Nocturnal paradox

This chapter is an exploration into how breakdancing (‘breaking’) can be a vehicle for understanding the inherent tensions and dualities of the night, or what I term the ‘nocturnal paradox’. It moves beyond hegemonic discourses and regulations of night-time culture that are increasingly focused on its economic valorisation to show how breaking – an activity in Sydney (Australia) that exists outside economic transactions – can offer a means to experience and navigate the nocturnal city in new ways. At a time when the strict regulation of lockout laws has spurred a slow decline in the economic-viability of nocturnal cultural activities in Sydney, breakers utilise the empty urban landscape to freely experiment with creative expression. This chapter moves beyond the often-limited and paradoxical framings of night-time culture to show how breaking reveals the potentials of the night.