Canberra’s got talent and the rest of the world is about to witness this. Hip-hop teacher Krissan Pattugalan is about to take his dance crew to another level…
Pattugalan, 26, started dancing about six years ago and has never looked back. He started off busting moves in nightclubs and actually taught himself hip-hop dance moves.
“You know when you watch MTV and you go ‘oh man! Usher just did a sick move! I want to learn how to do that.'” And he and his friends would teach themselves how to do the move by copying him.
But it was in 2010 that Pattugalan decided he wanted to solidify his love for dance and he and his business partner opened up a dance school called Project Beats.
“We really want Project Beats to be a community and our aim is to bring everyone in Canberra into dancing and bring all the dancers together” says Pattugalan.
Already, the 80-student and five-teacher school have entered the Australian Hip Hop Championships Canberra for 2010 and 2011 and won both.
Recently, Pattugalan got a group of five hip-hop dancers together; his self included, and entered the Hip Hop International Competition in Australia. There was one winning crew from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and Project Beats won from Sydney. The next stage of the competition is to compete in the final stage of the competition in Las Vegas, USA July of this year.
“We are absolutely stoked! We want to show the world that Canberra’s got talent and we cannot wait to not only represent Australia’s capital city, but Australia too.”
With more than 37 countries competing, the overall winner of this competition will be crowned the world’s best hip-hop crew.
But, there is a catch. Project Beats need to raise $25,000 by July in order to go over to America and compete. Hip-hop dancing in Canberra might be fun, but it doesn’t necessarily bring home the bacon.
“If we have not raised the money in time, we will not be able to go. We have the drive and the skill, we just need the funds”.
To raise money for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Project Beats are holding a Benefit Concert on Saturday 26th May at The Abby in Nicholls. During the day, they will be holding a dance workshop for people aged six years and up and performing a concert at night.
In addition to this exciting adventure, the producer of UK Dance television show ‘Got to dance’ approached Project Beats and invited them to enter their competition-winning dance piece into a television series he will be bringing to Australia in 2013.
This is a great accomplishment for Project Beats and they are thrilled about this opportunity.
Dance is a great form of self expression and the hip-hop scene in Canberra is certainly growing. Canberra now also has the best B-Boy Crew in Australia; Floor Pirates.
“Dancing makes you do things you are scared of doing to question your own abilities and push yourself to places you never thought you could go to. It builds courage and allows you to express yourself.”
The Projects Beats website will be up and running by the end of April at www.projectbeats.com.au
