Sunday, July 10, 2016
SUPER 24 2016
Learning from my mistakes at SDD 2016, I arrived early at Suntec and at 1600hrs there was already a small group of enthusiasts in the queue for the free-seating event. My friends and I sat in the queue till 6pm as we watched the organizers (mainly just this one kid) clamp down any queue-cutters. The rest was pretty rudimentary with the usual bag check. However, while the doors were opened, we were led to the convention hall only to wait for quite awhile before being able to head to the seats. This process made queuing early redundant as streams of people hoarded around us to get a head start for the seat race. We managed to get decent seats either way. Before long, the hall filled with people but the body heat of the masses was insufficient to combat the arctic climate of the hall.
The Apex Project
The night started off with a guest performance by 2 gentleman donning the hairstyle of a well-known Singaporean YouTuber. Their performance was filled with complex moves which my hippopotamus profile would deem inappropriate. There was also a performance of the Singapore national anthem by The Apex Project which I thought was rendered pretty well even though I was waiting for Bryan their beatboxer to put a twist to it but was disappointed for good reasons.
After which, the performances started promptly with the secondary school category which saw incredible talent of the youths. Full footages of their performances below.
The open category saw teams made up of veterans and also 2 teams from my alma mater NTU, Major Crew and Major Syndicate.
The crowd were thoroughly entertained by Ragga Fiyah but Havoc! took the championship of the open category with their baseball performance. (sorry, I didn't manage to get The Disciples' performance)
One crew did get my attention with their costumes though. No, it wasn't the kitties from NRA but Eluminix with their futuristic robots outfit which reminded me of NTU Hall 10's Soulmix 2015 HOCC performance. HEH HEH! :)
Robots vs Kitties
Having decided not to bring an extra battery, I was unable to record the other performances but it meant that I could take in the full package first hand and void of the electronic distraction. Do wait for the official videos of the performances!
Dance competitions are always filled with so many surprises and its incredible how the level of dance is always on the rise with new ideas, new combination of techniques and new blood. These things are never easy and I must say all the dancers have delivered this year. Maybe some day I'll find another 23 but till then, i'll tango with temensis.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
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! :)
