Who Is This Breaking Phenomenon?
jeyna ponce
After building a multi-disciplinary foundation in dance for ten years, it didn’t make much sense for Jeyna Ponce to start her breaking career so late... a world you don’t often stumble into by accident. By this point, she had given up on dancing and enrolled in college to study interior design when the pandemic led her back into the studio and into a new discipline. And her progression was unheard of. A mash-up of unusually polished footwork and musicality, Jeyna's movement and flow brings a new energy to the B-Girl world.
After only a year and a half of training, she won one of breaking’s most prestigious competitions, a Red Bull BC One Cypher, in her hometown of Las Vegas. Jeyna’s win serves as testament to her dedication to the craft and cemented her place in the breaking world as a force to be reckoned with. And she’s only getting started.
We recently teamed up with Jeyna on our latest apparel collection and had the chance to sit down with her for a quick q&a in-between shoots.
Tell us about yourself:
My name is Jeyna Ponce. I'm a b-girl.
You’re one of the nations’s best break dancers, tell us about art form?
Breakdancing is a form of art and it's part of the hip-hop culture, and it's a way to express yourself through movements such as power moves, breaking, top rock, footwear, and style.
How did you get into breaking?
Well, I’ve been dancing my entire life... I started out as a technical dancer doing ballet, contemporary jazz, lyrical hip-hop choreography, and I went to Las Vegas Academy, and that's where I got most of my foundation from. It wasn't until a year and a half ago that I started to take classes at Millennium, which I discovered Alchemy Breaking Academy. I was taking breaking classes there, and then I immediately clung onto the teachers, and I really stood out to them. It was ATN, Keyon, and Delgado from Battle Born and they asked me to start training with them at their crew practices. So I was training super hard for a year, and then a year later I got battled into the crew. So I've just been breaking every day since then.
What drew you into breaking?
It’s crazy because I've been doing all these styles my entire life and then I immediately clung onto breaking. That was the only style that I really grew an attachment to. I think it's because of the culture and the form of dance in general just really stands out to me and it's super intriguing.
How does breakdancing make you feel?
I just love how it's an outlet for everything, for your emotions, and it's just a way to express yourself through movement.
Tell us about your family and their ties in the breaking community?
It’s funny because my entire family is a whole entire breaking family…My uncles break, my aunts break, my cousins break…we all revolve around breaking, and we all have this attachment and connection for breaking. So we're just one big dance family. I think that just really draws us closer together.
So what are some interests outside of breaking?
Well, I'm really into fashion and I'm also a full-time student at my university. I'm studying interior design, and outside of that, I just break, but fashion and interior design.
What do you like about Stance?
Well, since I break a lot, I think that it's super convenient how Stance has really comfortable clothing, and it just fits right in with my wardrobe. I love how durable it is, and I love the high quality of the product. I've always known about Stance, always shopping in the mall, and I've already previously purchased the clothing, so I've been wearing it even prior, for a couple years now.
So can you talk about your involvement with Red Bull BC One?
My first involvement with Red Bull BC One was the Las Vegas City Cypher, and I ended up winning the Las Vegas City Cypher. That was surreal because my first win ever as a b-girl was a Red Bull BC One win. Then after that, I think the next week I went to Red Bull San Diego, and then I made it to finals in San Diego. Then since I won the Las Vegas City Cypher, I was invited to the regionals in Austin, Texas, which was a couple weeks ago, which I made it to semi-finals in Austin. I also am involved in the Red Bull BC One Nationals coming up on September 17th in Los Angeles. I'm going to be doing an exhibition there with Ronnie from Super CR3W and Full Force. So that should be fun.
Talk about your involvement with the Olympics.
I'm competing in the qualifiers for the Olympics. It's called Breaking for Gold, and I competed in Philadelphia last week, and I ranked as one of the top eight b-girls in the nation.
What are your future goals, and aspirations?
I don't really like to set any goals because I want my path to be organic, but I would like to be a Red Bull BC One All Star soon. So I'm on the path to be a Red Bull BC One team.
Where can our community find out more about you?
You can find me on my Instagram and my TikTok. My Instagram is going to be @ponce.jeyna. Then my TikTok is also @poncejeyna, as well.