BY WINSTONE ANTONIO

AFROJOY, in partnership with ZLG, has stepped up efforts to bring back the breakdance culture, at a time when many arts promoters appear to be concentrating only on music.

This comes in the wake of Afrojoy’s launch on Saturday of the breakdance competition at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare last Saturday.

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One of the competition organisers, Brian Chiparawasha, yesterday told NewsDay Life &Style that introducing a breakdance competition was a way of breathing a new lease of life into the arts sector.

“There is very little attention given to breakdance, so as Afrojoy, we saw it fit to tap into that by organising this competition that is open to both established and upcoming breakdancers on the local scene,” he said.

“Although music is known to be the most popular genre, there is also a need to develop other smaller disciplines like dance to make them bigger, such that dancers can also use their own potential to improve their standards of living.”

Chiparawasha said the turnout at the event proved that there was a lot of untapped talent that only required exposure.

“We were overwhelmed by the level of turnout from those who are interested in urban culture in general, and breakdance in particular, as more than 100 contestants showed up for the first round of the competition. The judges selected 20 contestants to go through to the finals, where more than ZWL$20 000 will be shared among the winners,” he said.

“Through this competition, we seek to provide breakdancers with an opportunity to showcase and expose their talents. If well done, they can even clinch endorsements with potential brands.”

Chiparawasha said if they got more partners on board, who support the course, they would spread their wings to other provinces so as to accommodate as many participants.

“Breakdance is considered as an important social activity that draws out all of the youth’s positive energy, creating a strong support network that helps and encourages them to overcome challenges using art,” he said.