Saturday, 5th October, saw the inaugural edition of the Ghana DanceSport League, with Team Hubes Dance Crew winning the number one spot over United Kings Academy, 4Bent Dance Crew, Asa Academy, Flames Dance Company, and BAS Academy.
This took place at the Street Dance Fiesta of the 10th Ghana Dance Festival at the Alliance Française.
The DanceSport League had a presentation-style format, where dance crews were required to perform their own routines for all rounds. The first stage saw all six dance crews perform their routines, and the top four, based on creativity, teamwork, execution, and showmanship, moved on to the second stage.
The top four balloted to determine who they would go against in their respective fixtures. Team Hubes went against 4Bent Dance Crew, beating them to qualify for the finals, while United Dance Academy went against Asa Dance Crew, beating them to qualify for the finals.
To determine the third place, a fixture between 4Bent Dance Crew and Asa Dance Academy was held, where 4Bent clinched third place with a no-show from Asa Academy. The final showdown saw Team Hubes and United Kings Academy in a fixture, where Team Hubes emerged as the winner of the league, to the delight of judges and the cheering audience.
Team Hubes, representing Korle Gonno in Accra, won 4,000 cedis for first place. United Kings Academy, hailing from Abesim in Sunyani, won 2,000 cedis for second place. 4Bent Dance Crew, representing Dansoman in Accra, won 1,000 cedis for third place. All the top three clubs were given medals for participation.
The judges for the DanceSport League were Adjetey Sowah, the 1986 World Dance champion, Dr. Terry Bright Ofosu, a dance lecturer at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, and the 1989 National Dance Champion, and Yvonne “Laladzy” Okyere, the CEO of the all-ladies dance crew, Flawless Dance Studio. The MC for the event was Mickie Flex, an iconic dancer with long-standing dance experience.
According to Robert Klah, founder of the Ghana DanceSport League, “Dance is a sport. When dance made its way to the Olympics, this truth was further amplified. On the back of dance being a sport, DanceSport Ghana has been founded to promote dance as a sport, and we are happy to inaugurate the Ghana DanceSport League (Professional).
"Finally, dance athletes can look forward to an annual league to participate in while developing their career. Our next line of action is the inauguration of the Ghana DanceSport School League, which will cater to the amateur dance community.
"We already have affiliations with international DanceSport organizations, and we are looking forward to creating avenues for our dance athletes to participate in such events. To this end, we are looking forward to having DanceSport conversations make their way to regular sport programs because we are here to stay.”
The inaugural edition of the Ghana DanceSport League was part of the main activities of the Street Dance Fiesta of the 10th Ghana Dance Festival. It was preceded by a dance workshop featuring DWP Academy and its sensational members, including Lisa Quama, Endurance Grand, Demzy Baye, King Nature, and Richael.
Following the workshop, guests were treated to performances from the best talents in street dance, including the Millitantz Dance Family, Arenees Dance Crew, Flawless Dance Studio, 4Bent Dance Crew, Black Illusion Dance Crew, Krump Ghana, House Ghana, The Originals, DMYB, Let’s Dance Africa, I Am Azonto, DWP Academy, 360 Dancers, Team Rasta Flex, One Ghana Dance Family, and many more. To spice up the performances, Nila Dance Academy performed an Indian routine to “Makoma” by King Paluta, to the audience's delight.
DanceSport Ghana, the Dancers & DanceSport Association of Ghana (DDASPAG), and Dancetera organized the street dance fiesta of the 10th Ghana Dance Festival.