Vibe Dance Studio and VWear presented "Strut 'Em Again: Interschool Streetdance Competition" last Jan.9, 2009 at the Amoranto Theater. This being the first ever dance battle of 2010, it was an event much looked forward to by followers of hip-hop all over the metro, receiving ample promotion among dance circles during the last weeks of the previous year.
The event brought notable names of the local hip-hop scene hanging-out casually with a crowd of b-boys and campus dance crews. The Dance Pinoy team was able to catch up particularly with the Philippine All Stars, Christian Sekhanan and his EcSentric dance crew, guest judge 3ki Rick from Finland, and breakdance master Jay Mastah, the latter taking hosting (and national anthem-singing) responsibilities for the night together with b-girl and freestyler Fatima Palma.
"Strut 'Em Again" was conceived to be an interschool streetdance competition to feature afterwards one-on-one showdowns on b-boying, locking and popping. What happened instead was the other way around. The one-on-one battles totally stole the scene and became the highlight of the night, stretching for more than a good couple of hours, pre-empting the streetdance competition main event which suffered from a limited number of participating schools.
True to his name, Prince Paltu-ob of GrooveJackz was the hip-hop royalty of the night, reigning supreme in both the locking and popping battles with his outrageous, out-of-nowhere combinations. The b-boy category had the b-boys outwork each other amidst an approving crowd but in the end, it was B-Boy Tolo who took the honors for the one-on-one category and Style Banditz for the crew category. Finally, the La Salle Dance Company - Street was declared the winner for the interschool streetdance competition. Guest judges for the night were 3ki Rick from Finland, Profowon from the US and Moss from Thailand.
Though the much-anticipated dance event didn't turn out with as much competing participants and attendance as originally expected, it was nevertheless a worthwhile experience. Bring in the music and throw in an assembly of eager, talented Pinoy dancers and we always get a spontaneous, self-sufficient event. Suffice it is to say that everything ended up like a very lively house party, and despite the fact that the "house" actually outsized the party, in the end, "Strut 'Em Again" still managed to "freestyle" itself into a smashing kick-off dance party to usher in another year of dance battles.
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