World of Dance '09.

World of Dance, also known as WoD, is the largest West Coast urban dance competition that took place this past Saturday at the Pomona Fairplex. With focus on uniting today's Fashion and Independent Street Wear with the art of Freestyle Dance and Urban Choreography, World of Dance is the largest touring event connecting with the urban youth dance lifestyle and Barkada Modern was lucky enough to be a part of it.

If you hadn't noticed our SICK costumes at WoD, or even in the video, here's the man behind the designs. Paul Basallo. Now out with his first line titled, "PaulJames", be on the lookout for his unique designs, and funky fresh dance moves.



Jessi, Jay, Bobert, and I carpooled and made our way there to meet with the rest of the fam, stopping by a gas station, to stock up for the long day ahead.





As we arrived, we ran into some Common Ground and 909 homies, Carl being one of them... To be completely honest i think one of the only reasons we remember each other's names is because we have the same name.



B-Mod made their way inside and the moment we caught a glimpse of the stage and the crowd we'd be performing in front of, we knew it was on.





Byron, unfortunately, had been given the job to watch all of our stuff as the "kids" went out to play, or bird-watch. Might I add that it was a beautiful day in the season as some of the colleagues and as well as myself, were fortunate enough to witness some of the rarest types of species.



Not only is WoD a huge dance competition, but it's also home to some of the biggest b-boy battles, one is allowed to witness and some of the sickest streetwear vendors around.





Some were so amp'd about this event that they expressed their excitement through hairstyles?



Youth division had just ended, and the upper division was about to begin. Our call time had come and it was time for us to get ready and discuss the game-plan.







I don't get it either...



The time had come... where all of the blood, sweat, and tears pay off, where the dance community gets to witness everything we've been working towards, and most importantly Barkada Modern's time to shine. (Please watch in HD and wait for it to load).







The performance felt AMAZING. I truly felt as if we all had ripped our hearts out and left in on that stage. I felt the vibe, the energy, and each other. To be honest I don't think there's ONE team out there that has as strong a bond as Barkada Modern.

After our performance, we stuck around to watch our fellow competitors, show off all of their hard work and dedication. So I took a few snaps.

Marvelous Motion. (3rd Place)



CADC.



Choreo Cookies. (1st Place)



The night slowly came to an end as the award ceremony took place, and we felt amazing. Although we didn't place (Congrats to Choreo Cookies, PAC Modern, and Marvelous Motion!), the dance community knows who we are and they know we're bringing it hard this year. Every judge gave us great compliments, and our average scores were right up there with teams like CADC and GRV, so don't think this is the last of us. You just wait...