Everybody Dance Now: Niek & Roy

Op vrijdag 7 maart om 20:30 zijn Niek & Roy als duo te zien bij Everybody Dance Now op RTL4. Doordat The Ruggeds op dit moment te verspreid zitten in verschillende theatershows en battles besloten ze als duo de groep te vertegenwoordigen.

"Nieuwe uitdagingen zijn altijd spannend, maar dat houdt het ook interessant. Ik en Roy trainen altijd samen, we hebben meer dan genoeg liggen om tot de finales fresh te komen." zegt Niek over de eerste duo show van de twee.

Roy raad iedereen aan om vanavond aan de buis gekluisterd te zitten: "We mogen niets verklappen, maar het word zeker de moeite waard om vanavond te kijken, wat we toen gedaan hebben doen we een keer en dan nooit meer.."

Performance at Battle Of The Year 2013

And here it is! Our performance at Battle Of The Year. The show is based on the song 'Contact' by Daft Punk., and you'll be watching us landing in space. So sit back, relax, and scream for The Ruggeds!

Battle Of The Year 2013

Last weekend was the 24th edition of Battle Of The Year. The longest running and most prestigious Breaking event around the world. By winning the Benelux BOTY, in September, we were among one of the 15 crews entering from all over the planet. All gathered at the Volkwagenhalle in Braunschweig along with 8000 spectators.

Picture by Thijn van der Linden

Picture by Thijn van der Linden

In BOTY it's show first, battle second. You have to make it into the top 6, to advance to the battles. Which we did. Our show was based on the song "Contact" by Daft Punk, and the landing on the moon. (FOOTAGE COMING SOON!)

Picture by Thijn van der Linden

The 1st and 2nd placed show do not have to battle until the semi-finals. We weren't so lucky and had to battle against Taiwan for a spot in the semi-finals. 

KGB TC Unity is a Taiwanese crew made up of 2 crews, and had 16 bboys on the team. The first battle felt a bit odd, because the Taiwanese crew threw insanely long rounds. Fortunately the judges felt the same, and we moved on to the semi-finals by a unanimous decision. (FOOTAGE COMING SOON!)

Picture by Mason Rose

After that it was time for the semi-final. We had to go up against Floorriorz from Japan. A month ago they defeated us at the UK Bboy Championships in London in the semi-finals, so we figured it was time for some payback. The judges weren't as convinced and the battle went into a tie-breaker. Jazzy Gypz had to go up against Taisuke, and managed to defeat him 3-2, making us move on to the final.

The finals we're a historic moment for us a crew, we grew up on watching videotapes of BOTY. To be in the finals of the same event felt as a dream come true. The battle was extremely close. It was a battle of precision against wilding out!  We weren't as clean as in the other battles, and made some small mistakes. The Koreans we're much more on point in their routines but weren't as versatile in their solo's. In the end Fusion MC took the battle 3-2. (Fusion MC: Yaman, Ken Swift, Wing. The Ruggeds: Focus, Swiftrock)

 Of course we feel disappointed by not winning the event, but at the same time 2nd place is an amazing achievement. Also we're the first crew from the Benelux region to ever make it to the battles!

We've learned a lot, and we'll be back next year to take home that first place.