R-16 Korea : Top B-boy Crews from Seven Countries in SEA Competed

On June 11th, the region’s best b-boy dancers battled it out at the R16 Southeast Asia Finals 2011 in a spectacular 2-hour showdown of dance and acrobatics at the Pavillion Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur.

Formosa crew from Taiwan won the tickets for 2011 R16 World B-Boy Masters Championship – one of the world’s top-5 most prestigious b-boy competitions. The championships will be held in Seoul, Korea on 2 – 3 July.

The finals featured a total of eight teams from Malaysia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, who blew the crowd away with their unique choreography and stunning athleticism. The host Malaysia was represented by two teams, last year’s Malaysian winner Giller Battle Crew and Famous Crew, who edged out 13 other top local crews to make it to the regional finals.

The event was hosted by MC Jazzy Ivy from Korea and the judges are Physicx (Korea), Dyzee (Canada) and Lil G (Venezuela).

Beginning with a performance battle, the eight b-boy teams then pitted their skills against each other in two elimination rounds before the final two crews faced off to determine the regional champion who will go on to compete in the global level competition.

There also a K-Pop showcase by Ruffneckz and Progression dance to popular K-Pop songs.

The R16 Southeast Asia Finals was organised by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and presented by LG Electronics Malaysia (LG) in conjunction with Visit Korea Year 2010-2012. This is the second consecutive year that KTO and LG have brought the regional finals to Malaysia.

“The ‘R’ in the R-16 stands from ‘respect’, the main theme of the event in which participants share a common goal: creating unity worldwide through mutual respect despite of different nationality, language, or race. Therefore, I simply want to share the philosophy of respect with this event and contribute to the cultural exchanges between Korea and Asian countries, which are vital in cementing friendly relationships in the region” said Yun, Jae Jin, Managing Director of KTO KL. 

R16 World B-boy Masters Championship is an annual international b-boy tournament and urban arts cultural festival. Organised by KTO and supported by the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, R16 intends to enhance the quality of dance and promote urban cultural exchange between youths in the Asian region.

The main event showcases sixteen b-boy crews representing fifteen countries competing in a two day tournament for world championship titles in two categories; best crew performance and best crew battle.

The festival also features graffiti artistes, street wear designers, musical performers and dancers who specialise in hip-hop, popping, locking and other urban arts subcultures from South Korea and other countries. Since its introduction in 2007, the global competition has attracted participation from more than 300 artists, musicians and dancers.

Special thanks to Korea Tourism Organization for inviting Soompi to cover the showcase.