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Groningen | December 6, 2019

Lucas Winkel: 'On the floor the child feels safe and strong'

Lucas Winkel teaches breakdance and is a cultural coach in Groningen. He is involved with The Floor. Yours where children get the chance to experience breakdance lessons and the community feeling of the breakdancescene. 'You can show who you are.'

Lucas grew up in Delfzijl and started breaking when he was about twelve years old. "There were no lessons in Delfzijl at the time, and there was no YouTube yet," Lucas says. "I was introduced to breakdancing at our bass school."ketballsquare where a group older Boys trained. I immediately loved it. My parents couldn't afford the lessons and the commute to Groningen, so I couldn't take them. There wasn't even a Youth Sports & Culture Fund yet. When I went to university in Groningen, I joined a dance group. We trained wherever we could, in gyms or on the streets. 

Each one, teach one

Lucas is now in his thirties, but dance is still important to him. “It's my life,” he says. “A place where I am free, I can be myself, show who I am. Movement was my way of expressing myself even as a child. But it's not just about dance. The sense of community in the breakdance world is an essential part.each one, teach one" is the catchphrase in the hip-hop world, and it means sharing your skills and passion. That's why I love being a dance coach."  

Dance does a lot

Lucas gives breakdance lessons to children and young people, including JaydIan. “Dance does so much for them. JaydIan is a rather shy boy, but on the stage he feels confident and strong. I encourage them to tell their own story, to follow their own path. The beauty of breakdance is that it's so inclusive—a buzzword now, but breakdance has been that way from the beginning. Look at a dancer like Redo, he has physical limitations but is a very strong dancer.” 

Reaching more children

"I also encounter poverty in my classes. Children who don't eat well and don't have a bottle of water. And those are the children whose parents have found their way to the Youth Sports & Culture Fund. I try to show them that you can make something out of nothing. But I'd love to reach many more children. There are still many parents who don't know about the fund, or who don't know how to get their child to take lessons outside the neighborhood. That's why The Floor is Yours is so good. It was close to home and accessible. Then the transition to regular lessons is easy. 

Also read Jaydian's Story