some joined, but barely anyone stayed. In ‘97, in Hungary, we had quite an active scene, but it was made up of only B-Boys and many of them were from famous crews. Because of this, they were always travelling and few dancers were left behind to set an example. Luckily the B-Boys on this high level often needed to come back to Budapest to renew travel documents. They'd bring VHS tapes and rap and breaking mixtapes with them from all over the world, and like that I got the chance to meet them and practise with them, and also start to understand breaking culture elsewhere.
Did you feel like you were accepted on the scene straight away?
In Hungary, power moves were the main breaking style. That style from us was known all over the world and well respected. But in Hungary, I didn’t get support. Back then by being a B-Girl, they’d be like “Go home, you’re a woman, go back to the kitchen” and stuff like that. So thank God I got to travel to Germany, because I got away from this one-sided view. Because I was doing a lot of power moves, I got respect. You have to understand that many girls were coming to the practices, wearing make-up and calling themselves B-Girls, but they were mostly around to pick-up boys. People soon started to realise who was there because they were dedicated and had the passion, and who was showing up just for a good time. I got a lot of respect from guys for this and that gave me a lot of power.
Dora brings her legendary headspin
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
How have you experienced the evolution of the B-Girl scene?
The point is, for a B-Girl, even in more open-minded scenes, the pattern was always the same: maybe one or two of us got famous, in comparison to dozens of B-Boys. Female dancers had to fight to reach a high level. Once you did, then you were taken seriously. Then B-Boys happily backed you up by saying “Oh yeah, I taught her how to do this”, but before you reached the top unless you were a beautiful girl, you weren't interesting. I was never a beautiful girl. I was a normal girl who could move.
What do you think needs to change?
I wouldn't say the B-Girl scene needs to change, but we all have a long way to develop and learn. Now all the ladies know that everything is possible and with hard work we can reach a professional level. The thing I would recommend to everyone is to grab any chance you can to learn about breaking and hip-hop culture itself. There are still people around that were present when hip-hop was born. We have the internet, we have workshops and we have our peers. There's no reason why we wouldn't educate ourselves. Digging deep into the roots of the culture will help you find your own way of dancing.
What B-Girls were you initially inspired by?
Before B-Girls were in world finals, had sponsorships and were getting famous like they are today, when I said I was a B-Girl, I felt bad. It didn’t feel like a positive title to be labelled with. Many of the B-Girls were not at a high level and how they were dancing, for me at least, didn’t look like breaking. It was this girlie style and real breaking was only for B-Boys. So when I saw the B-Girls from Radiotron 96 like Asia One, I finally said, “Now this looks like breaking from a girl. This is what I want for myself. This is the form I like. When I break I want to look like B-Boys do.” You didn’t have to be a gangster, but the form of how you dance and execute your skills was raw and Asia One ultimately inspired me to do this.
How will you train and prepare for the world finals in India?
For India, I will continue to train as hard as I can and have done up until now. Next year I’ll be 40, so I’ll also work on my flow and stamina. I aim to keep my old-school way of B-Girl style tuned with new-school flavour. It might be a risky move, but I will keep my freestyle way for the battle instead of sets.
What are you looking forward to the most?
I am very happy to see Mumbai, but more so to meet old friends and make new ones in breaking and hip-hop society.
What are you thinking about when you’re in a battle?
For me, I’m trying not to rush and I’m trying to concentrate on myself because the worst thing you can do is pick up the opponent's attitude and then lose yourself. After that, it’s up to many different things like, “What if the DJ plays a beat that I don’t feel?” or because I do a lot of spins I think, “What if I don’t feel free on the floor? What if it’s too sticky or too slippery?” Each one of these makes my mind go in a different direction.
Dora does a freeze
© Ulrich Aydt/Red Bull Content Pool
What's your take on how most dancers connect in battle today?
The point of a battle used to be to watch your opponent and beat him by showing that you can take his moves to another level. Today in battles, the focus is about yourself, thinking about your own set and then how you’re going to execute that when it’s your turn. There’s no connection to your opponent and the other solo that’s going on. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s very different.
Which do you enjoy more now, battling or teaching?
To be honest, I never loved battling. Of course, when I started, I had the feeling that I wanted to be the best, but I didn’t want to become the best by beating people and climbing on people to get to the top. Battling is a useful tool for me as a way to check myself and learn more about what I’m capable of. I’ve been lucky to win a lot of great titles, but it was never the goal for me. For me, the main thing I preferred was the exchange when meeting other B-Boys and B-Girls. I enjoy the good atmosphere, vibing off each other’s energy and the music. Back in the days, we had very few ways to meet each other, only VHS cassettes and no internet. So back then battles and jams were the only chance.
What’s the most important advice you tell your students?
I always tell them, “OK, it's very hard what we're doing, but if we only concentrate on the fact that it's hard, then it will become even harder." I make sure to remind them that we're having fun as well but still keep them motivated to go beyond their limits. I want them to understand that even though they think they’ve reached 100 percent, they’re capable of 160 percent. Many dancers want to have the knowledge, but they don’t want to work hard for it. With me as a teacher, I know that they work hard for it. I’m so proud of my B-Girl students because they practise more than the boys and it’s never a question that they’re too tired or stopping for a rest, they're always pushing themselves. This is a good thing.
Being a mother now, do you expect your children to join the scene?
This is the thing, I don’t want to force it. I have a two-year-old daughter and she's very lively now. She’s coming to watch me dance all the time and already she loves music, dancing and has a lot of fun, so let’s see.
What do you feel is the biggest key to staying in the game for two decades?
For me, it's very important to see myself from outside and how I exist in a realistic way. I’m always staring at myself and I’m honest to myself if there’s a need for a change. I never say to myself, “Oh you’re so dope, you don’t need to practise” I’m always looking at myself like, “What can you improve? How can you do that move better?” If I’m satisfied, it's not good in a way. It’s always good to remember how you started and where you want to go.
What are your most significant challenges?
It’s essential to forget the pressure that the breaking scene can put on you. You're sweating like a pig and might still be working hard and throwing down moves, but at a certain age people will ask: “Why don’t you have a family” or “How long are you going to do this?” If you want to be serious about breaking, you have to talk only with yourself and get rid of these thoughts.
Sarah Bee announces Dora as the winner
© Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool
What contribution do you feel you’ve made to the scene?
Nationally I'd say that I made quite a good impact in Hungary, because I showed them everything that I picked up from around the world with moves and events I created. Hopefully, that motivated them to experience it for themselves. I know a few guys who are still battling abroad because of me. Globally, maybe I’ve had an impact on some B-Girls because of my contribution to the scene as a dancer, but hopefully also because they’ve seen that I don't care what people say. In the beginning, I did a lot of power moves and that’s not because I was strong, it was because I practised hard every day. When I started breaking, I didn’t even know how to do a push-up. I was not a natural talent and I had to work super-hard at it, so hopefully this has made an impact as well.
