Local hip hop team 7th at world champs in Portugal

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A group of local dancers came seventh in the world at the Hip Hop Unite World Championships in Obidos, Portugal, and the group is now also seventh on the world rankings for hip hop.

The championships were held from 27 to 29 October.

The 16 dancers, who are from Mossel Bay and George, are part of Dynamic Dance Academy, based in Mossel Bay.

There were 72 dancers in the South African team for the championships.

Dynamic Dance Academy owner Lee Miller said his team of 16 competed in the Mega Crew section of the competition.

Miller noted: "We were the only South African crew to dance in the finals."

Mega Crew means there can be from 11 to 30 dancers on stage at one time.

'Most difficult'

"This division is the most difficult," Miller says. "Our dancers were from 12 years old, upwards.

"We also danced in the junior category in the small groups division, where our dancers were aged 12 to 18. We had 16 dancers in the Mega Crew, but out of those we had one small group (eight dancers) and two duos."

At the championships, Dynamic Dance Academy placed eighth, but Miller was told later that one of the Mega Crew teams was disqualified, so Dynamic Dance Academy moved to seventh place.

Miller said: "There are preliminary rounds in which you qualify for the top 20. The top 20 go through to the semi-finals and then the top 10 are chosen.

Miller said the dancing academy did fundraising itself to raise money for the flights to Portugal. "We hosted events, such as cake sales. We had to work hard. Parents also contributed."