Crew has world at its feet

G Funk are (left to right) Olivea Brown, Manaia Judd, Tai Hemana, Emily Wiese, Jaida Ormsby and Karaitiana Pene with Orinn Fairlie at the front. Photo/supplied

Euphoria greeted the announcement that G Funk would represent New Zealand at a world hip hop competition.

The Tauranga crew, from Rise Dance Company, won the honour after finishing second out of 16 in the cadet (7 to 13 years) section in the National Hip Hop Unite Competition in Lower Hutt late last month.

More importantly, they accumulated enough points to qualify for the world event.

"The points are set throughout the world and if you achieve a certain number of points then [judges] know you are going to be ready to compete at that [international] level," says Rise Dance Company owner Carla Beazley.

Carla says it was a bit of a risk to send them to Lower Hutt.

"But they have had such a good year. To go to Wellington for the competition was quite a
big deal with the costs involved and finding parents who were able to take a day off work and the competition fees," she says.

"We took a bit of a risk in going, but it was their last competition of the year. "We were also very aware that they would be in direct competition with other centres."

In the bigger centres there is the opportunity to have more workshops and more intense
training sessions with the country's best coaches.

"A big part of it, though, is that our kids enjoy each other's company so much. We know Auckland and Wellington drill them so hard [they] almost lose their passion for dancing -
[but] our kids love each other's company."

The crew now has a hectic few months of fundraising before the world event in December.

"They will need to do a whole lot more practice and change some of the choreography from some of the judges' feedback," says Carla.

"They will need new costumes, too, because when we bought them at the start of the year, we didn't think they would be wearing them on the international stage.

"They will also have to do more fitness because, although it's only two minutes, they have to be fit to do it justice."

The crew has been under the guidance of choreographer Molly Taylor, who previously danced with Parris Goebel.