Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

Baku hosted the "Hip-Hop Academy Week" attended by the famous American "Soul Street Dance Co" hip-hop band, Azerbaijan's Modern and Social Dance Association (MSDAA) said on June 17.

Organized by MSDAA together with the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani Youth Union, the event was held in the framework of the "Cultural Ambassadors" intercultural cooperation.

The first event of the "Week" was a concert held at the stage of the State Song Theatre named after Rashid Behbudov. Soloists of the Soul Street Dance Co. - Xavier Roy, Mario and Cedric - presented first their show and then joined the jury of the festival.

Six teams presented two performances to the jury. Finally, the champions of Baku and Azerbaijan in 2013, Crazy Eyes Crew became the first, champions of Baku and Azerbaijan in 2014, Alarm became the second, and the third place went to Jam SS, who got the second place in the European Delphic Games and Azerbaijan's championships, held in 2014.

Next day, a four-day marathon of master classes kicked off in the basketball hall of the PortBakuClub sports complex. During these days, the club was visited by a lot of guests, and guys from Soul Street Dance Co generously shared with all their experiences.

After the festival, President of the MSDAA Aziz Azizov said the event was successful.

"We are holding an event in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan for the first time," he said. "We were happy to meet with the guys from Soul Street Dance Co. Everything was at a high level, including team competitions, battles and master classes."

On last day of the event, Baku Jazz Center hosted the final solo performances, in which ten people got a chance to represent Azerbaijan in the Caucasus Tournament, to be held in Georgian Batumi in late July.

Khayal Amrullazade, Sara Ismailova, Javid Mammadov, Ramil Mammadov, Emil Mehdizadeh, Andrey Freeman, Aslan Neymatov, Elgun Mayday, Farman Lazymov and Babak Gulubeyli got the chance to join tournament in Georgia.