Thursday, November 18, 2010

Purpose Driven Dance














I was surprised that he came, just as he told me over the phone, at exactly 3:30 one afternoon.  He was wearing a baseball hat like a bona fide hip hop dude, pardon my lingo, with the cap tipped to the side of his face. Barely out of his teens, Joshua Viloria impressed me with some words of wisdom.

He belongs to a dance crew called "I Rock With The One." A brainchild of Ron Pagcaliwagan, the group was formed in 2006 initially to inspire the youth in their community to develop their talents, boost their confidence, and help new kids on the block, composed mostly of immigrant children, to integrate into their new environment. They conduct classes and workshops through the urban dance program at the Gateway Centre for New Canadians.

When asked what separates them from other hip hop dance crews in the world, Joshua explained. "We train like Olympic athletes and yet we compete, not for the prize, but to inspire people. We dance for The One, for God."

In 2009, their group under the name "Project One" placed second in their first competition, the Hip Hop Dance Canada Championships in Montreal. This qualified them, along with two other teams, to represent Canada in the varsity division of the World Hip Hop Dance Championships held in the same year in Las Vegas.

Inspired, Ron Pagcaliwagan is working hard with the crew to sustain their mission. They have been busy performing in  different venues, even featuring in a Canadian film, "Beat the Wall." It is a movie, soon to come out, about "Le Parkour" or "Free Running", a new philosophy created in France. It was inspired by "the natural method of physical education" by Georges Hébert who got the idea after seeing the Africans in Congo perform this kind of movement.

Indeed, they are a unique hip hop dance crew making a big difference in the world. Without further ado, let me introduce you to "I Rock With The One"


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