Airdy is a guy with many talents! When I first met him back in 2013, breaking wasn’t the only activity he was doing. He was part of a cricket team as a wicket keeper and he was in a street dance crew. When Airdy was younger he played basketball and football too! As he has grown, he has cut down on his other activities and put breaking front and centre!

I believe Airdy is the most calm person in the crew. A lot of times, people will get mad first and ask questions later. This isn’t Lewis at all. Even from a young age, he has taken a very logical approach to situations that have come before him. To me, this shows some level of maturity. His calm nature is something that translates to his breaking. Airdy has a very relaxed approach but much like his personality, he can be playful too. He also has amazing taste in music!

Name: Lewis Aird
Age: 17 years old
Style: Relaxed, musical, freestyler with flips
Length in crew: 2 years
Catchphrase: Well, to be fair

Why and how did you start breaking?

I was in a street dance crew called Panache Panthers. My teacher at the time was actually Fox and her now husband Lloyd came in to do a breaking session with us. That’s how I got started. I thought that he was the coolest person in the world. I just thought to myself that I needed to be like him!

Who is your favourite Bboy/Bgirl?

I’ve got two and I just rank them the same basically – Morris & Gravity

How did you get your Bboy name?

Well my breaking name is “Airdy”. My last name is Aird. Airdy has been a childhood nickname from my days playing cricket and football. I’ve always had the name so it just came through to breaking as well. It helps that I like to do a lot of flips too though.

What’s your biggest motivation in breaking?

I want to show everyone who doesn’t know about breaking what it’s about exactly. I want to bring them into our world and hopefully they’ll want to join in on the fun too. Yeah, I want to share how great breaking really is with everyone and that anyone can do it.

What inspires you most in breaking?

Well it’s mostly Lloyd & Fox. The rest of the Bradford scene as well. Just seeing everyone come up really inspires me.

What is your best moment in breaking?

I’m going to cheat. I have two. One of them was taking my first win at Urban Festival. That kept me going because at the time I didn’t know what I really wanted to do. But also Boom Bap & Breaks in Manchester a few years ago. I threaded my hat through LC’s legs as a burn. He wasn’t expecting it. Everyone went nuts so that was pretty funny.

What is your worst moment in breaking?

So in training one time, I had to flip over 3-4 people. I got over them but I landed on my hand awkwardly and tore a ligament in my wrist. I couldn’t do much on that for a while afterwards.

What do you think of the UK scene?

It could be better. We’re improving. Events on the same day don’t help though. But yes, we’re getting better and heading in the right direction for sure.

What is your favourite thing to eat?

Curry goat and dumplings, definitely.

What is your ultimate goal?

I want to be that guy where I come into an event and people are like, “oh, he’s here, I don’t want to go against him.” I want to be the best I can be. I definitely want to travel with breaking as well.

What DON’T you like about breaking?

It can be exhausting and just draining sometimes. The injuries. Getting through the pain that the moves can cause. I know it’s part of the game but it can be so hard to find the motivation sometimes when you’re just in pain.

What do you look for when you’re judging?

I like when people are just being themselves. I look for musicality. When someone just finds that zone where they’re just feeling the music, their personality comes through and they’re just enjoying themselves.. that’s what I look for.

Does Clean North have what it takes to be the best crew in the world?

Yes, definitely. I think we’re on the right track so why can’t we be?

When Airdy won the event at Bradford Urban Festival back in 2015, a switch was flipped. He started to cut down on his other activities as he began to realise that breaking was what he wanted to do. His heart was in this more than anything else. The difference between breaking and a lot of other activities is that there is no “top place”. Yes, we have the major events such as Red Bull BC One and Undisputed, but the winners of them events could lose the very next day. The cycle of the people at “the top” is constantly changing. There is ALWAYS room for improvement in breaking. There will ALWAYS be someone better than you and there will ALWAYS be someone coming up after you. That is the beauty about this dance and it is also the challenge in it too. Airdy realised this after winning Bradford Urban Festival in 2015 and has been putting his focus on the dance since then.

Airdy is now attending Leeds City College for dance. His college show last year reminded me of just how talented this guy really is. Me and Kye (Bboy 1K) attended and we were blown away. We see him at training every week but that evening was different. He doesn’t boast and he doesn’t brag. He just dances. I believe that as long as he applies himself, his possibilities are endless. Even when Airdy has come up against problems in his life he never makes excuses for himself. I am proud of how he just soldiers, he is definitely an inspiration to me in that way.

Keep up to date with Airdy via his IG: @lewisaird15

-Labyrinth