BREAKING DOWN KATERYNA PAVLENKO’S PATH TO THE OLYMPICS

PHOTOS BY REBECCA GOTTBETTER - @beckshotz

In 2024, breakdancing made its Olympic debut at the Paris Games, with intense one-on-one battles where dancers faced off in dynamic throwdowns. Judges evaluated their performances based on creativity, technique, personality, variety, musicality, and overall presence. Leading up to this landmark event, one of the most prestigious competitions in the breakdancing world was the Red Bull BC One, which took place this year in Rio. We had the chance to catch up with Ukrainian breakdancer Kateryna Pavlenko, who not only competed in the Olympics but also earned the coveted Wildcard spot at this month's Red Bull BC One event.

How did you get your start in BREAK Dancing?

I started in 2009, when I was going to school, ninth grade. And one of my friends, he exposed me to breaking. It used to be called extreme dancing. It was breaking, but nobody... I don't know. For some reason, they didn't know how to call it right.

Is it pretty similar to the footwork style that you have, or it's more like dance vibe?

I think it was all together. They were teaching how to jump, do all types of flips, also breaking moves. But I would say it was called theater of extreme dance. That's how they translated it. I was 14. I went there. I tried a couple of moves. I like that none of the girls were doing it.

A lot of people were there, but barely girls.

Did you like that you were the only one there or that the environment is just different?

I just wanted to be special. When you're a teenager, puberty, you're trying to do everything against parents, whatever they say, I'll do the opposite. So everything I was told before, I wanted to do something outrageous, whatever they say. And all the girls were going to classes, like choreo, or something more feminine. I was like, oh, that's for girls. Whatever. I was feminine in other aspects of life. But, for some reason, I wanted to do what most people can’t do, like something challenging, something more like...

I used to dance before that also, hip hop. You know how in Ukraine, there are those places where you go? There is dance choreo, traditional dances. They do a bunch of stuff. They just put the kid there. They can draw, they can do everything. So that was the place I used to go before breaking. So I knew how to dance before that. So I wanted to do something like... And also, I love to compete when I was a kid. Something to take the first place. I don't know what that was about, but I just love that part of dancing, and breaking was perfect for it. There's a competition part. It's challenging, physically difficult, and it's also a dance. Then I just continued.

Were there competitions in your area, or did you have to travel out while you were getting your start?

I started in that extreme dance theater place. I was going there for maybe a month. I started right before my school semester was over, and I went to a holiday to my grandma, since I'm still kind of a kid. I spent my summer over there. I came back and I decided to enter a competition right after my grandma's holiday. And, of course, I didn't pass the prelims. I didn't show any good results.

But I saw the girl who won, and her name was Kim. She's from Kyiv, and she used to be my rival since then. But now she's my best friend. That was a really cool story. And she won, and I looked at her and I was like, wow, she's such a badass. She's showing off. She looks so fresh, so hip hop, and stuff, and her moves were perfect. So she inspired me to continue.

And then I found a proper teacher, who I went to his classes with a bunch of other kids. It wasn't like a choreo class. It was a really cool vibe. He would show all of us something, and we would repeat, and then try to battle, cipher, in a very, very bad-looking studio. No one really had money for it. That's how it started..

At what point did you go from, I'm doing this as a hobby, to, I'm now a professional dancer? Was there a competition you did, or was there a point in your career that you've reached where you're like, I'm going to start taking this seriously and do it full-time?

I honestly felt like, when my teacher started, my coach told me that he thinks that I have a really good potential. That really chilled me out. Oh, wow. He believes that I can do great. And then, the local events, I started to be one of the best in my city and then in the country, slowly. So my name was known. And then, the epic moment was when... I think I was dancing less than a year at that time. I ran away from my house to go to an event in Kyiv. It was a bunch of girls and guys traveling from my city to the event. And my mom didn't allow me to go, but I still ran away.

Why, was she against it?

She's like, can you pick something more feminine? Come on.

Does she like it now?

Hell, yeah. She better.

What was the competition that you ran away to?

It's a Ukrainian breaking team. They're very well-known and legendary in Ukraine. I was in the top eight, which was a great achievement for me. It was kind of an international event, and I only danced for one year. I realized that I could put it to the next level.

It's a sign I should pursue and get even better. So that was 2010. And then, 2011, 2012. For the next two years, I was also traveling around Ukraine. Since I'm still underage, I can't leave the country. I would just build up my level until 2013, when I went to Outbreak Europe in Slovakia. And that was the event which changed my career. How, you ask, what was the period? That's when I realized that I can build a career, because the event I went to was very big, very prestigious, and very well-known. And that girl I told you about before, Kim, she used to go there, and she would make it to the top 16, somewhere. Not super far, but still, I was like, that's crazy level to be in the top 16 in the world, in Europe. It's great. I went there with the goal to pass the prelims. And I won the whole thing. And I won that event. And then, by winning that big, huge event, I got to go to the USA. So that's when I was like, wow, okay.

How did it shape you starting at such a young age? How did it shape your school years and your friendships? Did your community support you? Did you feel like you were more of an outcast, especially since your family dynamic didn’t support you at the start?

Well, I don't know if you guys are familiar. In Ukraine, people are workaholics. The biggest motivation for me was to prove everybody wrong. When I proved them wrong, there was no motivation for me. I need to pick another one. My family didn't really support me until I went to the US with my mom. I took her with me, went to Miami, and she's like, okay, that's pretty good what you do. Now I approve. But before, no, I had to really listen to lectures from my mom, how bad it is. But I was so inspired and was so happy to do it. I would count the hours before the training sessions. I was so in love with it.

What did your friends think of it?

Now, everybody is in shock, but before... Now that you ask me, I'm thinking, wow, I was just 14, and I had so much strength to just push against everybody. Everybody told me, no, no, no, that's whatever. You should stop. Maybe something else. I'm like, no, I'm going to do it. That urge, I'm trying to bring back to life, because to be so confident in what you do, that's crazy.

I was very close to my intuition, what I wanted. I was so pure. We talked with my mom about it. You take your kid to different sections—try football, try basketball, try something, just to have any interest in life—and I found mine. I thought it should be cultivated and supported more, because it’s such a rare feeling. I think it built me and shaped me stronger, because I had to always go against the pressure. Against all the odds, I had to.

When you were going to those international competitions or when you came to the US for the first time how do you feel like the break dancing communities differ in Ukraine versus and other places that you visited?

I feel like breaking in Ukraine had a bigger scene, we had one of the strongest dancers until now as well. I didn’t go to Ukraine for a long time, so I’m not familiar with what’s going on now. Before, it was really strong and very well-known in the world too. A lot of B-Boys from Ukraine would travel abroad to major competitions, so Ukraine was always on the map. And B-Girls were also pretty strong and very high level in competition. Back in the day, the USA was the dominant country, of course.

Did you ever at some point try to consider a different career path?

So here’s the thing: I was going through a depression after COVID, like 2021. I didn’t know breaking wouldn’t bring me as much money as I expected, which is bad to expect from something you used to love doing just for fun. Nothing was happening, so I went to work at a restaurant. That’s when I went to the US, 2021. I was working at the restaurant, and at some point, I got so involved; when I do something, I’m just doing it one hundred percent. And at some point, there was an event in the city, also pretty big in Florida. I skipped it because I had a shift in the restaurant, and when I made this choice, I realized I’m going way too far. I’m supposed to work in the restaurant to support my breaking career.

I thought my depression was because of dancing, so I was really confused, I was very sad. I didn’t know what to do next, completely lost. I think when I started to go to therapy, things started to sort out a little bit. I stopped pushing, like milking breaking so much. Like I expected to make money, expected to have contracts, I expected so much. When you expect, that’s the worst thing, if your expectation won’t come true, and you get very upset on top of that.

So I just started to break for fun again. My Olympic journey already started in 2021. I was here in the US, and I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t travel. That was another thing where I was like, what am I doing this for? I can’t even compete. I can’t fly out. I’m just training for no reason. So that’s when I started to take it slow, doing it for fun. Then the Olympics came.

What has been the road to the Olympics like?

I wouldn’t say I was dreaming about the Olympics too much. I kind of accepted my fate that I’m not going to be able to do it, because, as I said, in 2021 everything started already, and I jumped in 2023, one year before the Olympics. Before that, people were scoring a lot of points, creating a ranking, and, based on that, you go to the final event before the Olympics.

I didn’t have many chances to jump in and be able to qualify.

My coach at the gym, he helped me to build up strength. The Ukrainian team, of course, they helped me out, they flew me out to some events. So, kind of everything around me started to build towards my way to the Olympics.

I think I just took one chance. When there is a chance, I always take it, and then use it to the fullest. That’s kind of like a slogan of my life. I am always ready for opportunities to come — when it’s time. I take it, and I do my best, and that one chance I had, it worked.

I only had one event, my first and only event where I can go. The Olympics is very strict with—it’s not a regular event where you can just go and dance. You have to go through so many documentations. Your country needs to approve you, put you in the Olympic team, and that takes forever with bureaucracy stuff, a lot of papers.

So I had to go only for one event. If I place pretty high, that’s something they can use for putting me into the team.

How did you mentally prepare for The Olympics?

I think I just learned one really good skill. The physical part was there. Maybe like six months ago, I built really good strength, and physically I was ready. Mentally I wasn’t, because when you compete and you don’t believe you can win, there is no point in competing. You’re already a loser. You already lost. So what’s the point? Also, I would never understand 100% of people who say that they go for competition for fun. I think it’s not true. It’s kind of an excuse when you lose to make yourself feel better, because everybody wants to win. No one ever would win and say, "Oh, you know, I’m just here for fun." Hell no, you’re here to win, so that’s just the competition part. I know exactly why I’m doing this. Like, I am aiming to win, but in my head, I’ve been so long away from the scene that I’m so used to the thought that I am not able to be there because I never won events like that. So how can I believe something I never did before? So it’s very hard. Especially when you’re older, you kind of get to the point where you doubt yourself more. And so, mentally, I just started to visualize and talk positively to myself.

If you mentally already have a block, and then you go to a stressful competition where a lot of stress is there, like loud music, judges, remembering your moves, but then on top of that, you are not here and not ready, it’s going to be a mess. Even physically, if you’re super ready but can’t execute it, if you are not in the right state, it’s going to fall apart.

When you started out breakdancing was there a goal that you wanted to accomplish in your career?

Our Break was one of them, and then I won it two more times. So that was kind of like something I wanted to do. There was one goal, Red Bull BC One in Rio, which I really want to win. I’m going to do my best, of course, and am preparing for it. I am looking forward to it. That’s one of my goals. Also, when I realized I’m doing the Olympic path, that was also my goal—to be in the Olympics. It’s really hard to get there with, you know, all of these qualifiers. So many people just didn’t make it. So many great people, because it was a really tough competition.

Do you feel like the way you would prepare for The Olympics would be different from how you would prepare for something like Red Bull One?

Many things are different. First of all, you can’t really wear any logos, so that’s limiting in your clothing, and in breaking, it’s important how you look, because if you look fresh, you feel fresh.

The Olympics require more rounds than any event. For example, this one, for the top 16, it’s two rounds each, top eight two rounds each, the top four two rounds, and then the final three. So, in total, you need nine rounds. In the Olympics, you do top 32, two rounds, top 16 six rounds. That’s already 8 in the top 16. Then you do 9 more. So, that’s 17 rounds.

It might be a little bit easier, because I don’t know how it’s going to be with the media. I’m pretty sure it might be also kind of exhausting for Red Bull to do all these interviews for those who are going to win? That kind of pressure. But I think I’m fine.

I’m just programming myself that everything will be the best and in my favor. I don’t think DJs specifically play for anybody. They don’t do it. They play only from the pool. They have a pool of songs.

What is your favorite type of song to dance to?

I love breakbeats, but they barely play those. I’m okay to dance to anything. Music is music. I make it visible. So, my goal is to, you know, dance to anything that is given to me, make it good.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your persona life as well as for breaking?

Music is my main inspiration, I would say, because I’m also a DJ. I play music, I dance to the music, so my life, kind of like my artistic being, is around music. It’s always going to be this way. I’m inspired by other strong females. I got inspired by Rihanna, how strong she is, how cool she is, and how self-centered she is. She can create a lot of things off of her talent. Also, a lot of female athletes. I just like when they realize their potential and people look at them in awe. That’s something that inspires me to be a legend. To be an icon. You get to inspire other people, and that’s what I’m trying to implement in breaking.

Is it hard to be in a sport where you’re constantly depending on the opinions of judges?

It’s mostly fair. In boxing, you can win by points, but if you knockout, then it’s a knockout. Nobody’s going to go against it. So, the same in breaking. If you show that you really won, everybody’s going to see it, feel it, and pick for you.

What advice DO YOU WISH YOU HAD?

I will give myself advice for when I was depressed. I just have to do something. Just when you don’t want to do anything at all, just do something and say good words. Good advice: more positive talk, less negative. Give yourself props for everything you do. Make your bed, and make a beautiful breakfast. I worked out today for ten minutes, great. It’s better than zero minutes. Cheering yourself up instead of criticizing all the time and making yourself feel like you’re not good enough. So, I would say positive talk, give yourself compliments, and don’t let other people tell you how you should feel about yourself. Don’t depend on their opinion, because those people might not be also in a good state, so why would you let yourself trust their opinion about yourself? Remembering where you stand and just do what your inner child tells you, because that’s the only right way.

What does it mean to you to be able to represent the ukranian team?

Well, I wanted to make people proud, and especially Ukrainians, right now they look for something positive to be proud of, that they achieved something. So, my job was to do what I do the best I can, for them to be proud. I wanted to represent the country where I grew up, where I started my career, built my career.

Follow Kate on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/breakgirlkate/?hl=en

For more information on Red Bull One check out their website: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/event-series/bc-one