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Surrey street dancers dominate qualifier for Red Bull-hosted national championship in Toronto

Humuza Bazira aims for world title after winning fan-vote regional event in Vancouver

Three Surrey-area dancers are off to the Red Bull Dance Your Style Canada national championship, including the winner of the Vancouver qualifier, Humuza Bazira.

Bazira, 19, earned top spot in the audience-voted freestyle street dance competition, held on the weekend of Aug. 6-7 during Vancouver Mural Festival.

The dancers were judged in head-to head battles, round by round, through live voting by the viewing audience, until four winners were chosen to move on to the next stage of this global competition.

Bazira, known as Humuzza in the dance world, will now fly to Toronto for the national finals on Aug. 26, as will fellow Surrey residents Jayda “jayderade” Bhinder and Tegvaran Sooch, along with Vancouver-based dancer Sophia “Sosa” Laurio.

The Canadian competition winner will then battle dancers from around the world in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bazira has been dancing for more than five years, starting at Sullivan Heights Secondary.

“I started out with a beginner class at my school and from there I joined the school hip-hop team and also a team outside of school,” he recalled. “I joined a team called Megabots, which I’m still on right now. I’ve done various competitions and battles.”

Bazira’s “Humuzza” Instagram account is filled with videos of him dancing.

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The Megabots dance team practices in Surrey and also Nanaimo, he said.

“My main style is hip-hop but I also know popping as well, so I kinda of mix the two a little bit,” explained Bazira, who wants to pursue a dancing career.

At the regional qualifier in Vancouver, he battled nearly two dozen others.

“A lot of my friends are dancers too, and some of them did compete in the competition, and we all support each other like that,” Bazira noted.

“The Surrey dance community is pretty tight-knit because it’s a small dance community, so I’ve danced against them in high school competitions, too,” he added. “From there we’ve built relationships, so I’ve known them for awhile. Jayda and Tegvaran. Jayda is in my crew, Megabots.”

Bazira is confident he can win the national competition later this month, for a shot at the Red Bull series global title.

Bazira credits his dancing prowess to his past in athletics and love of dance artistry.

“My dancing comes from my passion for what I do,” he revealed. “I love being able to move my body in all type of ways while connecting to music and I hope that anyone who watches me can feel that passion as well.”

Competition details are posted to redbull.ca/danceyourstyle.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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