Breakdance (ride)

Breakdance, Frankfurt Main - Germany

Breakdance is an amusement ride designed by HUSS Park Attractions in 1985.

Upon release, the ride design proved to be an instant hit, with HUSS now producing four varying designs, all of which can be acquired in transportable, semi-permanent, or permanent forms.

Design and operation

Breakdance consists of a dodecagonal platform with a diameter of 20 meters, upon which are mounted four hubs, each bearing four two-person cars. The entire ride is on an incline of 7.5°. When the ride is activated, the platform rotates, the hubs rotate in the opposite direction to the platform. The combination of the platform slope, hub movement, and weight displacement within the cars cause them to rock back and forth, the oblique join mount and the motion of the ride allowing the cars to rotate through 360°. Huss recommends that riders be a minimum of 48" tall with an adult and over 54" tall to ride alone on all models except for the Rodeo/Breakdance 4 variant; on this model riders must be at least 42" tall.

Breakdances incorporate backdrops, and the provision for sound systems, elaborate light displays, and special effects equipment is made. Controls for these additional systems can easily be routed through the operator's console.

Traveling versions of this ride can be dissassembled and stowed on two 40 ft trailers, one for the ride itself, the other carrying the platforms, backdrop, special effects equipment and ticketbox.

Variants

The success of the design has prompted HUSS to manufacture three additional variants to the Breakdance design. These are:

• Breakdance 2 - Six four-car hubs are installed on the 20-metre (66 ft) platform.
• Breakdance 3 - The platform is reduced to 18-metre (59 ft) in diameter, and the slope of the platform is changed, making the platform slightly cone-shaped. No backdrop is sold with this ride, which in combination with the size and slope reductions, significantly reduces the overall weight of the ride. The 8 ton difference makes this variant popular for transportable operations.
• Breakdance 4 - Also known as a Rodeo, this variant removes the platform entirely. Instead, three four-members of a "crew" are connected to the central dance by extended arms. There is no slope to the dance. It is much better suited for families than the other variants.

Although officially a different ride and not a variant of Breakdance, after the success of Breakdance HUSS developed the Booster ride, which takes the idea a step further. It did not, however, gain the kind of success that Breakdance did.

Similar rides

Rides almost identical to the Breakdance have been produced by other companies. Below are listed the companies, with the ride name in brackets.

• Safeco (Blade Runner)
• Sobema (Break Dance)
• Fabbri (Crazy Dance)
• Top Fun (Magic Dance)
• Nauta Bussink (Star Dancer)
• Mondial (Shake)
• Parkash (Break Dance)

Appearances

Over 110 Breakdance rides have been manufactured by HUSS, the vast majority of which are still in operation.

Transportable

Country	Number	Notes
Australia	4	3 manufactured by Sobema, 1 by Fabrri
Belgium	3
Germany	46	at least 46
The Netherlands	5	plus 1 transportable Stardancer owned by Frank Vale, and one Break Dance owned by R. van der Wiel, built by ARM Rides
Portugal	1	the only transportable Huss Rodeo Breakdance (named Maxi Dance), originally built as a travelling prototype to visit tradefairs
United States	4	All made by Fabbri

Theme parks

Country	Location	Ride name	Manufacturer	Model	Opened	Closed
Australia	Luna Park Sydney	Spider			1995
Belgium	Bellewaerde	El Toro	HUSS Park Attractions	Breakdance 3
Belgium	Walibi Belgium	Spinning Vibe
Canada	Playland	Breakdance			2005
Canada	La Ronde	Disco Ronde			1986
Chile	Fantasilandia	Crazy Dance	Fabbri Group	Crazy Dance	1999
Germany	Heide Park	Breakdance	HUSS Park Attractions	Breakdance 3	1991
Germany	Serengeti Park	Breakdance	HUSS Park Attractions	Breakdance 3	1995
Germany	Freizeitland Geiselwind	Breakdance	HUSS Park Attractions	Breakdance 3	1994
Germany	Holiday Park	Spinning Barrels	HUSS Park Attractions	Breakdance 4/Rodeo	2000	2014
Germany	Phantasialand	Crazy Loop	Fabbri Group	Crazy Dance	1995	2004
Israel	Luna Park, Tel Aviv	Breakdancer
The Netherlands	Drouwenerzad	Break Dance		Breakdance
The Netherlands	Drievliet	Draaikolk	Nauta Bussnik	Stardancer
South Africa	Gold Reef City, Johannesburg	Tornado (formerly The Old Mill)
Sweden	Gröna Lund, Stockholm	Pop expressen		Breakdance 3	1996
Sweden	Skara Sommarland, Axvall	Rodeo		Breakdance 4/Rodeo	2011 (sold from CentrO park Oberhausen, Germany)
United Kingdom	Lightwater Valley	Powder Kegs		Breakdance 4/Rodeo	2011
United Kingdom	Chessington World of Adventures	The Juggler/Rodeo		Breakdance 3	1989	2004
United Kingdom	Alton Towers	Dynamo/Astro Dancer/Dino Dancer		Breakdance 3	1993	2004
United States	Six Flags Over Texas	Rodeo		Breakdance 3	2006
United States	Astroland	Break Dance				2008
United States	Elitch Gardens, Denver	Paradise/Hollywood and Vine			1987
United States	Kentucky Kingdom	Breakdance		Breakdance 3	1990
United States	Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk	Wipe Out	HUSS Park Attractions	indoor/enclosed Breakdance 4/Rodeo	2006
United States	California's Great America	Peanuts Pirates/SpongeBob's Boat Mobiles		Breakdance 4	2003
Hungary	Vidám Park	Breakdance			1993	2013
United States	Morey's Piers	Break Dance

Öland Djur & Nöjespark No1 Break Dance, Opened: 2014

External links

• Technical specifications available at HUSS Park Attractions's website
• Amusement Ride Extravaganza - Breakdance
• a video of a huss breakdance onride