Project Breakalign was created in 2013 by Nefeli sMash Tsiouti, because of the need she felt to heal her body. She wanted to find answers in response to the lack of specialized information for injury prevention, and injury management for hip-hop dancers. Long story short follows…
Nefeli discovered Breaking by accident, when walking by a dance studio in Athens, and looking inside to surprise her eyes with a bunch of Breakers practising their craft. She instantly fell in love with it and joined their crew to train with them, every single day, for months. Not long after, a terrible injury had to put an end to this passion, her shoulder was not functional anymore, it needed to be operated ASAP. She was told by the doctors that she would never dance again. Quite a devastating incident for a young dancer in her early 20s, but thankfully a few years later she stood back up on her feet; Project Breakalign has been her transitional career to save dancers from injuries and to educate as many people as possible before they get hurt.
Dance is about freedom, expression and individuality, but what about when dance takes that away from you because of a chronic injury? What methods do you find to cope and keep moving on?
Nefeli Tsiouti