At the Nathan’s Famous hot-dog-eating championship, Japanese wiener-scarfers have beaten us nine out of the last ten years. (Damn you, Kobayashi!) According to the Tribeca doc Planet B-Boy, which screens tonight at Regal Cinemas, we’re getting spanked by other nations in another native New York art: break dancing. The film tracks five crews — French, South Korean, Japanese, German, and American — who compete in the Battle of the Year world break-dancing championship. Korean and French teams have each won three of the last six championships, while the United States has been shut out since 1998. It’s a fun doc, but honestly, it’s a little embarrassing.
To see how we’ve been one-upped, check out the above footage of the Ichigeki crew, doing this bizarre human-turntables thing, or the underdog Koreans Last for One clowning around in the DMZ in a promo B-boy battle between North and South.
To rub it in our faces, Tribeca just announced that tomorrow night, Last for One will face off with rival South Korean crew Drifters at Webster Hall. (Footnote: The inferior Americans Knucklehead Zoo will also be there. Sigh.) Locals are welcome to compete for a prize of $2,000, or roughly 1.85 million South Korean won. — Logan Hill
Last for One [YouTube]
Drifters [YouTube]
Planet B-Boy trailer [Tribeca Film Festival Website]
