Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010 | 2:36 p.m.
Request Wins 2010 Hip Hop International
Request dance crew from New Zealand won the gold medal in the adult division at the 2010 World Hip Hop Dance Championship at The Orleans. See their award-winning performance, and their tearful reaction and traditional Haka dance performed in support by their fellow New Zealanders.
World Hip-Hop Dance Championships results
- 1. Star Team (Japan)
- 2. Fresh 2.0 (Canada)
- 3. Lil' Hustlers (Ireland)
- 1. Zero (Japan)
- 2. Illest-Vibe (Canada)
- 3. Sorority (New Zealand)
- 1. Request (New Zealand)
- 2. Poreotics (U.S.A.)
- 3. Fly Girlz (Canada)
It is mighty difficult to upstage hip-hop dance at a tournament named Hip Hop International, but New Zealand did it — with haka.
Now, what the haka is haka?
It's a cultural Maori dance that isn't well known outside New Zealand, but it took center stage Sunday night at the Orleans Arena after the country's Request crew won the 2010 World Hip Hop Dance Championship, held by Hip Hop International. As the all-female crew graciously accepted its gold medals and hard-earned title as champions, their countrymen — fellow New Zealand crew Dziah 2.0 — rushed the stage to celebrate.
The all-male crew performed the haka, which involves loud shouting, stomping and sticking your tongue out. The intense dance is both a way to energize yourself and a way to show respect, explains Request dancer Parris Goebel.
"Seeing it made me just so proud to be from New Zealand," Goebel explains. "Going into this competition, we really just wanted to represent our country well."
Request is the first dance crew from New Zealand to win the adult division of the nine-year-old championship. The same crew won the varsity division last year, the only team to pull off that double.
"Honestly, we didn't think we had a chance," concedes Goebel. "We asked ourselves, 'Are we really that good?'"
The answer? Yes!
The girls' intricate and entertaining choreography wowed the panel of international judges, which was headed by Canadian dancer Natasha Jean-Bart, who performed as the original Lady Madonna in the Beatles-based Cirque du Soleil show Love at the Mirage and still resides in Las Vegas. They beat out two-time USA Hip Hop Championship winners Poreotics, who placed second in the adult world division, as well as crews from Mexico, Japan and Canada.
Request's win scores it bragging rights and a cash prize of $5,000 — a first for the competition. Of course, it isn't the money Goebel will remember.
"The people who've come up to us and said that we inspired them — that is so much more important to us than the medal."
The Orleans Arena, a Boyd Gaming facility located just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of the nation’s leading mid-sized arenas, and was recently ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 5 internationally among venues of similar size by Venues Today Magazine.
The Arena hosts more than 200 events each year, including concerts by top names like Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Van Halen, Brooks & Dunn, Black Eyed Peas, Akon and Rihanna; family favorites like The Harlem Globetrotters and Circus Spectacular; and a wide variety of sporting events, including NCAA basketball tournaments, the West Coast Conference and Western Athletic Conference Basketball Championships, mixed martial arts with Superior Cage Combat, and major motorsports events.
The arena serves as home to the Las Vegas Wranglers professional ECHL hockey team, the Las Vegas Legends professional indoor soccer team, and the Lingerie Football League’s Las Vegas Sin. Stay connected to the Orleans Arena on Facebook (www.facebook.com/orleansarena) and on Twitter (@orleansarena).
— Originally published on LasVegasWeekly.com
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