With the first day (May 17) comprising workshops and a panel discussion, Day 2 of Steez-O, an international dance workshop, focussed on an action-packed cypher that was all about bboying, breaking, popping and locking and more. Hosted at The Stadel, organisers Arun Biswakarma and Shalini Subedi’s vision came to life as they hosted a dance-off amongst members of the community
Photos: Soumyajit DeyBboy Bunny of Roc Fresh Crew, Mumbai bagged the winner’s prize for Breaking 1v1 and Footwork 7. “I came to Cal after so many years. I wasn’t going to come, but I came to learn from the international judges. Although I missed their workshop, I learnt just from watching them. Once I was there, I thought I’ll give the competition a go. So, I took part… because I felt like it at the moment,’ he said
Bgirl Anjali from Kolkata was the winner of Bgirl Last Woman Standing. ‘I practice almost every day, so I try to compete against my own moves to better myself. I was very happy to win, especially because the judges from Belgium were dope and they liked my style. They also gave me feedback about how I can improve,’ she said
Rawshan, from CKN crew, Kolkata, won under the Rep Your Style 7 to Smoke category. ‘The best part of the competition was this category as there were many young people who took part and represented themselves. It was a more competitive format and it was a battle of the young hip-hop heads,’ he said
Bboy Raja from CKN crew, Kolkata, took home the prize under the Uprock 1v1 category
Mekhola Bose and Monstah judged the Rep Your Style category
Bboy Robb and Morris judged the breaking category. ‘I really enjoyed today. A big thank you to the organisers and everybody who came down. It was good to see so many people come here and break. I think there are some working points, but the guys are going the right way,’ said Robb
The Uprock category was judged by Bboy Stic
The music of the event was by DJ and co-founder Arun Biswakarma, and emcees Ibrahim and Techfoot filled in the gaps. During the Footwork 7 to Smoke competition, a percussion band played a live set
Jenny got a lot of cheers for her freestyle whacking
City-based dancer Krishna Bhutoria was also in on the fun
‘Travelling is an important aspect of breaking, as is sharing and gaining knowledge about hip-hop as a culture and a lifestyle. Not everyone in Kolkata or India gets to travel internationally very often. Hence bringing international breakers to the city gives many Bgirls and Bboys a chance to learn about hip-hop as a culture through a different perspective,’ said Shalini Subedi, co-founder, Steez-O