By Lisa Flueckiger, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Get ready for some serious popping, locking and breaking as Rock in Rio 2013 will not only be about musicians performing, but also feature a new attraction: a “Street Dance” stage. The space will be entirely dedicated to dancing, and include a dance-off battle for US$20,000 and performances of Rock in Rio’s own dance crew.
Across time and genres, a fundamental element of music is dance, and the moving of bodies to the rhythm. Therefore, Rock in Rio Street Dance was introduced in last year’s Rock in Rio festivals in Lisbon and Madrid, and now has been included into its Brazil edition as well.
“After the successful editions in Lisbon and Madrid in 2012, we brought the Street Dance contest to Brazil. And Rio de Janeiro will receive not only the national competition, but also the international final with the winners of Portugal and Spain,” Roberta Medina, vice president of Rock in Rio, explained in a press release.
The Rock in Rio 2013’s street dance competition started with the submission of online dance videos to a special Rock in Rio song and is now in its final voting stages, as the public can choose those dance videos they like best until August 20th. After that the fifty most popular videos will be judged by a jury, made up of Ms Roberta Medina and dance experts Miguel Colker and Bruno Bastos.
The chosen five Rio semifinalists will then perform and compete on Rock in Rio’s dance stage on the first five days of the festival. On September 21st, the best two competitors will then show their skills in a dance battle on stage, which will be judged on the spot by the jury.
On Rock in Rio’s final day, September 22nd, the winner of the Rio competition will then dance off against the winner of last year’s festival in Madrid and Lisbon and compete for the US$20,000 price.
On the same dance-only stage, visitors can watch Rock in Rio’s own street dance crew perform and battle their skills on every day of the festival. The crew is made up of nine dancers, each with an expertise that range from locking and waking, to break dance and house dance.
The crew and the dance performances are coordinated by Miguel Colker and Bruno Bastos from Rio Hip Hop Kemp. Colker revealed in a press release, that “During the presentations, the audience can watch various forms of urban dances such as hip hop; locking, the funky dance style associated with hip hop; breaking and tricks with its B.Boys and B. Girls [doing] somersaults” and many more.
To get everyone into dancing mode, the Rock in Rio crew has also posted dance teach videos on You Tube, where one can learn the moves, such as the wave or how to moonwalk.