Even though Jessica Siu Yue-pui had no idea what she wanted to do when she grew up, she always knew it would be something creative.
"When I was younger, I enjoyed drawing and reading comic books. While I was a student at Ravensbourne University London, I worked as a photographer as a side gig."
But photography was not her major.
"I was already a part-time photographer. It didn't make sense to travel so far away only to keep doing photography. So I talked to my lecturer, and he suggested animation as it would allow me to learn a bit of everything."
The experience of learning animation in London allowed Siu to explore what she wanted to do in the creative field.
"I didn't know what types of creative careers I would pursue. But once I arrived in the UK, I found that animation was close to what I wanted,"she said.
That training in storytelling stood her in good stead - and helped paved the way to her career choice, a combination of her training and her long-time hobby.
Playing to her strengths, the professional breakdancer (or B-girl in street parlance) has set up two companies: an illustration and animation firm and a breakdancing club.
She established the UTLR852 Breaking Club and has organized more than 20 breaking competitions locally and internationally. Her company also trains wannabe breakdancers.
Although organizing events requires effort, Siu believes that it is worth it as competitions bring more visibility to the sport.
"It offers dancers a lot of hope since it allows them to compete and display their hard work," she said.
Competitions also help clear misconceptions about breakdancers.
"People often refer to us as 'delinquents.' It motivates me even more to prove myself. I want to demonstrate that we're not bad kids. We also work hard in our jobs."
The breakthrough into mainstream consciousness was the announcement that breakdancing would be one of the sports in next year's Paris Olympics. Siu is hoping to be one of the Hong Kong representatives.
"The news was a dream come true," she said. "I knew breaking debuted at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. But there was always the question of whether it would be included in the 2024 Olympics."
She believes that all Hong Kong dancers are moving in the right direction, and the debut at the 2024 Olympics will dispel some doubts about breakdancing.
"It raises a lot of awareness of what breaking is to the public and given people different ideas of what it is," she explained.
Breakdancing has a significant impact on Siu, both physically and psychologically.
Amazingly, she got into the sport by accident as a teenager.
"I was 80 kilograms and had arthrosis when I was younger, which pushed me to do something physical."
"I started with basketball first, but that is a team sport that requires a large group of people. So I switched to hip-hop and started participating in team hip-hop choreography.
"It was something that I enjoyed, but I wanted to find something I could do on my own, and then I found breaking."
Some of her signature moves are done sitting on the floor.
"The experience of arthrosis taught me how to become more creative as a dancer, because I still wanted to dance and show that I could do well. It made me think out of the box, which made my dance style unique."
Aside from the physical changes, Siu realized that dancing helped her confidence.
"Dancing saved me a lot in that it gave me a positive outlook in my life. The more I danced, the more I learned to love the dance and culture. And the more I enjoyed it, the more I wanted to see what else I could do and inspire other people."
The thought motivated Siu to promote the growth of the Hong Kong breaking industry.
She explained that breaking is still relatively new in Hong Kong, breakdancers need build their experiences. "People never used to see it as a professional job. So being able to have mutual respect or know how things work is necessary," she said.
To further the awareness of the sport, she invited Jinjo Crew, one of the biggest dance crews from Korea, to perform in Hong Kong. Since then, the team has been making regular appearances in the city.
"They're a B-boy crew that won major competitions in just one year. It's rare for us to meet every member of that team."
The experience, she hopes, will encourage more people to take up the sport.
