Breaking
B-Girl Luma achieved a major milestone in her career when she was invited to compete in last year’s Red Bull BC One World Final. Get to know her story here.
Luma is the first female Red Bull BC One E-Battle champion. Participating and winning the competition opened up doors and opportunities. But there is more to the story of the Colombian b-girl champ. Read on to discover more below.
The beginning and first big push
Born in Colombia, Luma grew up in the city of Medellín, where she started breaking at the age of 17. Finding her identity in the dance, she quickly fell in love with breaking but back then her city only had a few breaking events a year, making it hard for Luma to progress to the level that she wanted.
To elevate her dance, and gain more confidence and experience, Luma made the decision to move to Bogata, the capital of Colombia. It was hard for her to leave her family, crew and friends but Bogata had more dancers, more organisations to get involved with, and a much bigger b-girl scene with a good level. All of this resulted in the first big motivational push in Luma’s breaking career.
“In three years in Bogotá, I started to believe in my dance because I got more opportunities, workshops and made new friends," she says. "My whole mindset, and the way I thought about the culture, changed.”
The second motivational push
In 2017 Luma decided to book a flight to Philadelphia, USA, to compete in the Silverback Open Championships. In the biggest international competition that she remembers going to at that time, Luma saw a lot of the breakers who had inspired her and her overall Silverback experience was so profound that it made Luma completely alter her life.
“After Silverback, I decided to change everything," she explains. "I changed my nutrition, diet and how I trained. I started to be more professional in my approach to breaking, not just being there to have fun. More opportunities started to come to me and I started to feel like a real artist.”
Getting to the Red Bull BC One World Final
In 2019, Luma achieved a massive opportunity in her breaking career when she won the online competition of the Red Bull BC One E-Battle. This earned Luma her first trip to the Red Bull BC One World Final.
Luma’s E-Battle win is a somewhat serendipitous story. With no Cypher in Colombia, Luma had travelled to Brazil to try and enter that country’s Cypher. Unfortunately, not being a resident of Brazil, Luma couldn't enter but Brazilian B-Boys, Pelezinho and Neguin, told her about the E-Battle being open to any breakers in the world. With the prize being a spot in the Last Chance Cypher, at the world final, Luma decided to enter even though she was still travelling and competing during the first half of the online competition.
“I was in three different countries when I was sending my videos," she says. "It was a big challenge because I didn’t always find a good place to record or have a regular internet connection. Also, when you are in other countries, you don’t get the same focus and training.”
To top the story off, Luma had to defeat her best friend, B-Girl Isis, from Ecuador, in the final of the E-Battle.
The Red Bull BC One World Final 2019 was in India that year – and even though Luma qualified for the top 16 world final b-girl battle – the whole experience was new for her, and the situation brought many personal challenges.
“In India my English was less than it is now, I didn’t know anybody and I felt a lot of pressure," she says. "My first battle was against Ami, the defending champion, and in that moment I felt like I was there because of luck.”
Luma lost to Ami in the first round but still came away with a positive mindset for her future.
“It was an amazing experience but India was not the destiny it was the way, and every year you need to create a new way. It’s not about one event, it's about your entire life.”
Luma continued to compete at championship events, such as Freestyle Session in the USA and Outbreak Europe in Slovakia. In 2021 she won the Break Free Championships in Texas and her hard work earned her a second trip to the Red Bull BC One World Final, this time as one of the top 16 invited b-girls. Luma felt more prepared now and more deserving of being on the world final stage.
It’s not about one event, it's about your entire life
“My perspective was different, not just on my level of breaking but I learned that you need good people around you who can see stuff you can’t, and the people around me made me feel like, ‘You can do this.’ ”
Sacrifices
It’s important to note that Luma’s successes didn’t come without sacrifices. It can take Luma up to six months of working in Colombia to save up enough money to travel and compete in international competitions.
Luma also points out the hard reality that “in Colombia, you can’t spend your real time to get better in breaking because you need to work for food and rent". Because of this Luma sometimes sacrifices three months working in America, away from her home and training, so that she can return to Colombia and completely live breaking for nine months. The time away is not easy, as Luma says, “When I’m working in the USA I’m constantly thinking, ‘Oh my God I want to train,’ but I breathe and say to myself, 'You can train when you return to Colombia.'”
I invested in myself and that was the best investment in my life
Overall, Luma makes these sacrifices because her breaking career is her priority, and she has learned first-hand that, “a flight aboard can change your life- it changed mine. I invested in myself and that was the best investment in my life".
Giving back and believing
One of Luma’s goals in the future is to help other b-boys and b-girls in Colombia to experience the same things that she has so that they can see that it’s possible to have a professional career as a breaker.
“I love Colombia and my city – that is the space where I feel that I am me," she says. "In Medellín, I grew up in a hip-hop school and they taught me all that I know now. It would be great to pay that back by bringing better opportunities to Colombia.”
For those breakers who have seen Luma come up on her journey, and want to achieve something similar, her advice is: “You need to keep believing in yourself and keep pushing because some people lose hope and quit this dance as their dream. Keep believing in breaking because even if you don’t win a big event you will get big happiness from this dance, and that is the most important thing.”