Few nights ago I watched a documentary film about Battle of The Year 2005 (BOTY). It is an international competition of breakdance for the B-Boy. B-Boy comes from the terminology of Beat Boy because they dance to specific records, which tends to hiphop.
The participants came from all over the world, around 18 countries from all continents. And the final ended up in Germany.
Well, I am not a good observer of breakdance. I even can not dance such amazing. But I do love breakdance since I were just a little kid. I just love to see people dancing whether it’s breakdance, ballet, or combination of breakdance and ballet itself.
And here, by this post, I just wanna give my opinion about the participants and their moves. If there’re things you don’t like on this post, maybe about race or my dislikes of certain groups, no offense please.
I’ll just talk about few groups which come from Japan, Korea, US, and France. The film didn’t give more information about the other groups, maybe because those four countries were on the top among the B-Boy.
Most of the B-Boy not comes from the highest structure in society. Most of these young people come from the dark side of the town. Some of them work really hard for living. While some others have to convince their family about the choice they take, the unusual choice. They have to balance their lives between dance and family. And that’s not easy for people like them.
After the judges picked up the finalists from each country, they sent them to a little town in Germany, Braunschweig. The town council provided a high school for the 19 groups to stay for a week. Each group got one classroom and they slept on mattress. They ate in school cafeteria and practiced in the school gym.
It was so funny to see the Asian people when they were in the cafeteria. They didn’t like the western foods and kept complaining. Some of them gave weird and funny expressions while eating. They pick up their spoon and say, “What kind of food is this???” Haha.
The Korean people even brought kimchi (korean traditional food) and their own rice cookers! They cooked and ate in their “bedroom”! lol!!!
There was also tension in the gym when they all gathered for practice. I don’t like some crews who just show off their moves and act like shit. Have I ever mentioned that I hate such showoffs???
The documentary also clearly shows the difference between the Asian people and the others. The crews from Japan and Korea were just so friendly and nice. They tried to think positive for relaxed. While the other crews who came from US and other sides of Europe, oh man… they were obviously too ambitious, individualistic, and over confidence. I even heard some of them saying some rude words towards the asian. I say this not because I am an asian. This merely comes from what I see in the documentary, from the conversation, the interview, and the way they acted.
Basically, the US and French team were so energetic. You can see it through their moves. They made lots moves in second!
But Korean and Japanese were way much better. They know how to make drama in their choreography and connect it to the music. They have anti climax and climax. Thereby you can see how sweet their choreographies were. The point is: they are creative!
The big day, on the stage, it was all amazing! I love the stage and its lighting! OMG!!! It was totally crowded! Around 8500 people all gathered in Volkswagen Halle. All young people came from all over the world to watch the biggest event of B-Boy!
Gamblerz from Korea were in the early performance. Have I mentioned that Gamblerz was the first winner in the previous BOTY? Yes, they were! And they still performed really good in BOTY 2005. Their moves looked sweet and “neat”. But it was all out of my expectation, which means not as good as I imagined before. Not wild.
The next is Phase-T from France. There were seven adults and one kiddy. Yes, a kid! And all the adults were all black, almost! Only the kid who’s white. That’s out of my mind to think that black people do represent France. I love black people. And I am happy to see that they make a breakthrough in there.
I admit Phase-T was magnificent! They made all those difficult moves! I even couldn’t close my mouth when I saw them on stage. It’s all dreadfully energetic and they seem to have wide knowledge in music! I love their music.
But their moves obviously show how ambitious they were, to win the competition. And that’s not good to see. It’s like we dance not for pleasure but merely for the sake of victory.
Let’s move on. Last For One from Korea! This is my favorite one. Hehe.
In the beginning, they already cool! They work in team and they show that. Their moves weren’t too difficult but they wrapped it nicely with drama. And the music, yes I do like their record. I also could feel the brotherhood among them. They really dance for the sake of pleasure which comes from the heart. Moreover, they’re humble. That’s why I like them. And oh ya, have I told you that they’re funny too??? lol!!!
Knuckle Head Zoo. That’s the group of US.
Well. From the beginning, they already killed my “appetite”. They looked so arrogant and over ambitious. But I wonder why their moves not that ambitious? Their scenario looked flat and superficial while their moves were unique. And I feel so sorry to hear their record. I don’t like their music. It’s all plain.
And the last is… Ichigeki!!! This is from Japan. And I love them so much much much!
They were great and nice! I love their scenario, their drama, their music, and sure their choreography. They wrapped it all nicely. It’s all just so sweet and amazing. They have passion, and you can see it through their moves. And that’s all what every performer needs ain’t it?
As can be guessed easily, Gamblerz, Phase-T, Last For One, and Ichigeki went to final. Gamblerz went to a duel to face Phase-T (balanced enough) and Last For One gotta face Ichigeki.
Well well well. That was quite hard to make “war” through dancing. But that was fun!
I can’t explain it here because I just can’t explain through words. It was all amazing!
In the end.. the winners…
1st - Last for One (Korea)
2nd - Ichigeki (Japan)
3rd - Gambler (Korea)
4th - Phase T (France)
Best Show: Ichigeki (Japan)
They really deserve it.
The situation between before and after competition was really different. One week before, they all looked so tensed. But the day after final, oh my gosh…. You can see that boys will always be boys! They went crazy! They came to visit each other and dancing in their “bedrooms” like crazy. Drink all night and made lotsss pictures every second! lol!!!
I wish I could watch this kind of competition in real. This is just so amazing to see people dancing with such amazing choreography.
Maybe I was born with the word “art” on my forehead. Because every single thing I love in life is always about art. For example: music, photography, painting, the art of writing (lol!!), the art of architecture, dance, the beauty of scenery, and bla bla bla.
And now I am still learning the art of love. Hahahaha!
