23 January 2014 | 22:32

Dance battle Juste Debout Kazakhstan

Pre-selection of Juste Debout held in Kazakhstan for the first time. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The Juste Debout is an international meeting of hip hop dances which gathers more than 3 000 dancers, selected after an international two months tour. 6 big disciplines are represented to it: Locking, Popping, Hip Hop New Style, House, Experimental and Top Rock. Kazakhstan will now be represented at the Juste Debout in Paris, France on March 2, 2014. This year a pre-selection of Juste Debout was held in Kazakhstan for the first time. The event took place in Almaty on January 18, 2014.

Juste Debout is a street dancing competition annually held in Paris, France. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The organizers received nearly 600 applications in five different categories: Experimental, Locking, Popping, House and Hip-Hop. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The Juste Debout event in Kazakhstan was very exciting. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Not only experienced dancers took part in the battles, but very young dancers as well. Llittle Diana from Yakutia was one of them. She came to demonstrate her dancing skills and certainly impressed the audience. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Every participant did his or her best to impress the jury and the audience. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The dancing marathon started at 6:00 p.m. and continued for five hours. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Famous dancer Zhan Vionov from Kyrgyzstan, who is also popular outside his country, was among the participants. He is a son of the famed TV presenter Assol Moldokmatova and President of Kickboxing Federation of Kyrgyzstan Alexandr Vionov. Zhan had won a range competitions before and added the victory in the Juste Debout Kazakhstan to his achievements. He performed together with his student Nestasa. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Juste Debout is held annully in Paris, France since 2002 in late winter or in early spring. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Bruce Sone, President of Juste Debout Association, said that cultural exchange was the main task of the festival. What mattered was how participants expressed themselves through dancing, and the experience they could pass on and gain from other dancers, regardless of their nationality or color of skin. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

DJs were responsible for music during the competition. None of the participants knew what music they would have to dance to. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The House winners Astana's Nazym Kalkenova and Almaty's Assiya Ayeshenova. The girls had only two week to prepare for the festival, because they live in two different cities. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Each battle included eight rounds. Dancers performed in turns in front of the audience and their rivals. The jury selected the winners, after each participant performed twice. In the end two best teams competed for the main prize in their dancing category. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Although being all friends, the dancers still they remained rivals at the dance floor. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The jury board of the Juste Debout 2014 includes 4 worldwide famous dancers Marquest from the United States, Japanese Tatsuo, France's J-Soul and Djidawi. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The jury entertained the audience during breaks. They performed Kazakh national dance Kara Zhorga. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

President of Juste Debout Bruce Sone attended the Kazakhstan qualifiers in Almaty. Bruce Sone attends only the countries where pre-selection is held for the first time. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Popping is a street dance, based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in a dancer's body, referred to as a pop or a hit. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Popping is one of the original funk styles that came from California during the 1960s-1970s. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The Popping winner Andrei Baturo of Kaliningrad (Russia). ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Duos performed amazing dances based on small stories. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The competition in Popping category was intense. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Kazakhstan will be represented at the world dancing stage of Juste Debout in Paris, France on March 2, 2014 in all five categories. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The Experimental is a solo dancing category at the Juste Debout. It is about a pure improvisation in the sound of the decks of the DJ. No technique is imposed. It is just a question of dancing freely. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

9 dancers competed for the 1st place in the Experimental category. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

The Experimental dance sould be performed with sense and emotions, showing drama or joy of your soul. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Dmitry Schebet, a finalist of the Ukrainian contest Tancyuyut Vsi! 6 (Ukrainian version of American So You Thing You Can Dance) participated in the Experimental category. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva

Beside Kazakhstan, qualifiers for the Juste Debout 2014 are held in 13 countries: the United States, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Italy, Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden. About 20 thousand best dancers from all over the world are gathering in Paris annually. ©Aizhan Tugelbayeva