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Get It On The Floor Dance Showcase 2009

Hackney Empire, 23 August

Words: Nicky Short

Photos: With thanks to Supachunk Media MySpace / Facebook

London’s dancers turned out in droves on Sunday evening to Get it on the Floor at Hackney Empire. Presented by Ice Gems and supported by Hackney Council, it’s an event to give local and community-based dancers the opportunity to perform and compete at an upscale venue alongside established and professional companies.

Unity ar Get It On The Floor Dance Showcase

Above: Unity were PAs for the Get It On The Floor showcase

With Kymberlee Jay hosting and showcases from Unity, Wet Wipez and UK champions Peridot, there was no shortage of big names from the dance scene.

The judging panel was comprised of Flowzaic’s Rowdy and Sun Sun, Ricardo of Wet Wipez and Tashan Muir, the man behind Unity; unfortunately with a packed show at nearly four hours in length there was little time for a judges’ introduction, let alone a showcase.

The rules of the competition simply limited performances to four minutes in length, which prohibited participants from competing in more than one crew and separated the community groups from the more established companies. It wasn’t always clear which category the acts were competing in as the running order did a fair amount of jumping around and included music PAs from Tiny Man, X Factor hopeful Duane and LA based rapper Slick Mouth. A programme of some kind may have gone some way to clear up any lack of clarity and would have been a welcome way of introducing some of the newer companies and acts, in particular the thought-provoking and powerful spoken word artist, Reality and a controversial comedian.

Kloe Dean and Myself Dance Company at Get It On The Floor Dance Showcase

Above: Myself Dance Company. Kloe Dean (centre) also won the solo over-18 freestyle competition.

As for the dancing itself, some traditions – rapid arm movements, running into formations and glass-breaking sound effects – never die, and now seemingly a disproportionate use of Lil Wayne and T-Pain tunes is big news. However, there were some positive recurring themes: many crews showed off a diverse range of skills. In particular Emotionz and Rebellion included waaking, krumping and house alongside locking, popping and breaking. The ladies represented for Myself and Stylinquents demonstrating the impact and effect of raw passion and creative choreography coupled with good old fashioned technique and skills versus clever tricks and gimmicks. Both delegations from the Unity camp brought attitude, funk and flavour.

With the success of Into the Hoods and Pied Piper (check out our review) still fresh, some crews were showing signs of moving towards at least thematic if not full blown theatrical pieces – most notably Esteem who, dressed in pink pyjamas blew the competition away with their dreamy piece. Innovate were smooth as super-slick butlers complete with trays and Trilogy Entertainment caught everyone off guard by rounding off their otherwise straightforward set with a heartfelt and surprisingly heart-wrenching duet.

The standard in the solo freestyle competition was varied and the girls dominated. The under 18s final saw Tolu steal it from Tonga Boy with her raw passion and confidence. In the over 18s, Talent lost out to Kloe’s easy musicality and funky style.

Innovate at Get It On The Floor Dance Showcase

Above: Innovate lived up to their name with their use of props and butler costumes.

Following last year’s success, the second Get It On The Floor found itself on the calendar alongside many similar events, competitions and showcases giving dancers a platform and opportunity to compete or perform. Will watching and learning from each other continue to encourage growth and creativity amongst dancers?