Streetdance battle kicks off 6th year in explosive fashion
MANILA, Philippines - Groundbreaking moves. Heart-stopping grooves. The biggest, hottest and toughest streetdance competition in Philippine history kicked off again on its sixth year yesterday at the Mall of Asia. The competition saw the country’s best student dance groups flock to celebrate the much-awaited opening event. The Skechers Streetdance Battle will once again dare the most talented dance crews from hundreds of high schools and colleges nationwide to vie for ultimate dance supremacy.
This year’s theme, Battle Your Way to Dance History, serves as a reminder to each participating crew of the high stakes in the competition, the biggest of its kind in the country, and probably in Asia.
The SM Mall of Asia Music Hall was the perfect venue to kick off the competition, as amazing dance moves were put on full display in front of a monstrous crowd.
Glorious history
Since its first break in 2005, Skechers has managed to set the benchmark of street dance brilliance. Pioneering a competitive street dance culture in the nation, the annual Skechers Streetdance Battle has also become the most successful franchise among inter-school dance competitions.
About 48 teams joined the competition during its first year. It has since grown to almost 100 schools joining every year. Araneta Coliseum has become the home of the grandest dance stage in the country, with more than 10,000 screaming fans cheering and supporting their teams. Over the past years, many celebrities (most of whom are renowned dancers) have graced and hosted the event, including Gab Valenciano, Billy Crawford, The Maneuvers, World HipHop champions the Philippine All-Stars, among others.
In Skechers Streetdance Battle history, the group that has the most number of wins is UP Street (from UP Diliman), which bagged four out of the five championships so far. (The group didn’t join in 2008). For the high school category, Miriam College High School’s Sayawatha holds the most victories, having won the crown twice (2005 and 2008). Among the other winners are: La Salle’s LSDC in the college category (2008); and Xavier’s Dance X (2006) and St. Marks Institute’s Campus Image (2007) in the high school division.
The year 2009 was a breakout year, as Skechers Streetdance Battle’s winners all got signed by GMA 7’s Sunday noontime show Party Pilipinas.
Indeed, the annual contest serves as the breeding ground for the freshest and most talented dance crews in the country. It pushes them to be more confident and to keep improving, and be at par with the best in the world. The competition provides the perfect avenue for them to take their skills, creativity and energies to the highest level and strut their way to perfection.
This year, the competition gets even tougher, as more schools are expected to participate for the chance at making dance history. Eliminations started at the Mall of Asia yesterday and will continue at the SM Megamall on Sept. 25, 26, Oct 2, 3, and 9. The final curtain shall be drawn during the Final Battle on Nov. 20 at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Skechers Streetdance Battle champions shall receive P100,000 in cash. More importantly, they will earn bragging rights as the country’s best dance crew. So prepare to huff, puff and sweat for the most exciting dance battle!
(This event is brought by Skechers Shape-ups, Skechers Resistance Runner, Skechers Time, in cooperation with ETC, media partners Meg Magazine, Clavel, Magic 89.9, Jam 88.3 and Wave 89.1. Official event venues SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia and Araneta Coliseum. Conceptualized and organized by Brainbox. For more details, visit www.skechers.com.ph)
