B-Boys and B-Girls battled it out Friday at a Halloween-themed break dance contest.
UF's Hip Hop Collective hosted Nightmare on Beat Street at the Reitz Union Ballroom with a guest performance by Enigma Dance Kru from MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew."
More than 180 people watched Enigma perform a funeral-inspired dance before the final B-Boy battle. The hip-hop, ballet and modern age-influenced performance was created to complement the event's Halloween theme.
The competition kicked off at around 10 p.m. as three-person teams of break dancers from all across Florida showed their moves in rounds with two turns each.
Eight crews battled for grand prize tickets to Evolution, a national championship B-Boy competition final held in Orlando.
The judges, Pryzm, a professional B-Boy dancer, BGirl Dura, who began the Hip Hop Collective at UF and Mouse Vader, Enigma's leader, agreed that originality and cleanliness were the winning qualities.
"You can have the best moves in the world, but if it's not clean, it's not going to work," Vader said.
Teams were also encouraged to follow the competition's Halloween theme and dress up in costumes.
"We just want to bring happiness and fun to the hip-hop community," said J.J. Richardson, Hip Hop Collective's president, who wore a pink-striped zoot suit and a pink-glitter cowboy hat.
The competition ended after midnight when Team Chicken Sandwich and Some Waffle Fries for Free, of St. Petersburg, Fla., overtook Team Fly Swatters.
"We're tired but excited," said Eddy "Edderz the Golden Child" Vorasane of Team Chicken Sandwich. "We love to dance and we'd still be out here just because."
Collectively, Vorasane, 23, Greg "Swift Nice" Sanchez Jr., 22, and Steven "Vora-Tex" Vorasane, 14, have been break dancing for more than 16 years. The group practices their moves at a local church.
"Over 50 people come every Tuesday for three hours and break dance," Sanchez said.
The night also included a pop-and-lock battle, an emcee battle and a rap battle.
