2 finals, Italy, Estonia, and Jamaica in the Summer - February recap

Hey everyone! The first sunny days of the year have arrived. They are only few and far between, but hey, it’s a start! This is my recap of February. Welcome!

I participated in my first battle of the year in Italy, in the city of Turin, during an event called Yasso. It took place on the 1st and 2nd of February. I attended this event for the first time in 2019 and this edition is my 6th time already! I’m pretty sure that this is the only event I’ve been to 6 times. Up until 2023, it was called Torino Dancehall Movement and in 2024, they changed the name to Yasso Dancehall Event, in full. But we, or at least I, just say Yasso. The first day, which I attended, consisted of all the battles, competitions and the party. On the second day, you could improve your dance skills through a bunch of workshops by the invited guests Kaybuurr Ovadose, Miss Rose, Upgrade Hectic Dymondz, and Pancho Cautiion. There were 3 types of battles: 1 vs 1 beginners, 1 vs 1 pro, and Who’s That Gyal?, which is a 1 vs 1 female. For the competitions, there were 3 types as well: 2 vs 2 choreo battle, crew choreo battle, and a Dancehall Queen competition organised by Queens on Top. I know that the first 2 have “battle” in their names, but in my opinion, the moment participants prepare choreos or routines for specific songs, then it’s no longer a battle. It’s a (choreo) competition at that point. Call it a detail, sure, but it’s a detail I care about.

As usual, I entered the 1 vs 1 pro battle, together with around 15 other dancers. After the preselection, the judges, Miss Rose, Upgrade, and Pancho, selected 8 dancers that advanced to the quarter-finals. I was one of them! My first battle was against Linda Ohli. Look, I’ve battled in Italy so many times now. Hell, my first ever Dancehall battle was in Italy! But I’ve never battled against Linda, ever. At this event, that finally changed haha. Damn, it took 7 years. 

In both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, we only got 1 round. Only the 2 dancers who made it to the final were allowed to dance for 2 rounds. I was one of them! Finally, my first time in the finals at this event! It was more than time that this happened 😤 Scottie was the dancer I was pitted against for the win of the 1 vs 1 pro of Yasso 2025. Unfortunately, with 2 votes in her favor, she took the win and I was left with 2nd place. Of course, this sucked. I got so close this time! Yet… I failed to bring it home. The progress is there. I can literally see it! The work continues.

The following Tuesday, I joined a workshop by Prince Team Royal organised by Mood Collectiv in Antwerp. It was my second time taking a workshop by Team Royal. The first time was during the previous Summer, but this was not with Prince but 3 other members of Team Royal.

On the 2nd weekend of the month, I was hosting 5 dancers during my 2-day Dancehall Freestyle Intensive in Brussels. It. Was. An. Amazing. Experience! 🤩 Most of it worked out exactly as planned and based on their reactions during the intensive, I think the dancers had a great time. I don’t have any concrete new plans yet, but I can definitely say that I really enjoyed doing this and I would be more than open to organising a 2nd edition. The day after, I was totally exhausted, though. 🥱 But it was more than worth it!

The last weekend of February, I travelled to Estonia to participate in the Estonian Open Championships in Upper Street Dance Styles & Breaking. It’s the first 2025 edition of the event that I went to at the end of November last year. While last time it took place in Tartu, this time around it took place in Tallinn, the capital. This meant that the 2,5-hour bus ride after touching down in Tallinn Airport was not needed. Great feeling! Next to Dancehall, other styles like Hip Hop, House, Breaking, Locking, and Popping were also represented. Dancehall got judged by only one person: Prince Black Eagles. Hip Hop, House, Locking and Popping were judged by the same 3 judges, who didn’t include the Dancehall judge.

My trajectory through the battle was the same as the previous time: preselection, quarter-final, semi-final, and final. Unfortunately, in the final, Prince chose to give the win to my opponent. This was not the decision that I was expecting and I also don’t agree with it. One of the reasons is the difference between my opponent’s and my foundation. I believe that this difference was so big, in my favor, that there is not even a discussion needed about who won. Even if she did some nice things musically, they didn’t weigh up to that difference.

The Summer of 2025 is gonna be a repeat of the Summer of 2024: I’m going again on a 2-week trip to Jamaica! 🤩 I signed up again with Let’s Go To Jamaica and booked my plane tickets earlier this month. Unfortunately, the flights that I took last year were not available this year. It was not that the tickets were sold out, but instead, the flights didn’t even exist any more. Very weird and inconvenient for me, but I assume that there is an economic reason from the airline’s point of view. Anyway, after a lot of comparing of different routes and airlines, including making a touristic stop in New York City or Miami, I decided to do a layover in Canada both on the way to Jamaica and on the way back home. The total duration of the travel is consequentially a lot longer - on the way back, I will be travelling for around 28 hours 😩 - but hey, we gotta do what we gotta do. I’m in any case looking forward to returning to the source of Dancehall! 

I want to finish this month’s recap by sharing with you my favourite Dancehall song of the month: Fresh by Fuze and Tommy Lee Sparta.

Thanks for joining my dance journey and for your support! Talk to you next month.