South Africa's fearless B-Girl and DJ Courtnae Paul yet to see a boundary she is not tempted to cross
From challenging the “gladiators” of breaking as the only female dancer to grooving behind a DJ controller set at Africa's biggest music festivals: Courtnae Paul is a true testament to her "no regrets" motto.
Breaking
To say that Courtnae Paul felt out of place at her first breaking competition would be an understatement.
"I was very confused as to what is actually happening," the South African B-Girl recalled in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. "It felt like I was in an arena of sorts, like gladiators, like we are going out to fight for our lives."
All around her, in the backroom, the other dancers were doing intense stretches, pulling on their armbands and beanies. It was an unsettling sight for Paul who had only been training for three months so far. Eighteen years old at the time, she had just taken the second ever flight in her life to travel from her hometown Durban and participate in the Johannesburg competition.
Determined not to let this effort go to waste, Paul took matters into her own hands.
"There's seasoned B-Boys from around the country. The first guy, he's got arm bands and swift bands... I walked straight up to him. I go, ‘I can do a backflip. I can do this and I can do this. Please don't do those moves because that's what I'm going to do’," she said.
"And I went out there and he smoked me to hell and back, but I enjoyed the experience because it was a reminder to myself that I'm never going to be comfortable at any level, but I've always got to enjoy the process. So, yes, it's intimidating, but for me, that's what life is about, putting yourself out there and being OK with the outcome."
The outcome of that particular breaking battle in Johannesburg turned out to be life-changing for Paul. She joined a dance crew shortly after and has not stopped pushing gender and national boundaries in the 12 years since.
“I hate to go to bed at night having regrets,” said Paul who will be competing for a spot at Paris 2024 at the Olympic Qualifier Series starting in May 2024. "I'm not here to try to get the easy pass."
Courtnae Paul: From church dances to Bollywood shows to breaking battles
Courtnae Paul’s path into breaking has an unlikely origin - a church.
She did a variety of sports growing up, including artistic gymnastics, and joined a church dance group by chance at age 11. While dance was not something Paul planned on doing, she quickly realised how much she enjoyed it.
Fuelling her enthusiasm even more, the dance scene at the time was bursting with revolutionary styles and artists. Like many of her peers, Paul could not stop watching.
"I was in that Missy Elliott era, waiting for a music video to see what I could copy from there and go outside and try," Paul said. "I've seen all these cool music videos and it's always the guys doing the flips and I would take that little bit of gymnastics training I had and I would go outside and try and mix it with the dancing I knew and then add that little trick without realising that slowly but surely, I was making my way into breaking."
After several years of doing interpretive dance performances with the church group Paul got her first professional dance job in a Bollywood show. She was 15 years old at the time, dreaming of getting a hip hop solo and becoming the hip hop choreographer for the troupe. Her dream came true, but there was a catch - Paul had to learn all the Bollywood routines as well.
As she continued to study the different dance styles, Paul got more and more exposed to breaking.
At 21, she packed her bags and moved to Johannesburg to pursue a career in dance. Little did she know what a solitary journey that would be.
"This is where the dance industry or entertainment industry was," Paul said of her move to South Africa's most populous city. "I thought I was going to move and life was just going to happen. And I was in for a rude awakening because the breaking industry, even as it is now, just didn't exist when I moved here."
Courtnae Paul's guide on saying 'no' to hot shorts and knowing your worth as a B-Girl
Paul still remembers her first breaking competition in Johannesburg. Having recovered from the shock of seeing ultra-competitive dancers in the backroom, she stood just off the stage waiting to be announced.
"And then just before I'm going out to stage, the MC goes. 'And up next, we have B-Boy...', and I step out and she goes, 'Oh. It's a girl!' And the whole place erupts," she recalled. "The reaction was incredible."
While seeing B-Girls in competition is not such a rarity in Johannesburg anymore, they are still very much the minority.
"Nine out of 10 times, I'm the only female in the room or on the stage," said Paul who often competes against male breakers. "You look across the stage, the DJ, the videographer, the sound guy, the lighting guy, the person on comms - nine out of 10 times, all men. And in this day and age, it's still very much that way."
The lack of females in breaking also made it extra challenging for Paul to find jobs.
"I moved here and the industry standard for a female dancer was very much like fishnets and that kind of vibe," she said. "And then I'm like, ‘Cool, but can I do a handstand for you?’ And they're like, 'No, I don't want that at all!'"
Paul finally got her lucky break by clinching a breaking solo. It was a moment of triumph - up until she was given a pair of hot shorts and a crop top to wear like the other nine female dancers.
"For them, it was like another day at work. For me, I was like, 'I'm about to die. Surely, this is where my life ends', because besides my dance style, it's just not who I am," Paul said.
"We're at the venue, it was a stadium, and I go, 'I'm not wearing this'," she continued. "And she goes, 'Well, if you're not going to wear this, you've got to leave'. So I go, 'OK, cool'. And I leave, crying! Well, not in front of people, but I was distraught because it was a big job."
Two hours later Paul got a call that she can rejoin the troupe, wearing her tracksuit pants.
“I've still got a picture of me standing with all the girls and me in my drop crotch pants for that gig," she said. "And I think that was one of the moments where I realised I also have something to offer and I might not be for everybody, but I've got my place and I need to be comfortable with that. I need to be comfortable saying 'no' to things and going in the direction that I want to go to."
Dancing at the DJ controller
One of the many directions that Paul decided to go was behind a DJ controller.
Struggling to pay the bills once she took up dancing as a career, Paul looked for other ways to make money. With her love for music and technical understanding of the radio, DJing seemed a natural fit, so she went out and bought a second-hand controller while her close friend, a fellow DJ, showed her how it worked.
Two months later she was getting her first jobs. Now those jobs include playing at the biggest musical festivals in South Africa, such as Rocking the Daisies.
While Paul specialises in hip hop and afro, rather than breaking music, her time behind the controller has also given her an edge on the dance floor.
"It has given me a different understanding for music," she explained. "I hear different things and I can almost pre-empt DJs a little bit more because I have an understanding of where it's going, where they're going to drop something, where there could be potential scratching."
Juggling the roles of DJ and dancer also has some agonising drawbacks. For one, Paul struggles to keep herself from dancing while at the controls.
"I'm a DJ and I can't stand still! I have to learn to control myself a lot more," she lamented. "For example, I play all the South African dancing styles…and it's very difficult for me because I dance other styles, so I press play and I'm forcing myself to just keep still because it's not about me in that moment."
"The thing that keeps me in this space is that I just couldn't go a day without music. I couldn't go a day without dancing," Courtnae Paul to Olympics.com
Top rock, cross step, spindown: This time for South Africa
When it comes to her musical preferences, Courtnae Paul has a confession to make.
"I don't really connect with break music, to be honest," she admitted. "I'm African, man! I need something with rhythm and there needs to be something in there for me to connect to."
Showing the diversity of South Africa to the world is high up on Paul’s varied list of priorities. And there is plenty to showcase: Paul's homeland has 11 official languages and a diverse range of musical styles, from Amapiano to Mbaqanga, among numerous distinct qualities.
"I love my country. I love my continent. Yeah, we can be a mess sometimes, but I love this place," Paul said. "I travel a lot and there is just no place like home. I wear on my neck. I have it tattooed on my back and everything that I do, I try my best to show Africa, South Africa in the best possible light."
Breaking and DJing are two ways that Paul tries to put South Africa centre stage.
"It's about me trying to find ways within my movements to bring out that African flavour and hopefully make it so easily digestible that people can read it. They go, ‘Oh, that's different. What was that?’ It mustn’t feel cringy and it mustn’t feel forced. It depends in the moment because South Africa is more than moves, "she said. "South Africa, it’s a feeling thing and you'll see it, it's a tangible feeling."
Breaking onto the Olympic stage
As of a few years ago Paul's ultimate dream is to get her beloved South Africa represented in the first-ever Olympic breaking competition, at Paris 2024.
Aside from the historical significance this would have for her country, qualifying for the Olympic Games would also have a great personal meaning for the 31-year-old.
"My cousin, who was the reason that I got into gymnastics, was an amazing gymnast. But we were in the middle of apartheid, so she couldn't go and compete internationally," Paul said. "We have our unique challenges and things that have set us back, but this opportunity makes it feel like, in some ways, we're going to rewrite some wrongs."
Paul already booked her spot at the Olympic Qualifier Series, which will be held in Shanghai, from 16 to 19 May, and Budapest from 20 to 23 June. The event will serve as the final Paris 2024 qualifier for breaking, BMX freestyle, skateboarding and sport climbing.
And while there are many unknowns about the outcome of those competitions, Paul admits she is struggling to contain her excitement.
"I was already planning where the tattoo would go," she said of a possible future Olympic tattoo. "I was like, 'OK, cool. So do I do black and white or do I do the colours?'
“One of my friends said to me a couple of months ago, 'If you walk from here to Durban, how many Olympians would you meet on the way? And I was like, 'Jesus...', because he was trying to put it into perspective," she added. "I'm not somebody that counts my eggs before they hatch... But I want to allow myself to dream that big. I think it's very possible.”
Making dreams come true: Help some athletes get to the Olympic Qualifier Series
As the countdown to the Olympic Qualifier Series continues, why not help a few lucky breakers, skateboarders and riders get there?
The winners of the Let’s Move Street Challenge, which saw almost 3,000 athletes from around the world submit 30-second videos of their best tricks, will win a VIP ticket to Shanghai with a backstage pass to meet participating athletes, including Courtnae Paul.
Get inspired by the entries and cast your votes here before Sunday, 12 November.
The 21 winners will be announced in a live ceremony of the Olympic Street Challenge Award Show. The Olympic Street Challenge Award Show will start on 12 November, at 6 p.m. GMT/UTC and will be broadcast live on Olympics.com, the official Olympics app, and the @Olympics social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook.