LANCASTER – Saturday, the Cedar Center was like a scene straight from a 1980s break-dance movie. The DJ was spinning on two turntables, as MCs rocked the mic on stage, and the crowd circled the dancers on the floor. Breakers drenched in sweat, with faces full of intensity, battled for supremacy, or at the very least, bragging rights. But the event was much more than a dance battle. It was an all out movement to celebrate hip hop in the Antelope Valley.
“It’s for people to come out and have a good time,” said Hazz, one of the break dancers. “This is real hip hop.”
The 2nd Annual Seedz of Change took place from 1 to 10 p.m. Saturday and was attended by a diverse crowd of nearly 100 hip hop enthusiasts of all ages. The event featured rap performances, break dance and beat box competitions, a graffiti expo and giveaways.
The highlight of the event was the one-on-one, freestyle dance battle, where break dancers dazzled the crowd with gravity-defying moves like windmills, headspins, and backflips.
For some of the dancers it was less about winning and more about self expression.
“I’ve always been shy, so this is the only way that I can communicate with other people,” said Allen Wrench of Lancaster. “I’m free to express myself and how I feel inside, and that’s what break dancing is about.”
“Youths need an outlet, they need a form of expression,” said winner Stella (aka B-girl Stellz) of Palmdale. “I just hope I’m able to inspire someone.”
Organizer Jaime Contreras said he was inspired to develop the event based on his teenage memories of the hip hop scene.
“We could have gotten involved with drugs and gangs and stuff, but instead we would go and break dance, we would go and beat box battle,” he said. “We want to get back to how things used to be when we were growing up. Basically our main objective is to support hip hop in the AV.”
See a complete galley of photos from this event on our facebook page here.
vanessa says
vanessa
Matt Keltner says
Good for them! :-)