After weightlifting gave the Philippines its first gold medal courtesy of Hidilyn Diaz in the Tokyo Games, another potential Olympic gold-medal producer may have emerged in the new Olympic sport of breakdancing.
Fil-American Logan Ellana Edra, the 2021 Red Bull BC One Women World Breakdancing champion, has recently made a brief stop in Manila, where she acquired her Filipino passport with the intent to represent the Philippines in breakdancing in international competitions.
A Manila Standard source said Edra’s trip to Manila was kept under wraps so she can process her Filipino passport without hassle.
She was accompanied by DanceSport Federation of the Philippines president Becky Garcia to Senator Francis Tolentino, who helped the Florida-based Edra in acquiring her Filipino passport.
Tolentino, brother of Philippine Olympic Committee president and Tagaytay City mayor Bambol Tolentino, is president of the Samahang Kickboxing ng Pilipinas.
“Breaking” or breakdancing will be played as an event under dancesport.
Edra, known in the breakdancing community as BGirl Logistix, will now become the country’s best bet for breakdancing in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this May, the 2023 Asian Games in China, the 2023 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
She will also compete under the Philippine flag in a series of qualifying events for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
To be officially called “breaking” by the International Olympic Committee, breakdancing will be played for the first time in the Olympics in Paris next year, along with other new sports like surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing.
The IOC has been recently focusing on the younger market to sustain the evolution of the Olympics’ program. Breaking made its successful debut at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires back in 2018.
Edra flew to Fukuoka, Japan to compete in the World Breakdancing Olympic ranking event on Feb. 25 and will be back in Manila the next day to face off with local breakdancers in the national trials to select the national team for the Cambodia SEA Games.
According to her official website, Edra represents Underground Flow, BreakinMIA, and Redbull All stars. “She has pursued dance professionally since an early age while building in the areas of social justice advocacy, spiritual awareness, and global dance community work.”
“At only 18 years young, she has made a name for herself, traveling across many countries to battle, perform, teach, and give back through dance. Throughout her 10 years as a dancer, she has specialized in areas such as Breaking, Choreography, and Hiphop freestyle. She strives to push her standards of growth as a human and artist while working to inspire and give back through Hiphop and dance.”
Breakdancing began its popularity in the 1990s.