Participants from Russia to Singapore took to the dance floor last night for curated dance competitions, showcases, and exhibitions at Badvibes, Vol. 2.
Badvibes pitted competitors in a whirlwind of dance, disses, and dramatic moments , surrounded by a rowdy crowd of dance fans at Host BKK off Rama IV Road.
Competitions were divided into two-on-two freestyle hip-hop, pitting teams of dancers against one another in a friendly, confrontational bid to play up to the panel of judges and a raucous crowd on the dancefloor and in the stands.
Hip-hop one-on-one, which started with hundreds of entrants, was slowly whittled down to two.
“For freelance we have like 60 teams mostly based from different countries like Vietnamese, Malaysia, India,” says Kevin Bondoerffer—the French-Thai organizer of the event who was also a competitor and has dance battled in Amsterdam, Singapore, USA, and others—came to dance through choreography. He says they hope to keep this a yearly event.
More than 200 signed up for the dance competition, and on the night of the event, dozens battled it out in old-school, face-to-face battles in which contestants were randomly matched. Who would go first was decided by spinning a plastic bottle on the dance floor.
In the end, the freestyle two-on-two came down to French pair Sacha and Brahm—by far the most animated of any of the performers—and the staunchly technical and intense RSN Crew out of Vietnam, who came out on top.
For the big main event, the hip-hop one-on-one, it came down to Thailand’s own Txppy (Toppy Phatsaraporn), and the big winner, TIT out of Vietnam, who won with a massive outpouring of emotion on the dance floor.
Dancers from as far as Russia came in all ages (including some in primary school), some dressed as bunny rabbits, others in high fashion.
Held by Thrixept, the organizers plan to keep Badvibes going next year with Volume 3.
