Paradiso's one and only House Dance Forever 2016

Great city, incredible location and an amazing atmosphere - 3 good reasons for visiting "House Dance Forever" and also this year the event lived up to its reputation. Hundreds of house dancers from all over the world filled the halls and the dance floor of Amsterdam's Paradiso on that cold Saturday afternoon. Organiser and host John Agesilas as well as his co-host Lamine (France) provided a good mood and a special atmosphere with their moderation. All battles were displayed on big screens all over the venue so that despite the high number of participants and spectators everybody could see what was going on on the dance floor. "Summer Dance Forever" flags around the dance floor reminded everybody of the big event which will take place in Amsterdam in August and the seating and watching facilities from the stage and the galleries around the dance floor provided a sort of arena feeling and a perfect view.

The preselection started right after the check-in with about 150 participants coming from more than 15 countries such as Japan, South Korea, Morocco, Germany, Austria, France, England, Denmark, Russia etc. KC the Funkaholic and DJ Chocolate Brown provided not only good House beats for the participants but also smooth rhythms for all the others which motivated for jamming during the 30 minutes breaks between the different rounds. In the preselection every dancer had 30 seconds to persuade the female judge committee consisting of Marie Kaae (Denmark), Alesya Dobysh (Russia) and Amy Secada Lopes (USA) who were responsible for the selection of the TOP12.

The battle-format of House Dance Forever is very special and needs a quick explanation. 12 best dancers are chosen from the preselection who then dance against each other in the KO-system until the best 3 are determined. After that these 3 dancers can choose a jury member and dance against this judge. If there is only one of the TOP3 who wins against the judge the winner is determined right after the TOP3 battles. If 2 dancers of the TOP3 win the battles against their judges, they have to compete against each other in the final. If all 3 dancers of the TOP3 win the battles against the judges the 3rd dancer gets the opportunity to choose one dancer of the TOP6 round and to call him back into the battle in order to dance against him in the semi-final. The both winners of the semi-final move into the final battles and dance for the victory.

The last example of this battle format with all of the TOP3 winning against the judges appeared this year. You could enjoy many intensive and motivating battles. The best highlights were the battles between Franky J from London and his team colleague Joel as well as the semi-final battle between Khoudia and Veusty in which you could see and feel a big passion and a tireless dedication and energy. At the end it was Steve Lavelua aka Veusty who won not only the semi-final against Khoudia after his surprising return but it was also him who made it against Candy Man in the final round and who can now proudly call himself winner of the House Dance Forever battle 2016 in Amsterdam (Netherlands).

House Dance Forever is cult and an adventure that every dancer should experience at least once in his life. The flair and the vibe of the Dutch capital merge in every breath and inspire not only for movement but also for a creative development of one's own personality. This event provides a great base to support the urban dance culture not only in the Netherlands but worldwide. Many thanks to John Agesilas and the whole organisation team.

1st round (TOP12)
In the first round every dancer has one minute to show what he is capable of. After that the judges decide who moves into the next round. If there is a tie a further round is given.
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Veusty (France) // Zach Swagga (France) – 2:1
Tasun (Korea) // Candy Man (France) – 1:1 - Alesya Tie (0:3)
Jimbo (Japan) // Atazhan (Russia) - 1:2
Snow (Russia) // Kareem (France) - 2:1
Khoudia (Senegal) // .... - 1:1 Marie Tie (2:1)
Franky J (UK) // Joel (Germany/UK) - 2:1

2nd round (TOP6)
In the second round every dancer has two rounds of 1 minute each. Judges decide on who makes it into the next round. If there is a tie further rounds are given.
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Veusty (France) // Candy Man (France) – 1:2
Atazhan (Russia) // Snow (Russia) - 3:0
Khoudia (Senegal) // Franky J (UK) - 2:1

3rd round (TOP3 vs Judges)
In the third round each one of the remaing 3 dancers chooses one judge and dances against this judge 3 rounds. The winner automatically enters the final.
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Candy Man // Amy Secada Lopes – (Amy: "I loose")
Atazhan // Marie Kaae – Judges: 1:0 - Alesya Tie)
Khoudia // Alesya Dobysh - Judges: 2:0

Semi-final
Since all three dancers of the TOP3 won against the judges, one dancer who was eliminated in the TOP6 was called back to the semi-final.
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Candy Man // Atazhan - (audience by voice volume: 1,14 : 1,12)
Khoudia // Veusty - (audience by voice volume: 1,10 : 1,11)

Final
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Candy Man // Veusty - (audience by voice volume: 1,09 : 1,12)
Winner: Steve Lavelua aka Veusty