Northland’s Hardcore Dance group off to World Hip-hop Championships in Arizona

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 of dedication 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.

The group is split in two, Prezzy and HDC Mega. Prezzy will compete in the junior category and HDC Mega will compete in the MegaCrew division.

For company director Annalise Wood, the opportunity is all about getting Northland on the map and showing her team the possibilities.

Despite the hard work involved, she sees the reward that comes with the sport.

“Especially for little old Whangārei, we’re showing 27 kids that this is possible – it’s a really cool feeling.”

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.”

Hardcore Dance Company in Whangārei are off to put Northland on the world map. Photo / Nina Gastreich

While training is a big part of Hardcore Dance, Wood said equally stressful has been the prospect of fundraising $140,000 in just three months.

They’ve done market days, hāngī, sausage sizzles, T-shirts and performances for koha all in a bid to make it to the United States.

“It’s been time-consuming and quite exhausting, but everyone has pulled together and I’m really proud of our dance whānau.

“We’ve managed to make it happen.”

Around 50 will be departing domestic shores on Saturday where they will arrive in Los Angeles and drive to Phoenix, Arizona for the event.

The junior team will be competing on Monday, August 5, and the “mega” crew will be dancing on Wednesday, August 7.

Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.