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The world’s biggest breakdancing event, Battle of the Year (BOTY), was held in Braunschweig, Germany last weekend. U-Taipei, representing Taiwan, advanced to the semi-finals and won third place in the competition.

EBC reports, the first BOTY was held in Germany in 1989. It was originally a festivity for b-boy dancers and later became a competition in Hannover due to its popularity. BOTY is now one of the world’s oldest and the most influential breakdancing competitions, often referred to as the world cup of breakdancing. The judging criteria include originality, difficulty and choreography of the dance.

CNA reports, U-Taipei put on an outstanding performance in the first round and stood out among 15 other dance groups from around the world. The team defeated the Brazil team, but lost to Japan in the semi-finals, placing third in the competition.

BOTY has uploaded the videos of the top four teams onto YouTube, and the clips of the Taiwan and Japan teams have already attracted nearly 20 thousand viewers within two days. The champion of this year’s BOTY is the Japan team, Floorriorz, and the runner-up is the Belarus team, Kienjuice.

ETtoday interviewed U-Taipei before they flew to Germany for the competition. Lai Bo-cheng, a member of U-Taipei, is 24 years old and well-known in breakdancing. Lai says that Taiwan has been performing well in international street dance competitions in recent years, so now fewer parents discourage their children from learning to dance.

He also says that he has gained reputation from winning competitions and now has a stable income from teaching, performing and attending contests. Lai’s family has also become supportive and he has proven that there is a bright future in street dance.

Translated by Vic Chiang
Edited by Olivia Yang

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