Linwood hip hop crew's 'roller-coaster ride' to the top

By Jean Edwards of RNZ

A Christchurch hip hop crew has stepped up to win a prestigious world title in Europe, beating the back-to-back champions from Belgium.

Linwood's Euphoria Dance Studio clinched New Zealand's first adult mega crew division gold at the Hip Hop Unite championship in the Czech Republic on 25 October, with a high-energy, three-minute performance featuring five dance styles.

Euphoria's artistic director Jobelle Junko Nuñez said the team was stunned to have beaten some of the best hip hop dancers in the world and their idols, especially because some of the mostly Filipino crew had only started dancing last year.

"It was crazy. Some knelt down on the floor, everybody cried because we could all remember the sacrifices and challenges on the way. When they called our crew name it was proof that anything is possible. It was mind-blowing," she said.

Euphoria was pipped by Belgium's 2SDC crew in the preliminary and semi-finals, before a come-from-behind win in the final.

Nuñez said the achievement was even more remarkable given the team of 18 had to reblock the whole dance when a member injured herself in one of the last training sessions.

The dancer had all but given up hope of performing when a physiotherapist told her it would be a miracle if she took to the stage, Nuñez said.

"Miraculously she was able to dance in the semi-finals and the finals. She was able to walk properly, she was able to bend her knees. It was God's grace, it was meant to be," she said.

"It was a roller-coaster ride. It's so nice that we were able to bring the gold for New Zealand."

Nuñez believed Euphoria stood out from European-style hip hop with a tight, technical performance featuring an unconventional opening Afro set, locking, voguing and waacking, which earned compliments from other coaches.

"It was real, it was raw, it was authentic. For me, that was my trophy, hearing compliments from different crew - that it was pure joy or good vibes," she said.

Nuñez was working as a manager at McDonald's when she opened the studio in her home garage in 2021, guiding a growing number of students to the world championship win just four years later.

"My first students were my co-managers from McDonald's, just five students. After that, it was like a ripple effect," she said.

"What I love about dance is the feeling of euphoria, it's my meditation. I love entertaining people, I love taking people to a different place whenever they watch us on stage."

Based on a score out of 10, Hip Hop Unite judges evaluate a routine based on musical expression, interpretation, variety, creativity, formations and visual image, team performance and presentation.