URBAN DANCE CREW WINS S.B.D.C 2023
Urban Dance Crew
Photo By: Urban Dance Crew/ Shah Betham
With just one female dancer and 9 other crew brothers , the Urban Dance Crew from Vaimoso were announced as the winners for this year's dance competition, leaving Gym 1 at Tuanaimato with a cheque of WST$6000.00.
In a head to head battle over the weekend with 5 other Dance Crews , all teams united with the same ambition to win this year's title of Samoa's Best Dance Crew. Urban Dance Crew managed to steal the hearts of the crowd and judges with a staggering performance on Saturday night.
Roxanna Higgison one of the judges from Cambridge Massachusetts stated that the Samoan Youth have the potential to make it to the big stages they just need to believe they can. She also performed for the audience on stage to Nicki Minaj's "Coco Chanel" song.
"Us islanders have a lot of energy and there's potential there. We've just got to find those fresh transitions to link certain dance moves and be better," she advice advised the competitors on Saturday.
Urban Dance Crew topped the overall score count with 73.5 points , while AA1 Dance crew and Lost Boys placed second and third. Other teams apart from Urban Dance Crew were rewarded with $1000 cash prizes.
Speaking on behalf of the team, the President of Urban Dance Crew Shah Betham, told Eye Spy on Saturday that a door of new opportunities has now opened up for these aspiring performers.
"This event was not about winning, it's about sharing the talent and love of dancing for the youth of Samoa" he said.
"To all the crews that competed this year, it's not the end , never give up," he added.
The crew underwent a few weeks of intense rehearsals three days a week while juggling family, church and living their normal day to day lives. According to President Shah Betham this was a huge challenge that needed to fit with everyone's schedules. "But it worked out," he said in an exclusive interview.
"One of the biggest challenges we came across was trying to muse the energy movements of our young and old performers" he added.
The crew is made up of ten dancers of whom majority are related, including the only female dancer Tumau Betham, who is only twelve years of age. Majority of the Urban Dance Crew members hail from the village of Vaimoso.
Some of the crews that signed up for this year's battle include FDC Extreme, Lost Boys Crew, New Generation, Stuna Boys and of course Urban Dance Crew.
Speaking with 2019 S.B.D.C Champs , Army of Kin (A.O.K) dance choreographer Numia Inu Viliamu on Sunday this week. He stated that despite COVID19 wasting the past 3 years, there is still space for growth and improvement for aspiring dancers.
"If Covid didn't waste the 3 years we would've been beaten already by 2020 or 2021 considering the momentum of hiphop it had then," he told Eye Spy on Sunday this week.
The Samoa's Best Dance Crew (S.B.D.C) is a dance competition that was established by television station TV1 Samoa a decade ago, originally called Samoan Hip Hop back in the days. Due to the measles epidemic and the pandemic the contest was cessated for 2 long years, from 2019 up until now.
One of the many reasons for the show's creation was TV1 Samoa's vision to bring the youth of Samoa together to share and showcase their talents & passion for dancing and stage performances.