Parkour, emopunk, dancehall and street artists

Under the skies of our cities something new is happening, some phenomenon which has been spreading widely for some time in all the European metropolis and which concerns young and very young people. We are talking about parkour, emopunk, dancehall and street artists. They are street sports or street’s lifestyles and the street is the place where they were born and they are still practised. Parkour consists in knowing how to move around the urban areas on foot as quickly as possible, running, jumping, avoiding obstacles and architectural barriers imposed by modern metropolis. The only rule is not to invade private property. The emopunk-trend can be considered a evolution of the punk; dancehall can be considered as a new form of breakdance and finally the street artists represent a evolution of writing. All these youth groups can be studied with the newtribalism paradigma of Michel Maffesoli. For example, we can give a description of the phenomenon of parkour. The practical aim of the parkour traceurs (the French denomination for who practises these sports, literally “creators of runs”) is to move fast and to get to a settled place of destination. The “noble aim” is to live more freely among the overwhelming and narrow urban spaces. The traceurs meet to search and to challange houses and buildings, the contemporary shapes of imposing urban structures are an opportunity to make friends and to approach processes of socialization. It is not a school socialization or academic, but based on the value of friendship, the physical commitment and the growth of skill and maturity. The suburban zones, which – according to the anthropologist Marc Augé’s definition – belong to the category of the “non places” thus assume new meanings. Spaces neither of identification or relation, which do not contribute to the creation of single identity or relation (unlike a house, a church or the headquarters of a political party etc.), open themselves to new interpretations. Solitude and similitude are replaced by athletic experience and youthful gaiety. This sports is lived by the crew as way of living in the metropolis, of adapting oneself to areas often degraded, to make this difficulty of finding a green field a physical challenge, thus making the sterile and impersonal architectures of the suburbs a reason of entertainment and joy. Those who live in the houses on whose roofs the traceurs run are accustomed to their presence and know well that they are not acrobatic thieves but rather reckless modern sportsmen.