Suresh@Ryan

A fortnight ago..i received an invitation from Derek on behalf of his sis regarding HELP Uni's Hip Hop Dance Competition..Meet up with Joanna,Derek and Logic and headed To Euphoria for the comp..Meet familiar faces over there..Howard,Jason,Joshua were also covering the the competition.

Originality and pure energy rules the night at Mad2Max Hip Hop Dance Competition
The HELP University College’s initiative attracts quality participation and stellar judges

Kuala Lumpur, 10 July 2009 - The first Inter-College Hip Hop Dance Competition started and ended with a bang with over 200-strong supporters cheering for their teams, and the impeccable performances by the participants, professional judges and guest performer. Organised by the HELP Matriculation Centre, the event took place at Euphoria by Ministry of Sound.

Aptly named Mad2Max, the event attracted 6 university and colleges round Klang Valley, forming 7 crews. While some crews opted for the classic hip hop songs of the 90’s; others paid tribute to Michael Jackson by including his music into their routine; and not to mention some cheeky Bollywood inspired dance moves on the floor.

The event started off with the first 4 crews presenting their 7-minute routines; Max Identity of TAR College, Wu Yang and Fi of Sunway University College, Dreamix of Taylor’s University College and Dynamix consisting of Multimedia University and SEGI University College.

Max Identity of TAR College presented diversified moves with a high level of music mixing. The team consists of 3 males and 3 females also injected cheeky video game elements in their dance moves.

Then came Wu Yang and FI of Sunway University College’s turn to wow the crowd. Consisting of only one male and female participants, the couple played up to the tune of the trials and tribulations of being in a relationship by incorporating a lot of dance moves that depict couples arguing and of course, the good ending of patching things up.

Turning the volume up again was Dreamix of Taylor’s University College, again a 6-member team whom although was less frivolous in the wardrobe department, definitely made it up with well-coordinated dance moves and creative mix of the latest hip hop music.

Before the recess of the first half session, team Dynamix, a combination of 5 Multimedia students and 1 SEGI student took the stage by storm with their smart masculine dressing, perfectly synchronized moves and immaculate timing. They really got the crowd cheering for more when the presented a little Michael Jackson tribute in their routine and mellowed things down thereafter with melodious Bollywood moves. The highly creative routine also included elements of cheerleading (complete with air-flipping of their only female member) and break dancing.

After all the hype from the first session, the organiser toned things down with a beat-box performance by Kimberly S’ng of Sunway University College. Her 8 minutes- strong performance got the crowd and judges wild as it was smooth and natural, and definitely on par with international standards. Being able to churn deep bass sound and hum melodies at the same time, Kimberly is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the local beat-box arena.

Adding more substance and professional standards to the competition was the line-up of credible judges. Mr. JJ (Bboy JJ) of the CID Crew and Instructor at Dance Option Studion; Mr. Jack Tan of D8Second Crew and owner of D8Second Dance Studio; and Mr. Joel Tan, founder and chief instructor of the famed Urban Groove Dance Network made up the judicial team. All three who have bagged national, regional and international dance championships not just had a hard time deciding the winners, but Jack and Joel even wowed the crowd with solo performances each, during the interval.

Second half of the competition continued with crews Sindebloc of Taylor’s, The Puppets also from Taylor’s and G Six which was made up of HELP University and Taylor’s. Sindebloc chose a clever way to start- using a Transformers number and dance moves. This crew also presented some high risk moves and held everyone’s breath for a while but pulled them off well.


When it was The Puppets’ turn, we saw a lot of Latin Dance elements cleverly incorporated into the hip hop routine. Also paying tribute to MJ, the crew had a multi-genre mix of music within their 7-minute routine.

He last crew to take the stage was the only all-girls assemble, G Six. The girls definitely took advantage of the all-female composition by including some sassy and sometime seductive moves into their routine. The routine definitely got the crowd cheering and moving along with them.
After all 7 crews have presented their routines, it was the judges turn to be put to work. From the 7 crews, the judges had to choose 2 teams to battle it out in rotating 15 seconds face-off for a total time frame of 15 minutes. After much deliberation, the judges shortlisted Max Identity and Dynamix for the final face-off.

The face off was definitely another highlight of the event, with both teams clearly displaying a high level of competitiveness by cheekily taunting each other’s moves and lots of solo performance. The crowd went crazy once again with the various display of break-dancing, ‘krumping’, remixed- oldies songs and perfectly synchronised group dancing. 15 minutes may seem short but for these hip hop enthusiasts, it may well be one of the most energy consuming and important time for them to shine.

Dynamix were clear winners of the day. They managed to wow both judges and the crowd. Winning the prize of RM1000 cash, the team was clearly ecstatic to be crowned the champions of the Mad2Max Hip Hop Dance Competition. The team- Justin Leo, Marilyn Leo, Lim Say Meng, Jardian Teo, Ngan Meng Chiang (all from MMU) and Antonell Chew of SEGi was formed a year and a half ago and took 2 weeks to practice for Mad2Max. Aged between 17 -22 years old, they all had one word to say when asked what inspire them- passion. Max Identity took home RM500 cash prize as first-runner ups.



Article by:Asha Nair
Photos by: Suresh