B.C. hip-hop champs defend title

Ligamusic.com: - Reigning world Hip-Hop champions from Metro Vancouver are heading to Las Vegas this week to defend their title against top young dancers from around the world.

Freshh, along with other dance crews from Richmond's Fresh Groove Productions, will be in Nevada to compete in the 2008 World International Hip Hop Championship from July 30 to Aug. 3.

Organized by Hip Hop International, the event is expected to attract about 1,500 dancers from 30 countries. The preliminaries at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort are followed by the finals at the Planet Hollywood Theater.



In the past two years, interest in hip-hop dancing has exploded -- due to the popularity of television dance shows such as America's Best Dance Crew on MTV.

Dinah Emnacen, Fresh Groove's marketing manager, said she expects the competition to be even fiercer this year. More dancers meant shifting the event from Redondo Beach, Calif., to a larger venue in Las Vegas.

"The interest has just grown with the influence of all the dance crews competing on TV," she said.

"The bar has been raised. They have really stepped it up. We'll be seeing a lot more incredible dancers in this competition."

Last year, Freshh finished first in the Junior Division, ages nine to 13, beating out 17 other crews.

The age divisions have been changed this year. Freshh will be competing in the youngest category of age seven years to 12. Other Fresh Groove crews are XSS Xtreme Soul Style and Illist Vibe crews in the varsity category 12 to 18 and XSS Xtreme Soul Style in the adult category, 18 and older.

All crews or teams perform a two-minute routine. They're judged according to criteria that include choreography, the variety of hip-hop styles performed, musicality, coordination and showmanship.

Event organizers say that there is no agreed-upon definition of hip-hop dance. Instead, it is described as a fusion of street dance and cultural interpretations from around the world that can include salsa and capoeira. There are numerous hip-hop movements such as locking, popping, breaking, vogueing and punking. Michael Jackson's famous moonwalk, for example, was a kind of popping called the backslide.