Peridot win the XXL Street Dance Championships!

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Peridot joins the XXL Hall of Fame with the likes of Diversity and Flawless

The much-anticipated XXL Street Dance Championships took place on Sunday, 17 July with heavy weights Britain's Got Talent semi finalists and 3 times Street Dance XXL runners-up, Peridot walking away with the title for the first time in history.

In addition to the elephant sized trophy and the Street Dance XXL UK Championships title, the XXL’s 16th champion has earned the trip to New York and can now look forward to representing Great Britain in a USA v UK showdown later next week.

European imports at Street Dance XXL UK Championships 2011

What has originally started out in a hall of a secondary school in the mid 90’s the XXL Street Dance Championships have now become a key contributor to the Street Dance phenomena in the UK and continues to grow in popularity across Europe and the rest of the world.

Amongst our home grown talent such as our sensational dance groups Abyss and Twist & Pulse, both groups previously featured on Britain’s Got Talent, we also had the pleasure of watching performances from groups from across the pond - Germany, Italy and France, where the French scooped up the second place in the XXL Street Dance Championships last Sunday.

Abyss v Metamorphoz at Street Dance XXL UK Championships 2011

Here at Retox we could say we have a soft spot for Abyss. We discovered the soft spot for Abyss at Move It 2011 where we watched Abyss perform live and their performance blew us away. Unfortunately, this year, the judges' votes resulted in a points tie between Abyss and Metamorphoz and in the end the audience got the final say. The audience chose Metamorphoz to send through to the finals, the decision some feel was harsh but fair.

The finals of Street Dance XXL UK Championships 2011

After watching a fabulous performance by Masters of Motion, the youngest ever group to win the XXL Street Dance UK Championships, each group selected for the finals performed their second routines in hope of sweeping up the title.

Peridot’s performance was very tight and the enactment of slow motion in their routine (the bit that looked like playing a tape at half speed) was very effective. Karizma Crew, as was the case in their first performance on the day, seemed to go rich on props, this time coffee tables and chairs. The dance group sporting the Union flag gave an explosive performance within the surroundings of the staged cafeteria. Metamorphoz presented a very animated performance fusing breakdance with basketball while pulling great tricks out of their sleeves that clearly exhibited exceptional technical ability and creativity.

Winners and Runners-up at Street Dance XXL UK Championships

Peridot scooped up this year’s championships title, with 18+ Category runners-up Metamorphoz taking the second place and Karizma Crew third. Ghosts earned the first place in Category 2 (14-17 years) and I.M.D in Category 1 (8-13 years). The runners up for Category 1 were Elev8 earning the second place and Shockarellas earning the third. In Category 2 the second place was awarded to Venom and third place to Crusaders Diamonds.

Freestyle – People’s Choice at Street Dance XXL

Split into two categories, over 16s and under 16s, each performer took a turn to impress the audience and the performers who received the most cheers from the audience were named winners.

Freestyle drama - Samuel v Theo

But things were not as simple as they seemed when it came to Samuel and Theo. For the over 16s category we only had two contestants, both very competitive and in constant need for the limelight. Samuel was the first contestant to show us his moves, then it was Theo’s turn. When Theo completed his attempt, Samuel insisted to have another go. Despite of what Blue Peter’s Andy, the ambushed host of the Street Dance XXL UK Championships said, it was of little consequence. At this point Theo also needed to prove himself, so Theo hijacked the stage and gave another striking performance. But nah ah! This is not good enough for Samuel, who attempts to steal Theo’s limelight by breaking into a dance on the side of the stage instead. What a catfight!

I dread to think what could have happened if we had 10 freestylers for this category instead of two!

Tamed under 16s show best behaviour and great skill

For the under 16’s category we had 9 fabulous and well behaved contestants, one of whom was a girl. A tiny boy and a tiny girl, both with bag loads of talent walked away with tiny trophies. However, there was another memorable youngster who exhibited great skill and bag loads of personality. If Retox was making a movie, he’d be our leading man!

Street Dance XXL UK Championships 2011

Street Dance XXL UK Championships 2011 in association with Kiss is part of Intelligent Movement, Festival of Britain and Channel 4's "Street Summer" and was therefore filmed by Channel 4. The event held in the US next week will also be covered by Channel 4 and we can expect it to air later this summer.