NTU Breakers 10th Anniversary Jam 2016
After a workout of a hike, my friends and I finally reached the battle ground for the day. We entered a dimly lit room and were greeted by the NTU Breakers committee who were in charge of the day's proceedings. Having dabbled in dance for the term of my undergraduate life, I could recognize a few familiar faces who were prominent in the scene (I used "scene" because it makes me sound like I know famous people). A close friend of ours had invited us down for the event and I decided to head down to educate my ignorant butt of the art that is B-boying or breaking, also called breakdancing (yes, I wiki-ed this just in case).
We made camp in front of the stage opposite the judges, just a row behind the official photographers and videographers with their expensive toys. Loud hip hop melodies laden with arrays of fast beats filled the enclosed room as the gladiators warmed themselves up in cyphers. It is always intriguing to watch freestylers engage in such free forms of dance, testing their vocabulary and musicality concurrently. The casual translation of music through the body's movements.
The event started off with the judges showcases, moved on to the top 16 qualifiers, then a knock-out style for the rest of the event. There was also guest showcase by one of the judges' significant other. Notice how I've not named any of these people, well, because my ignorant butt do not know who they are and was too lazy to find out (no disrespect meant. You could however head over to NTU Breakers Facebook page to find out though). The judges were incredible to watch though. And oh my, those abs. If I had abs like most of these bboys do, I'd walk around topless EVERYWHERE.
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| Fabulous~ |
Battles are really strategic in nature such that whilst one had to show enough to advance to further stages, they too had to conserve their best moves for the right opponents. This was highly evident in the earliest round where 23 teams of 3 fought for the top 16 slots. You could really tell which teams were putting their Kenpachi Zaraki eye patches on (if you didn't get this reference, google "bleach").
Gravity not working here.
There were quite a few notable characters who were present and the crowd shouted their names whenever they were about to "throw down" (another one of those vocabs I learnt today). One of them was Bboy Lego Sam from Malaysia (who won the Red Bull BC One Malaysia Cypher 2015). Like a little energizer bunny, the happy-faced dancer stole the show and went on to win both the International 7-to-smoke and the day's 3v3 main event with his team Short with Attitude.
All in all, it was an eye opener of an event and I'd definitely look forward to more of such events in the future. Tight line and smiley face :)
p.s. Didn't take many pictures because they wouldn't have told the entire story. Wait up for RP Productions for the official vids I guess! :)
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