Hardcore Dance Company in Whangārei are taking two dance crews to Arizona for the World Hip-hop Championships. Photo / Nina Gastreich
Hardcore Dance Company in Whangārei are taking two dance crews to Arizona for the World Hip-hop Championships. Photo / Nina Gastreich
Twenty-seven dancers from Whangārei are in for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this coming week as they travel to Arizona for the World Hip Hop Dance Championships.
This will be the fourth time Northland’s Hardcore Dance have entered the competition and the first time overseas for many performers.
Hours ofdedication have paid off after they qualified for the prestigious event in April, giving them just three months to fundraise $140,000 – around $5000 per dancer.
The group, with members as young as 10, and the oldest, 28, will compete against adult groups with years of experience and skill.
Some of her dancers have gone on to perform with the likes of renowned choreographer Parris Goebel at events such as the Super Bowl.
“It just opens their eyes to the fact that anything is possible once you’ve set your mind to it.”
It serves as a stark reminder that making a career out of dance is also possible, she said.
“It’s pretty cool to see these young talented people can make a career out of it.”
The amount of dedication and time taken to get to a world-stage level is a lot for many of the dancers, many still in school.
Their “gruelling” training can be between seven to eight hours long, she said.
“It teaches them life skills, that if you work hard at something you reap the rewards.”
The crew has been training three times a week, two of those after school hours and on the weekend.
Long weekends have also been utilised to make the most of the time, particularly for the mega crew, whose intensive routine should be four minutes long.
“We’ve always done smaller teams and never done a mega crew. It’s quite hard to synchronise 27 dancers on one stage.”
