Freestyler from Duljo-Fatima wins Cebu leg of Red Bull Dance Your Style Phl ‘25

CEBU, Philippines — The first thing that Mark Joseph Trazona, a.k.a. Playmaker, planned to do after being declared the Cebu qualifier champion at this year’s Red Bull Dance Your Style Philippines was to eat a hearty dinner.

Many in the audience, who voted through their red and blue cards in his favor, may be surprised that he was able to deliver his high-energy, crowd-pleasing, improvised dance moves on an empty stomach.

“My dance crew and I had this thing that we don’t eat before joining battle competitions like this so that we can unleash everything out of our system,” he explained to The FREEMAN. “It’s different if we give out a performance with a full stomach.”

The Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City resident, stressed that this approach doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s one of the traditions he and his dance crew, Underground Streets, have practiced for years.

Playmaker, 30, started at the age of 15 and became a battle dancer by the time he was 19. While his father isn’t a dancer himself, he cites him as his biggest fan. “He supports my passion more than anyone else. He’s my main supporter,” he said.

He and his crewmates usually practice and occasionally perform at his barangay’s basketball court. Back then, the response from the community wasn’t as supportive as it is now.

“It was hard to find a place to dance without making some neighbors angry. But now, the community is so supportive to the point that every sitio and barangay observed so they can absorb the passion of dancing — both dance crews and individual dancers,” he recalled.

Anyone can join his dance crew, regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation. “If you feel like freestyle is something you want to do, push for it. We have weekly trainings and we are open to experienced dancers and rookies alike,” he said.

While Playmaker was declared the champion, he won’t be the sole Cebu representative at the national competition taking place next Saturday, May 24, at Ayala Center Cebu.

Completing the top four from the Cebu qualifiers are Baby Titan (Shihan Maui Ricablanca) and Popping Gee (Gerald Salomon) of Cebu City, and JPY (Jeffrey Casas Toledo) of Danao City. Both Baby Titan and JPY were previously part of the top four from Cebu in last year’s competition.

When Playmaker and JPY faced off in the final round, the latter experienced a foot injury. He had cramps and was temporarily unable to move one of his legs, prompting a five-minute break so he could recover. JPY eventually returned to finish the battle before Playmaker was declared the winner by the crowd.

When The FREEMAN attempted to ask JPY for an interview after the show, he was already inside the ambulance receiving medical assistance.

Playmaker recalled his own injury at a dance competition a few years ago. “It’s that type of pain where you already notice something is wrong, but you had to suppress it because you need to finish the performance as a group. That’s how painful it was,” he recalled.

“Some others don’t usually notice it because of the adrenaline rush. But on my end, I knew something went wrong, but I had to push through,” he added, advising dancers to include exercise and stretching activities for body conditioning.

This isn’t the first time Playmaker has joined a national competition, as he participated three years ago in a different category as a krump dancer.

While he admitted he was nervous to be the qualifier champion, he was happy that his fellow top four finalists all hail from the same home turf.

Now in its fourth year in the country, the organizers of Red Bull Dance Your Style Philippines aim to make the event inclusive of all regions of the country.

Explaining why they chose Cebu City as the location of this year’s national finals, the contest’s coordinator, Lema Diaz, said, “It’s a vibrant city and this is where some of the best dancers in Visayas live. The dance scene here is really progressive, so we want to be able to have the finals in every spot in the country whenever we can, and so we can get to see more dancers who are not from Metro Manila.”

With two delegates from the Manila qualifiers, another two from the Davao qualifiers, and eight wildcard delegates joining the four Cebu qualifiers, Diaz reminded the dancers to think on their feet while gaining momentum from the cheering crowd.

“You need to have the technique and the skills to perform, while also having fun and showcasing yourself while entertaining the crowd. After all, they are the ones voting for whoever goes into the next round,” she said.

“They need to have the total package — both as a performer and as an athlete who can think fast and do anything that can wow the crowd, because it’s a dialogue exchange between two dancers,” she added.

The winner of this year’s nationals in Cebu City will represent the Philippines at the Red Bull Dance Your Style global finals on October 11 in Los Angeles, California. Last year, Klockwise of Valenzuela City represented the country at the tilt in India.