Hamilton youngster Reeve Brady takes A.Y.D.C to hip-hop world champs

A boy who sacrificed a trip to a world hip-hop competition in the United States last year so his sister could go instead is determined not to miss out again this year.

Junior dance crew A.Y.D.C will take to the international stage in July to represent the Waikato and New Zealand in the World Hip-Hop Dance Championships 2011 in Las Vegas, and for 12-year-old captain Reeve Brady from Hamilton the trip has been a long time coming.

Reeve was selected to perform at the world championship last year, along with his sister Assyria. But because of financial constraints Reeve’s family could afford to send only one child overseas, so Reeve let his sister go.
Manager Potaka Maipi said this was typical of Reeve’s character.

“He is very mature for his age. We give him a lot of responsibility to help tutor the kids,” Mr Maipi said.

“We’re all trying to pitch in to help him get to worlds. Finance is probably the biggest factor for young families and he will struggle again this year.”

Mr Maipi said he was in the process of organising fundraising concerts in Hamilton, Huntly, Te Kuiti and around the Waikato to help fund the trip.

A.Y.D.C took out first place at the Street Dance New Zealand Waikato and Bay of Plenty Regional Championships in March, and then placed third out of 45 crews at nationals to qualify to compete against 2000 performers from 35 nations at the 10th annual international event.

For Reeve and his crew, whose ages range from 7 to 13, hip-hop is about “what they do with what they’ve got” and how prepared they are to “bring it”.

And a lot of hard work.

The crew, mostly recruited from the Fusion Dance Company, dig deep and dedicate themselves to eight-hour training sessions on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as three other three-hour sessions during the week.

The youngsters will head to Las Vegas with the top three contenders from each New Zealand division to battle it out over three days for the top prize and bragging rights as the world hip-hop champions.

But for the young crew the championships are about more than just winning. “The thing I love most about dancing is being able to really express myself as a person, and no one judges me,” Reeve said.

“Hip-hop is probably my favourite type of dance even though it’s really hard to learn.”

With the expertise of coach Eru Clarke, who was named 2010 New Zealand Choreographer of the Year, the members of A.Y.D.C are quietly confident.

For Reeve, the excitement starts with simply stepping onto the plane. “I can’t wait for everything! The plane, the hotel. It will be my first time on a plane, so I just can’t wait.”