Breakdancers battle for spot at national and world finals
Breakdancers Chesley Meyer, of Gqeberha, and Jandre Windwaai, of George, showcased their incredible talents in the Red Bull Breakdance Championship One Cypher qualifier on Saturday.
Their awe-inspiring, worldclass performance at The Gallery on Produce in South End had the audience of more than 100 mesmerised.
The venue buzzed with energy during an epic showdown between top breakdancers hailing from Gqeberha, Oudtshoorn, George and East London.
The winner, an ecstatic Windwaai, 30, is set to take part in the finals in Johannesburg on March 23.
The winner of the Johannesburg finals will go on to represent SA at the Red Bull BC One World Finals taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, later this year.
Meyer and Windwaai leverage their art to help empower their communities in the face of social challenges.
Windwaai was in disbelief after he was crowned the champion on Saturday in what was a groundbreaking final.
“When my hand was raised I was happy. No-one can take what I feel right now from me. I am still taking all of this in.
“Maybe tomorrow I will realise that I won the qualifier in Gqeberha,” he said.
Runner-up Meyer, 35, aka “Rhythm ”, has a dance development project called Battle Beasts. He may not have won but he said he still felt like a winner.
“Mentally for me, because I know my execution, I might have fumbled and stumbled here and there.
“However, looking at what the opponent did compared to what I was doing, I felt as though I took it.
“The vote was two to one so I was like, ‘ OK I lost, that is cool, go back, work harder’, but for me, it was a win.
“With so many cities in one place, it was the most complicated cypher,” he said.
As an organiser of most breakdancing competitions in Gqeberha, Meyer said Covid-19 had devastated the development of the dance genre.