Out of almost 200 dance crews who auditioned at qualifiers, the country’s eight best dance crews descended on Soweto with one thing on their minds: Red Bull Beat Battle glory. A clash of street dance styles from pantsula to hip hop, breaking and isbhujwa saw one crew claim victory above the rest – hip hop crew Freeze Frame. The Kempton Park based crew went up defending champions The Prophelaz in the final and came out on top. Team leader, Brendon Grobler was ecstatic: “This is something we’ve wanted for a very, very long time! We knew just needed to practice hard and put the time in. Tonight was completely overwhelming – it was so great to have so much love and support the crowd. We went in as hard as we could from the beginning and it paid off.”
The prestigious panel of judges, comprised of some of South Africa’s most formidable dance talents, had their work cut out for them. Somizi Mhlongo, Lorna Maseko, Vouks Nojokes and Tumi Tladi were however not the only judges on the eve; the audience played ‘fifth judge’ and had a say in who took home the title. Somizi was incredibly emotional after the event.
“I’m so incredibly inspired by what I saw on that stage tonight – so much talent and so much passion. Every single crew brought their ‘A’ game tonight. They’ve reminded me that I’m so lucky to do this as a profession. I’m going to wake up a different person tomorrow having experienced tonight!“
Not only did the audience have the dance talent to look forward to on the evening but they were also treated to performances by Red Bull Music Academy alumnus Trancemicsoul, ‘Doc Shebeleza’ Cassper Nyovest, Siya Shezi, Kwaito legends Trompies and DJ Shimza. Thapelo Mokoena held it down as the evening’s MC and the ever-fresh DJ Switch returned as DJ.
