Breakdancing's African Origins
It is most amazing that the origins of the Polka, Savate, or any other non-African cultural practice is rarely challenged. However, anything African is automatically questioned because the unspoken idea, subconsciously or not, is that Africans are not "intelligent enough" to have invented it, thus, it must have been developed by non-Africans or via cultural diffusion from non-African sources.
What is called "breakdancing" here is part of ritual warriors celebratory dances as seen among the Peuhl of Guinea, with their men's acrobatic dances (see Kariamu Welsh-Asante's African dance for a brief description of Peuhl "Bridges," back and shoulder spins-they also do the arm into elbow/hand-base spin) and non-chalant freezes which makes up the play aspects of African combative rituals; among the Akamba of Kenya, et al. Elements of the Ongolo tradition, for example, are even found among the Kung! of S.A. as demonstrated in their "Ostrich" Ongolo type combat game (for which see the Smithsonian African series archival video footage).
Breakdancing, as WE HAVE PRESENTLY COME TO KNOW IT, has all the characteristics of an African artform, including the fact that it comes out of the African-American community in the States. Likewise, there is footage of early African-American dance which shows the same type of uprocking, spinning repetoire now associated with this genre of African derived dance.