The Battle of the Giants All Styles Dance Sport Festival, an annual event organised by the South African Body of Dance (SABOD), was held at the Sun City Superbowl for its 31st edition in 2023.
The competition was a four-day event that featured dancers from 60 schools and over 640 participants from all over the country.
The dancers competed in a variety of styles including battles, hip hop, modern, show dance, slow dance, freestyle, disco dance, disco freestyle, popping, break dance, street dance show, tap, ballet, lyrical and jazz.
To ensure that the competition was judged fairly, SABOD assembled a panel of judges and officials who were locally and internationally accredited.
The panel included Debbie Rakusin, Tebogo Kgobokoe, Tina D’Artnall, Linda Dedekind, Hayley Hammond-Lamont, Sipho Didiza, Sandile Zulu, Lee-Shane Booysen, Chantal Riviere De Klerk and an international judge from Slovenia, Anrika Matko Juvancic.
Sponsors played a crucial role in the success of the event, and this year, SABOD received support from several organisations, including Sun City, Sun Vacation Club, Lara Travel, Tomato Watches, Garnier, Fifth Avenue Jewellery, Vogue, Steers, Coke, Powerade and BLOC Footwear.
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The Grand Final evening on Saturday night featured a powerful opening performance by the dance group Stimela, choreographed by Debbie Rakusin in partnership with Eunice Marais, with dancers were from HPDE, High Performance Dance School.
The rest of the evening showcased the various battles between the dancers, and they definitely gave it their all, using all their energy, skills and dance prowess to battle it out till the end.
This year, for the first time, tap battles were introduced, which gave a modern perspective on a traditional style of dance. The Afro Crews was also a brand-new section, and the teams impressed the crowds with their choreographed moves, which wowed the audience.
On Sunday, the final day of the competition, dancers competed in the various sections of hip hop, popping and other dance styles.
The Battle of the Giants Solo Adult Achiever winner was Ms. Tsebang Siphambo from Faymous Studio Dance School located in Pretoria-Southdowns, who won the R15 000 prize from Lara Travel, an air-ticket to travel overseas to compete, the Tomato Watches Trophy, Garnier products and a Sun International stay at The Cascades, Sun City.
The Battle of the Giants All Styles Dance Sport Festival was a huge success, and it showcased the talent and versatility of South Africa’s dancers. Congratulations to all the athletes and trainers who participated in this year’s event.
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