Top Asian American break dancers in NY’s largest dance-off
CONTRIBUTED
NEW YORK CITY – Nine of the leading Asian American break dancers from the U.S. and Canada, including Filipinos, competed Aug. 27-28, at McDonald’s B-Boy Royale 3, New York City’s largest annual break dance tournament.
Six of the eight competing dance crews featured one to two members of Asian descent — for a total of nine — whose ethnic backgrounds included Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Khazakstani, Bangladeshi and Taiwanese.
The winning team, Last Samurai, features Joseph Tran, 27, a Vietnamese American from Saint Paul, Minnesota, who has been breaking for over 14 years. Tran’s crew won $5,000 and an invitation to defend their title at B-Boy Royale 4 in 2017. For more information, visit www.mcdonaldsbboyroyale.com.
Hosted by Chinese American rapper/actor MC Jin, B-Boy Royale 3 also featured a Chinese American and Filipino American judge, award-winning break dancers Tiangi “Jumanji” Fan and Abigail “A-B-girl” Herrera, respectively. Additionally, the champion of the audience dance battle was Franklin Chen, 26, a Taiwanese American from Long Island.
Serving as a fundraising event for Ronald McDonald Charities of the New York Tri-State Area, B-Boy Royale 3 also raised over $10,000 for the organization, which provides resources to local families and children.
Other program highlights included the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to legendary dancer/actor Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers, star of “Breakin’” and “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” Taimak, the star of the martial arts classic “The Last Dragon,” presented his award.
