132 Dancers from 37 Countries in 9 Months
The finale kicked off with outstanding performances by underdog dancers from various cultures, backgrounds, and styles such as ballet, contemporary, afro, traditional, popping, and many more. Out of over a hundred dancers, 21-year-old Hitesh Patel from India won the Dance Arena ALLSTAR Champion Final Battle, walking away with a cash prize of USD250 (RM1,000) for his phenomenal street-style dance moves known as ‘tutting’.
“This competition gives hope for the dancers to keep moving forward and at the same time, focus and work towards their passion even though we are all going through some tough times. This is the motive of Dance Arena; giving opportunities for dancers around the world, no matter wherever you are or whatever background you are from, we just want to impact whoever we can,” said Syarvin Sugumar, Founder of Dance Arena as the ALLSTAR Champion Final Battle came to a close.
During the pandemic, this 23-year-old Malaysian dancer & choreographer, Syarvin Sugumar, put together an online platform for dancers. In just a year, Dance Arena gathered 132 undiscovered talents to participate in the monthly dance competition. It went on from March 2021 to November 2021, where each month’s winner would come back in December to compete in the global Dance Arena ALLSTAR Champion Final Battle.
Dance Arena Judges Top (from Left to Right): Syarvin Sugumar, Founder of Dance Arena and Peot, Professional Hip Hop Dancer Bottom (from Left to Right): Kezia Jonah, Professional Contemporary Dancer and Agnesmary Selvaraj, Professional Bharatanatyam Dancer
Judges of the competition who are also award-winning dancers comprised of professional hip hop dancer, Peot from Malaysia, professional contemporary dancer, Kezia Jonah from Madagascar, and professional Bharatanatyam dancer, Agnesmary Selvaraj from Malaysia.
Dance Arena is supported by the social business incubator, ET Ideas, and international youth movement, Ascendance, who came together to support the grassroots of the arts as part of their mission to impact #OneMillionTeens worldwide.
