It was a weekend of non-stop dancing and releasing your inner beast at the Hip Hop International South Africa (HHI SA) Championships on May 18 at Lewende Woord in Centurion.
HHI SA is an opportunity for top dancers to showcase their skills and for creative hip-hop street dance crews from each of South Africa’s nine provinces to battle it out to determine who will be selected to represent SA at the World Hip Hop Championships in the USA.
The Roodepoort Northsider visited the Mario Gomes Hip Hop Dance Academy (MGHHDA), to speak to the director, Mario Gomes, about their recent win at HHI SA.
He mentions that the majority of the dancers are from the Northside and they take their practice hours very seriously with the mindset of wanting to not only win but also represent their country internationally.
“When we prepared for this competition, we let the crews dance for one another before performing for an audience. This builds more confidence for the dancers because the more they dance for one another and hype one another, the more confident they become to face the audience,” he adds.
Empire Crew amazed their audience with their dynamic energy and unique creative street dance style, leaving the crowd in awe. They took the gold medal home, making them qualify for the world championships.
All 14 crews of MGHHDA placed first out of 16, bringing them one step closer to reaching their dreams of dancing internationally.
“There is more work that still needs to be done with preparations for the world champs. I am very proud of the crew, their hard work and dedication paid off,” Mario said.