SKILLSxSOUL

ALL STYLES BATTLES

What are these Skills X Soul Battles?

An updated and upgraded flip on All-styles dance battles.

Dance Styles welcomed: Popping, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Bboying, Krump… ANY as long as you show creative SKILLS.

Music Genres played: Funk, House, Classical, Hip Hop, perhaps even Top40… ANY as long as the Dj says the track’s got creative SOUL.

The schedule goes like this: Day 01, Qualifiers. Day 02, Battles.

DAY 1 – THE QUALIFIERS:

Showcase Prelims: Max 12 teams allowed to participate in Qualifier (The first 12 paid registrations).
Top 8:
Top 4: Winners qualify for next day. Losing teams get to call out an All-Star team to steal their spot.

DAY 2 – THE BATTLES:

8 Teams compete in tournament style.
Format for Each Battle: 3 passages per team (1 round for each dancer + 1 Gadfly round where 2 dancers must collaborate, interact,

:: CRiTERIA ::.

Originality: creativity, style, versatility

Technique: execution, difficulty level, vocabulary

Gadflyness: character & team chemistry (commandos/contact improv)

The exchanges happen on carefully selected epic, challenging, soulful, or abstract music varying from Michael Jackson, Beatles, Mozart, Biggie, Celia Cruz, Whitney Houston, Bee Gees, Beyonce, James Blake, Kaytranada, Beenie man, or a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack… You get the picture! When artists let go. Raw meets Refined. You’ll understand what’s artistic debauchery and why many look forward to this every year.

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TECHNIQUE

Execution, difficulty level, vocabulary

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ORIGINALITY

Creativity, style, versatility

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GADFLYNESS

Creativity, style, versatility

ALL-STAR BATTLERS

TEAMS FROM PRELIMS

CALL OUTS

NIGHTS OF ARTISTIC DEBAUCHERY

SIGN UP TO COMPETE IN THE SXS BATTLES

If you are a dancer looking to enter the Skills X Soul battle competition click the button below.

SIGN UP TO BATTLE

What’s the point of this?

People to witness art that is exciting, unique, and in the moment.

Instigate dance styles to exchange (not just traditional Street Dance Styles).

Up the game in Canada to international rep.

Up the battling to be an art form.

Present battles professionally.

For 2 nights dancers to forget the style they come from but rep themselves as individual artists.

What is this Gadfly Flair business?

Just a couple of exciting features, nothing big: this is the first and only curated dance battle with 12 All-Star guest artists battlers from all over the country.

There are two call outs. 2 All-star Teams will be challenged to defend their spots by 2 teams coming from the prelims and risk of being eliminated before the competition starts. Whouuuuu

Each Battle consists of 2 rounds. Semi-Finals and Finals are 3 rounds: First two rounds are regular rounds for 1 dancer of each to throw down. However, the THIRD is reserved for an exchange including at least one dancer from each team. Yep. We need to see a freestyles/improv interaction exchange. Physical contact is not mandatory but interaction is.

Why do we call it Professional?

You see, 99.99% of Urban Dance Competitions take advantage of the actual dancers just to make some quick money. Typical scenario: 50+ battlers enter a competition, each pay let’s say $25 to enter, but only 1 person will get to collect the microscopic $100 prize. All of that knowing that these battlers are the actual performers that the audience pays to see… TUDS aims to make Urban Dancers see what they do as an art form as well as a profession. Every Battler that qualifies into SXS Battles Tournament gets PAID to battle.

Plus, since 2012 the SXS competition got submitted for Dora Awards eligibility. Dora Awards are the Oscars of theatre in Canada. The biggest recognition that performing professional performing artists can get. Yes, we wanted to make history and make it possible for Urban Dance to be nominated along side Contemporary and Ballet performances.

WE DID IT! The 2014 Dora Award for Female Dancer of the Year went to our SXS Battle champ Caroline Lady-C Fraser!