Whoever wasn't there... missed out, 'yo.
But Scansion of Groove, courtesy of ThDC, is gonna bring you the highlights of it all!
Touted as
"A one-of-a-kind dance crew show,
That's taking it from the street!",
The Showdown weekend did not fail to impress.
For the year's first dance event, the only ones from ThDC were its top two figures (Nicole and Lienn). We expect better response next time!
Nevertheless, we had a lovely surprise meeting with our cousins from TDC subang (who rather snuck up behind us before giving a pseudo-cough)!
Scheduled to start at 9 a.m., registration took a couple of hours so we took off for brunch at Paddington House of Pancakes.
Do join us for future dance events.
Even dancers need their calories. XD
Cholcolate fondue;
A hearty breakfast or scrumptious lunch - take your pick.
It was scorching; no exaggeration.
One of the first faces I recognised was that of Thomaz Chee of Inversion. Checkin' out the standard? =]
The heat drove crowds to the shade of the bus stand; some preferred to watch from the far side of One Utama's entrance.
But as ever, seeing dancers in action is worth the discomfort.
Especially when Famous Crew appeared to kick the competition up a notch.
Giller Battle warming up before their audition.
Air flare.
Same dancer here.
Sequence shot
No matter if it looks like he's taking a fall;
I guarntee you he wasn't and that it was a show of skill.
Turtle.
On-the-way-to-some-power-move.
With the likes of Dennis Yin, Lady 7 and Bobby from Battleground in the flesh,
it was hard not to feel the heat.
Now watch this.
360 flip!
Managed to catch a moment with our ex-HipHop instructor, Nikki.
Look how she tip-toes, ahah.
Don't be fooled, though.
This petite figure can pack a punch in her moves, as she proved in the auditions
- which, by the way, her crew had just joined for the experience of it since they were not able to commit to doing the whole show. Or maybe it was also for the great applause and judges' comments: "You are the crew we've been waiting for."
Either way, we won't be seeing them on the show. =/
The above was a recollection of Saturday's auditions.
This blogger had not anticipated being at the next evening's Battle, but things fell into place and paved the way for her!
So there I was again on Sunday, gratified at my windfall.
*Photo from Saturday; I did not wear the same outfit twice without washing!*
The stage reserved for Battle.
Constructed like a boxing ring, with blackboards on either side for crews to write their names on.
Two crews at a time were called out,
Each gave a teaser to one minute of the Showdown soundtrack (which is rather catchy, actually. Still stuck in my head).
Then both took to the stage to battle each other; knockout style.
Loser erases their name from the blackboard, but is not necessarilykicked out of the competition just yet.
First to go head to head were HMC Phlo and Floor Fever!
They share the same training ground and are no strangers to one another, thus increasing tension.
Floor Fever are old hands at the game; HMC Phlo weren't bad at all for a bunch of self-professed juniors!
Next up, the cheerleading-based crew, Freak Show. I was a little put off by the girlish posture the guys had, and certainly they did a lot of booty-shaking in addition to their cheerleading-influenced routines. But the lead guy showed impressive spirit that translated into his movements; that changed my mind about them being 'ghey'.
Their opponent? None other than the all-girl Soul Krazy.
This crew pulled out their secret weapon which they kept concealed on Sat; a breakdancing chick. Wowed the judges - and audience!
Then came Famous Crew who of course had fans screaming out loud,
versus H2O Crew who'd flown in from Kuching.
A pairing most ill when all others worked fine;
H2O were only boys on the playground - no match for the seasoned men of Famous.
It was, however, a good attempt by the East Malaysians.
Good grace too, upon being owned.
The following couple of names were unfamiliar because both were from East Malaysia.
Freezable vs. Borneo Soul Breakers. *Hawt name eh*
This battle was well-matched. Freezable impressed me with their very clean style, whereas BSB had some pretty good breakin' goin' on.
A pleasure to watch, notwithstanding the cigarette smoke that filled my nostrils (courtesy of the short fart standing in front of me) and the twinge of not sitting for a few hours, in plain slippers.
I forget which crew this really is. But heck, the one called Backyard Revolution obviously had a biased fanbase over there in OU. How else could they stir up more ruckus than Famous Crew and Floor Fever? Get real. You probably imported your moral support. =P
Anyway, Backyard Revolution was up against Funka Faction Junior, the sole shuffling crew in the Battle. This drew some flak (as any crew that doesn't break is bound to), and they looked just like they belonged in Park Shuffle with their perfectly identical colour-mosaic hoodies, floppy fringes, and exactly the same Nike's.
As before, their beginning bordered on mediocre and so did the rest of their routine, until they got to the shuffling itself - that they knew about.
Their opponents brought on the fight; I rather liked them though I don't remember exactly what was done.
The last two crews I caught were big names in the scene;
Wakaka and Giller Battle.
They brought out the ammo, man... Alam's crew (Wakaka) stuck to what they best did - b-boying, and Giller Battle struck back without flinching.
There was a moment for me... when I saw a dancer in blue from Giller Battle
doing the most beautiful air flares I've ever seen.
He went on and on, like a dustmote gliding across the stage. Beautiful.
And that was when I got dragged home most reluctantly.
Oh, did I mention Dennis Yin was mere feet away during Battle? In purple Barney shoes, lol.
