Siblings hip hop their way to overseas dance floor

Rezpect dancers participated in World Supremacy Hip Hop Battlegrounds in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Supplied

Ko Whakapaina te maunga.

Ko Iwitea te marae.

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu te iwi.

Ko Poutawa te whanau.

Siblings Maia and Joseph Bassett received funding to participate in the World Supremacy Hip Hop Battlegrounds in Sydney, Australia, which was held toward the end of last year.

Both Maia and Joseph are members of the Rezpect Dance Academy and have been loyal Rezpect dancers for many years.

Maia started ballet lessons when she was 4 and went into hip-hop dancing when she was 8 and has been going at it for the past 10 years. Joe started when he was 8 and has continued to love dancing.

Dancing has become a way of life for both Maia and Joe. The experiences they have had both locally and overseas have helped them to grow in the dance industry and build confidence in themselves, their team and also build opportunities to experience traveling, shopping and other cool things.

“This particular overseas trip was an amazing opportunity for both of us,” Maia, 18, said.

“For many of our dance members, this was their first time going to Australia and for others it was their first time on a plane, so within our team there were a lot of nervous but excited people.”

Their daily routine leading up to the competition involved an early morning training for the different dance groups, some practising their individual, duo or team moves.

The place where they stayed provided the best undercover patio which meant they could train in any weather conditions and not get wet or too hot. These were crucial trainings because, even though they were somewhat short ie. just under two hours long, they kept the team focused on their dance routines.

Maia and her brother did a lot of shopping and visited malls, a theme park, the Sydney Opera house, the Sydney Zoo and lots of other interesting places. At times, while out and about, the crews would randomly do their dance routines like a flash mob. This wasn’t to attract crowds but to capture cool video footage for later viewing.

On the night before the competition, the Battlegrounds hosts held their opening night social for all of the dance groups to come together to get to know each other and eliminate any nerves.

The World Supremacy Battlegrounds dance competition day was a great experience. Joseph performed in his Young Gunz Solo and Crew, while Maia performed in her Cell division Solo and Adults Crew. It was a tough competition and although they didn’t place in the top 3, they knew that they were up against tough competition that would be hard to beat. They didn’t give up or give in to their feelings and they were happy with the results because they gave it their best.

“My duo was awarded a Diamond Award for the Most Outstanding Dance,” Maia said. “I’m really pleased about that”.

Maia is now a tutor at the Rezpect Academy and has been taking crews for many years while dancing herself. She is concentrating on heading to the USA this year to grow her dance skills and knowledge.

Joe has been an assistant tutor in the past and will lead a crew this year. Joe is a Year 10 student at Karamu High School and has plans to dance in 3 crews and tutor a team this year. It’s a pretty tough gig for a teenager but he’s determined. Well done Maia and Joe, keep up the great work.