Walking into the YMCA gym, energy and excitement permeated as hip-hop jams bumped over a loudspeaker. A lit-up checkered dance mat in the middle of the gym floor sat in front of a stage of judges, encircled by a bleacher-seated crowd of spectators hyping up every turn, twist, pop and lock.
On Nov. 17 and 18, the San Fernando Valley-based nonprofit, the GR818ERS, hosted their 13th Flava of the Year (FOTY) street dance competition at the mid-Valley YMCA in Van Nuys – bringing international talent from every continent back to the community where the GR818ERS got their start.
The two-day street dance battle competition was free and open to the public. Internationally acclaimed talents from Korea to France were invited to battle on the dance floor, and anyone who wanted to could also enter the competition and showcase their moves.
FOTY hosted two competition categories: 1vs1 popping battles, with first place won by west-coaster Anthony D. Armstrong, aka Slim Boogie, and 3vs3 open styles group battles, which were won by Team Batalla – Edwin Batalla, aka Batalla, from Columbia, Nguyễn Vũ Minh Tuấn, aka MT Pop, from Vietnam and Slim Boogie.
Winners received $1,200 and $1,800 cash prizes.
Leaders and pioneers in street dance, like Sam Solomon, aka Boogaloo Sam – who is credited as a creator of the dance styles popping and boogaloo – were judges.
“I like to think of all of our hip hop jams as interactive theater,” said Pierre Arreola, co-founder of the GR818ERS and an organizer of FOTY. “It is in and of itself an opportunity to not just be a passive engager and participant, but to actively participate – whether it’s through being in the dance itself and or just engaging with the people there.”
The crowd hit the dance floor between the battles, with each person bringing their unique style. Some created geometric shapes with their limbs and showcased jagged movements, while others glided across the mat with fluid painterly strokes. FOTY embraces the culture of hip-hop bringing the four main elements – dancing, DJing, MCing (rapping) and graffiti art into the event. Weeklong workshops, promotional artwork, cypher night and a pre-party led up to the main event.
This year had three booths – the GR818ERS, Panic 39 and Freestyle Sessions – as well as Offset Med, mobility medical experts offering free bodywork for any of the participants.
“Shout out to GR818ERS and Flava of the Year for [their] amazing work. Honestly, it was the Olympics of popping this weekend,” said Marie “Poppins” Bonnevay, an LA-based dancer who competed in the event.
She celebrated the GR818ERS for inviting plenty of women to be in the line-up.
Sheopatra Jones also participated as a 3vs3 judge – a well-respected fixture in hip-hop and a professional dancer who completed training at New Ballet Ensemble, choreographing productions that reflect both the anger of youth and hip-hop as a solution for peace and social justice. Sheopatra performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show and has worked for the biggest names in music. She founded Council Women, an all-women dance company.
Part of what Marie Poppins enjoys about street dancing is that there is no gender distinction – women like Sheopatra hold space and are respected in the art form.
“There were unfortunately no ladies in [the] top 16. So it was a reminder for me that I need to train harder. And in next year’s Flava of the Year, I will be in the top 16,” Marie Poppins proclaimed.
She has been participating in FOTY for years and has witnessed its growth. What started as monthly showcases of local talent that culminated in an end-of-year competition, has become an internationally recognized event.
“I’m very happy and proud of them, and wish for it to get even bigger,” said Marie Poppins.
Learning from Legends
“Flava of the Year brings … all these different players from around the world together to just be in this space of enjoying one another’s company and sharpening one another’s swords,” said Arreola.
Generations of dancers gathered at the event, taking notes, sharing knowledge and commemorating the art form.
“This is my first time battling in LA, period. First time battling for anything for the GR818ERS. First time battling in a 3v3,” said Derrick “Kid Nimbus” Judkins, a 28 year old from Chicago who has competed internationally and already boasts over 50 competition wins.
He participated as part of Team Crown with David Stalter Jr., aka The Crown, from Minnesota, and Humuza Bazira, aka Humuzza, from Canada. They took second place in the 3vs3 Open Styles – bringing a youthful bounce and fluidity to the battles, with cohesive steps accentuating each team member’s unique flare.
“Honestly, I’m just taking it all in and being very present. I love the vibe. I love the people from all over the world. I’m surrounded by GOATS [greatest of all time] … and we’re all in the same room. It’s so amazing,” said Kid Numbus, noting that people at FOTY have been generous with their time. “It is so interesting to be able to talk to these individuals and see who they are outside of the dance. They are giving me a proper example of how somebody who is in a position of notoriety and teacher status should act. It’s super inspiring.”
Unlike corporate-sponsored events that can often foster competitiveness, the GR818ERS’ main mission is creating a space for the community to thrive, share knowledge, connect and uplift each other.
“I think that’s kind of what the GR818ERS really represent, you know, the culture aspect, the people aspect,” said Ricardo “Boogie Frantick” Rodriquez Jr., one of the founders of the GR818ERS. “We’re really building a network of not just people, but family.”
Bringing it Back Home
Boogie Frantick is internationally known as one of the aforementioned GOATS, but you wouldn’t know it from his humble disposition. He and the rest of the GR818ERS got their start in the City of San Fernando, using San Fernando Recreation Park as their practice space through the mentorship of Carl Gilkey, aka DJ Hazze.
Hazze founded the Hazze Hip Hop Culture Dream Center with the support of his mother, Melba Gilkey, known as Mamma Hazze. At the very beginning, a teenaged Carl practiced breakdancing moves outside of their house on Fox Street in San Fernando and his friends and younger kids began to show up to learn from him. Over the years, he did more than teach dance moves, he educated and emphasized that hip-hop was an art form, not to be confused with thug life.
In the early and mid-90s, gangs were heavily present in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, so for Frantick, hip-hop and dance were a means of escaping that life.
“In the beginning, it was really about, well basically, staying alive. Like it was really that deep. I wanted to make a choice based off of the sacrifices my brothers went through. One was murdered through gangs. The other was sent to prison,” said Boogie Frantick. “Dance was really like more of an impact to do something different and be different and, you know, honor them in that way.”
Frantick said they didn’t have many heroes or leaders growing up to help them understand that they could live and think bigger than themselves and their situation; they created it for themselves.
“That’s where our name comes from, you know, GR818ERS because we wanted to highlight the great potential that lives in all of us out here. That’s why we’re not just 818ers, we’re GR818ERS,” said Arreola.
Now they try to be those leaders for a new generation, by implementing arts and athletics programming, community development projects and cultural events for youth in the San Fernando Valley.
“We were told that because we were from Pacoima that we were scum, and we would not make it out and that we were all stupid. So for us, it’s combating that narrative by flipping the script and providing a more positive, reinforcing narrative for young people so that they can feel proud of coming from where they come from. And they can also look to examples of people that come from these communities who are doing great things and coming back to give back,” said Arreola.
Through all their success, the GR818ERS always bring things back to where they started – to the San Fernando Valley and their community. Though they had the opportunity to host FOTY downtown at a bigger and more established venue, they opted for the mid-valley YMCA in Van Nuys.
“As a nonprofit, we’re grounded in providing access to communities that have been marginalized, that are under-resourced, underfunded and that don’t get the opportunities to participate in these types of events,” said Arreola.
Arreola said they make it a point to always hold FOTY in the San Fernando Valley to keep pathways open “so that not only the people that look like us and live like us and grew up in our communities can be part of it, but also so that people around the world can see what LA truly is, and who makes up LA. And it’s for the most part – us, the folks that are often unseen [and] unheard.”
Editor Diana Martinez contributed to this article.