The GR818ERS celebrated their 16th anniversary, concluding their three-day A Family Affair Festival (AFA Fest) with the annual dance competition, which included participants from across the globe.
The festival, which took place in Canoga Park, began on Aug. 13 with a charity livestream, followed by the dance preliminaries the next day and ending with the finals on Aug. 15. The third day also included other family activities, such as live performances, car shows and live murals being painted.
More than a hundred community members came out for the finals, held at the Lanark Recreation Center, to see skilled dancers break out their best moves. And these dancers didn’t just come from the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles, but from countries, including Japan and South Korea.
Lorenzo Chapman, one of the three co-founders of the GR818ERS, said that the eight finalists were randomly paired and had to coordinate their moves to take home the prize – a $1,500 reward and the fame that comes with winning the competition.
In the end, the dance competition came down to dancers Dante “Toji” Raso and Rucboi on one side, and Homare Yasuda and Akari Morimoto from Japan on the other. Ultimately, it was Rucboi and Toji that emerged victorious.
“The element of the eight guests randomly selecting their partner is something that people always look forward to,” Chapman said. “Because of the randomness … it makes the event something that’s new every time. Even though the concept stays the same in the dance portion, it’s always a surprise of who’s going to end up together and who ends up winning.”
Chapman added that seeing so many people come out to their events felt like a reminder that their work has an impact and that it is growing. Chapman, alongside his brother Eric and Pierre Arreola, founded the nonprofit as high school seniors in 2010 as a way to combat disenfranchisement and stereotypes they were often victims of.
He credits the nonprofit’s growth in part to its consistency, like holding the AFA Fest every year, and the work of their team. Chapman said that a majority of their staff were kids enrolled in their programs who then went on to become volunteers, then interns and finally employees.
Although the three co-founders had mentors in their lives to keep them on the right path, they had no guidance on how to run an organization, so to still be around and growing is something that Chapman is grateful for.
“We hope to pass this on to our children,” Chapman said. We’re hoping our children will continue this legacy when we’re maybe too old to have the energy to do a three-day festival.”
Although the AFA Fest is over, there are still two more dance competitions that the GR818ERS will be hosting later this year. The first will be on Oct. 17 during the Reseda Rising Art Walk, and the second is the annual Flava of the Year, a street dance battle in Van Nuys that will take place Nov. 17-21.