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Bboy Unit Vol 9. Internationals

I went to BBoy Unit 9 Internationals last Saturday. Crews came from Canada, USA, Japan, Taiwan, China, France, Hong Kong and of course, Korea~

It was at the Seoul Olympic Weightlifting Stadium, about 3000 people turned up to it. For all you young people reading this blog, Seoul held the Olympics way back in 1988 when you guys were in diapers.

The Battles were tight, I actually agreed with all the judges decisions about the event, that is a first for me…haha. The judges had some pretty serious credentials, so no one had anything to say about being biased.

Judges -

Cross 1 - Bboy and Producer of Freestyle Session, the most infamous international breaking series on the planet. This man has been here since the 1990s and has helped develop bboying in Japan and USA with next level, RELEVANT events.

Woo Sung - Leader of Expression Crew, Korea. One of the most respected of the old generation of Korean bboys, widely held as one of the pioneers for innovation in the korean bboy scene.

Junior - Wanted Crew, France. This guy has a fake leg but still dances better than most people with two. His team won Bboy Unit last year.

Vartan - Flying Steps, Germany. Flying Steps was one of the best in Europe back in the 1990s and early 2000s. Widely known as a dope all round crew with power and style.

Machine - from Japan. Machine is one of the first bboys in Japan and rocks some crazy foundation.

Results:

Mind 180 - USA

Mortal E.X. - Japan

Rivers - Korea

Legistrom Obstruxion - France

This is a shot of the final battle between USA and Japan. USA has the original bboy scene and Japan, the oldest scene in Asia for breaking and streetdance.

USA had this bboy called ‘Caspar’ from Boogie Brats. Caspar is one badass dancer, that boy can move like serious. This is him in a cypher with Born at last year’s Bboy Unit.

http://www.youtube.com/v/PJo_mrp5O3U

Caspar is one of those bboys who can turn the tide of a battle I think when he comes out to do his set. So is Born, actually.

Rivers Crew, 3rd place at Bboy Unit!

It is important I think to have real judges for an event. I really hate celebrity judges, you know people who are actors, or radio DJs or otherwise unrelated to dance.

It really shows no respect for the dancers and moreover, no respect for the culture behind the movements.

Thankfully, in Seoul, the streetdance scene has moved past having to use celebrity judges to draw a crowd or to encourage participation amongst dancers because there is the presence of knowledge.

Not that i have anything against actors or radio DJs or anything, but imagine if you got some random guy from the street and got them to taste Moroccan cuisine in ‘Cookoff Morrocco’ and be a judge. What is that guy going to do? How does he know what to look for? Brother has no idea! Conversely, can you imagine a Morroccan coming to Tiong Bahru to judge the best Chicken Rice? Man has never seen it before in his life, how is he going to judge the art behind the dish?

Judges are an important part of streetdance events. Always good to have more than one, helps if the judge is a foreigner too just to keep things impartial. Most important i think, the judge has to be someone who is a dancer too, or at least, familiar to a ‘T’ about that streetdance style. So if Sugapop from Electric Boogaloo Poppers were to judge a bboy competition, I would trust his opinion because I know he knows what is up.

This weekend, going to another event this weekend, a showcase event in Seoul…..

PEAS.

Chris

On March 3rd, "Ra’s Dance Presents" will be having auditions for new dancers to join in the next Dance Project that Ra (he went to Singapore for NUS Hip Hop Nite 2006) is going to run in 2007.

Basically it is advertising for aspiring dancers to join our studio and family in the next dance project. No joining fees, no class fees, only if you have right attitude and confident in your abilities and willing to learn more, (and live in Seoul), you can audition. ^^

Here is the flyer..

And here is a picture of Ra… 

Ra is one of Korea’s most respected street dancers. He has been dancing since he could walk pretty much and dances locking, popping, house, hiphop and more. I first met Ra in October 2005 at his studio "Dance Studio" in Song Pa, Seoul. He organizes "Projects" in Seoul for gifted dancers and he let me train with "Hard Training Project," a dance team that trained from 11pm to 5am 7 nights a week for a year.

That’s right, they trained all night for a year. I only trained with them 3 times a week, haha, im so weak.

Ra’s Dance Projects are really famous in Korea, basically, he trains you for a year or so and let’s you use his studio for free everyday. The catch is, you have to train damn hard. You can’t be late, can’t miss practice and you can’t sit down during training!

 

This is a pic of "Song Pa Family" as we call ourselves at dinner after a competition in Seoul - ‘Performance of the Year.’  (POTY) 

Baya Baya - an entry in POTY from Song Pa

 

Funkyz - a locking duo from Song Pa Family at POTY

Ra put a lot of energy into training these dancers…i used to wonder why he did, because they never pay him, they can’t advance his studio economically, he doesn’t even act as their manager to get a commission from any gigs they do.

He does it out of Community and Love. That’s it. No other reason.

Ra is one of the most generous people I have ever met. Even when I first met him and went to pay for my lessons, he straight up refused payment and just asked me to come and practice in his studio for free~ ^^

He became a big influence when I started "Korea Singapore Dance Project. "

If you are unsure what the KSDP is exactly, check out this earlier post here .

Basically, every now and then, for the love, KSDP does a project that either benefits the Korean dance scene or the Singapore dance scene.

You might have seen

Project 1: Knu Funk Crew in Floor Skillz Asia 2006 in Singapore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12C88egZJfA

Project 2: Ra in NUS Hip Hop Nite in Feb 2006.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVns8Pa0BKM

Project 3: Jay 1 HipHop/House/Popping in June 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIAmJMqD6ow

Each project has something to do with Knowledge, Foundation or Love, which is what the KSDP’s steez is all about. I hope that each Project somehow contributes back to hometown SG’s dance scene, maybe someone is inspired by Knu Funk to take up breakin, or bboys already in sg feel inspired to train harder, i hope Ra turned some heads at NUS when he freestyled his entire way thru to only get beaten in the quarter-finals. YOu guys really missed out on a chance to see him battle, because he is one of the best in Korea. And I hope Ji Won’s students remember "Jacking" and "Lofting" and the other key foundation techniques to Hip Hop and House dancing that might be difficult to find in SG back in 2006.

So now, its 2007 and I called this post "New Beginnings." Well, it is a new year and directions for the KSDP are still being drawn up. I wasn’t going to share the bad news with y’all, but KIM Young Jin, a Korean Freestyle Dancer came to SG in Feb for some workshops and told ppl about Ji Won and Ra’s car accident. I wanted Ji Won and Ra to come back sometime early in 2007, but it’s not likely to happen…so be satisfied with Project 3.5 "DVDs" ok?!

You can get DVDs like this~isn’t that educational?!

So…errr…that’s it from this post I guess…i think i will update a lot more this year than last year. It will kind of be my New Year’s Resolution. Haha.

Peace

Chris

Royalty Lockers, Seoul

Korea Singapore Dance Project