The Ubiquitous Role of the Smartphone in Breaking: An Ethnographic-Informed Study

Breaking is a physically demanding street dance, which is highly creative and historically rooted in urban culture. Studies about Breaking are scant, and the role of technology in the modality, e.g., smartphones, while potentially relevant according to a previous technology review, is still unknown. This study is a first step into understanding the role of technology in Breaking. Drawing on observations of 35 training sessions and 15 interviews with Non-Professional to Olympic-level Breakers, we found that smartphones act as digital scaffolds for Breaking. Smartphone use supports training structure, movement arsenal management, performance improvement and creativity, and peer feedback and community engagement. Our contribution is two-fold: we first contribute a detailed understanding of how smartphones mediate Breaking, a form of appropriating the smartphone which has not been previously described; then, we outline design opportunities for future systems aimed at Breaking and other modalities, which are non-hierarchical, heavily rooted in culture, and turn to peer-to-peer expertise exchange to develop complex physical practices.