Eastern is well known for its talented students, ranging from incredibly high-achieving athletes to remarkably intelligent learners. However, one student, uniquely known for both his talents in breakdancing and trick shots, seems to be striding ahead as one of the most talented young people ever. Brennan Lee (‘25) has been involved with breakdancing for almost five years and his unbelievable talents only start there. He started classes back in 2017, yet due to the pandemic, he was limited to practicing at home. However, the lockdown is what prompted him to delve deeper into his passion, and he admits that remaining at home and having excess time to devote to this new skill sped up the process of reaching his breakdancing goals.
When elaborating on his breakdancing path, Brennan enthusiastically explained some of his future plans. Brennan recently bought an Airflare Masterclass “by one of the best coaches in the world!” To explain what exactly that is, Brennan shares that “an airflare is an advanced breakdance power move that is like a spinning cartwheel, but catching another one while you’re in mid-air. The airflare masterclass contains 100+ airflare exercises that start from the basics, and works up to crazy variations like one-handed elbow airflares and munch airflares.” For Brennan, this technique has been one of the most challenging goals he’s had to pursue. For three years, he’s been “stuck on this move.” By the end of the year, however, he hopes to finally conquer the technique.
As Brennan ponders the path he wants to take with breakdancing, he expresses that he’s “hoping to help out younger kids with my instructor at the studio. Teaching basic top rocks, footwork, and freezes would be amazing. I love to teach others what I enjoy.”
Brennan is also very passionate about trick shots, of which he remarks that “in August 2018, my first trick shot was a no-look basketball shot from the free-throw line. It took me around 10 tries, and when I made it, my brothers and I were going nuts! We thought that our basketball trick shots were the most impressive back in the day!” Inspired by the YouTube group known as “Dude Perfect,” Brennan has actively pursued his passion in creating YouTube videos. Dude Perfect trick shots include everything from “insane trick shots like chucking a basketball off a skyscraper into a hoop, or throwing footballs off the top of a football stadium into a moving goal,” Brennan elaborated. With these ideas as inspiration, Brennan took his basketball trick shots to YouTube and went on to try new skills.
After posting the basketball trick shot video, Brennan “branched out to bottle flips, ping pong, and nerf trick shots. As the years went by, our trick shots were ramping up. In 2020, I learned a new trick shot skill called dice stacking. Dice stacking is where you have a cup and dice, and you use the cup to stack the dice on top of each other.”
Brennan cherishes his trick shots, and recounts his favorite ones, from “golfing a ping pong ball into a mini cup” (which took 26 hours) to “capping a water bottle on dice (9 hours), and juggling solo cups into another solo cup (5 hours).” He dedicates lots of time to getting the perfect shot performed. He adds that “since trick shots are very time consuming, it takes a truckload of time to get one trick shot. Even though it takes time, I will always continue to perform outstanding and satisfying trick shots!”
Brennan’s talents can be seen on his Instagram @brennan_lee06 or on his YouTube channel at BBD Boys.