Hanging Out With Some Of Singapore's Urban Dance Crews
Street dance in Singapore is kicking up a storm. Ahead, we chat with four dance crews who are the real G.O.A.T.S of the scene.
Just how much is street dance part of mainstream pop culture today? Returning this month, the Summer Olympics will for the first time in its history feature breaking – the dance style more popularly referred to as breakdancing – as a competitive sport. To celebrate that, we spotlight four urban dance communities in Singapore that each deserve a medal for inspiring others to pop, lock, vogue and simply get up to dance in their own way.
REVOLT: THE ALL-TEEN CREW WITH LINKS TO BLACKPINK, LE SSERAFIM AND JUNGKOOK
Revolt
Everyone in this crew is between 15 and 19 years old, but TikTok dancers they are not (though some have found impressive fame on the platform – pictured on the far left above, School Of The Arts student Charlotte Seet, for example, has garnered a cool 533.6K followers and 39.1 million likes for her content showing off her explosive moves). And nope, none have danced with any K-pop stars, but it might only be a matter of time.
Revolt, you see, was started in 2015 by Recognize Studios – one of the biggest names specialising in street dance here – and Nicholas Ong, CEO of the Singapore-based global dance network and talent agency Jam Republic, which represents Recognize alongside other world-renowned studios and dancers who have worked with the likes of the aforementioned K-celebs. Their goal: to offer a safe environment for youths to hone their street dance style and techniques with the belief that the art form is beneficial and empowering for them.
Moments from the group's performance during a dance competition in Da Nang, Vietnam, last year.
“Starting young also gives them a longer runway to learn and improve,” points out Recognize Studio’s managing director Alson Yeo. Taught a diverse range of genres spanning hip hop to locking by professionals, the group has continually made a splash on the dance circuit and even competed overseas for the first time last year.
The members of Revolt are aged between 15 and 19 years old.
Next up is another first: taking part in the Lion City Dance Convention, one of Singapore’s most closely watched street dance events, next month with choreography that these young performers came up with entirely on their own.
PHOTOGRAPHY LAWRENCE TEO ART DIRECTION JONATHAN CHIA HAIR & MAKEUP SARAH TAN, VANESSA DREA & JESSAMYN TAY
DANZ PEOPLE FACULTY: THE DANCE EXPERTS MAKING URBAN DANCE TRULY INCLUSIVE
Danz People Faculty
This hyper-cool posse includes individuals who have worked for entertainment legends such as the late Anita Mui (co-founder Sheena Seah, pictured sixth from right) as well as key figures in Singapore’s burgeoning ballroom scene (that’s Irzie of the Kiki House of Kasicunt on the far left) does not consider itself a crew. It’s also not a studio per se, though founders Seah, Michelle Ang and Patrick Loo (the latter two were unavailable for the shoot) have been running a successful dance school of the same name since 2008.
Instead, it’s a faculty of dancers who pride themselves on giving everybody the chance and skills to show off some slick moves – namely of the hip-hop, girls style and street jazz genres. Besides teens and kids, they offer lessons to at-risk youths, senior citizens and persons with special needs, with welfare group Lions Befrienders and the Down Syndrome Association among the organisations they have partnered with.
The wholesomeness extends to the Danz Recital organised by Danz People, the dance school at which they teach; the annual event gives both students and instructors the chance to perform in a theatre setting. Says Ang: “Dancing is a joyful activity … It’s not just about getting fit, but also about expressing yourself, feeling confident like a total boss or queen, and making awesome friends … It has even been scientifically proven to help people with dementia.”
The huge crowds that join the Danz People Faculty's recitals (pictured) are a testament to the following it has built within the dance community here.
Last month, the dance school raised the stakes in its efforts to make Singapore a street dance destination by bringing the World Dance Colosseum – one of the biggest urban dance competitions globally – to our shores for the first time. On breaking debuting as an Olympic sport, Ang says: “It’s an incredibly demanding art form that requires athleticism, creativity and discipline – this goes for other forms of dance such as ballet, contemporary and hip-hop as well. Having it recognised as an Olympic sport elevates it and will inspire a whole new generation of dancers.”
PHOTOGRAPHY LAWRENCE TEO ART DIRECTION JONATHAN CHIA HAIR & MAKEUP SARAH TAN, VANESSA DREA, BENEDICT CHOO & CACHEREL ONG
Z-AXIS DANCE CREW: THAT CREW DOMINATING THE STREETS FILMING STYLISH COVERS OF K-POP CHOREOGRAPHY
Z-Axis Dance Crew
You might have seen this fun-loving lot outside Marina Bay Sands looking just like they’re on the set of a music video for the latest K-pop banger. They’ve got the recording equipment, the street-inflected wardrobe and they’ve certainly got the moves.
Started by a group of friends who were part of the Nanyang Technological University’s K-pop Society in 2020, Z-Axis has since evolved into a full-fledged, independent dance crew with a thriving Youtube fanbase for its elaborate covers of K-pop choreography.
Far from a pastime, they hold auditions to recruit new dancers and practice not unlike any sports team. They’ve also taken part in the likes of the Hallyu Olympiad K-pop Dance Cover Competition and local prelims of the Changwon K-pop World Festival – organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and often touted as an event where hallyu fans get a shot at getting discovered – and emerged top.
The group during their participation in the local preliminaries of the K-Pop World Festival last year.
“We love K-pop for its precision, high-energy moves and how it blends elements from different dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz and even traditional Korean dance. What really sets K-pop apart from other dance styles though is the lip-syncing and facial expressions involved”, says the crew’s founder Wanting Liao.
What they hope will help them – and others like them – to grow further: more open spaces to dance and practice in. Says Z-Axis dancer Daini Wang: “Unfortunately, there are fewer open spaces in Singapore that people can dance in these days. We used to in Scape and Marina Square, but now they have either been shut down or prohibit dance activities. Having more of such spaces where we are allowed to dance and practice in however is one way to encourage more people to dance.”
PHOTOGRAPHY LAWRENCE TEO ART DIRECTION JONATHAN CHIA HAIR & MAKEUP SARAH TAN, VANESSA DREA & JESSAMYN TAY
STEP FAM: THE ARTSY AND AWARD-WINNING CREW THAT JUST KEEPS GETTING BIGGER
Step Fam
It’s hard to keep count of the number of times this stylish crew has clinched first place at street dance competitions here and overseas since being founded eight years ago. There was the 2023 edition of the Finals, one of the world’s most prestigious “urban choreography” events, that took place in Germany. Ditto the regionals of Get The Beat – a popular contest for amateurs (read: not full-time dance teachers or performers) that originated in Australia – in the Contemporary Open category not once, but five times.
An off-shoot of the Step dance studio founded by husband-and-wife choreographers Stephanie Loh and Deo Amarawi, it had originated as for-youths-only, but now accepts members of up to 25 years old (most of whom are featured in our photo at the top). Born out of a shared love and knack for genres such as street jazz and hip hop, Step Fam is a classic urban dance crew except that there’s a distinctively artistic way about how they approach dance.
The group performed at Finals in Germany last year (pictured), which is considered one of the world’s top dance competitions.
Their winning piece at Finals, for example, was themed around the concept of chasing dreams and everything right down to the lighting was programmed to evoke it, while an entry for Get The Beat in 2022 was inspired by “pressing global issues”.
The Step Youth performance videos on the Step Studio Youtube account tend to be equally poetic in aesthetic and moves. “Some might say our style is emo or ‘feeling’, but it’s what makes us who we are,” says Step Fam member and instructor Matilda Mag. “It is such a beautiful thing when we can use dance to tell someone that he or she is not alone, and connect in an honest, authentic and vulnerable way.”
PHOTOGRAPHY LAWRENCE TEO ART DIRECTION JONATHAN CHIA HAIR & MAKEUP SARAH TAN, VANESSA DREA, BENEDICT CHOO & CACHEREL ONG
This article first appeared in the July 2024 Overachievers Edition of FEMALE